British intelligence's carrot operation to hide radar technology

To conceal the secret of radar technology from the Nazis, British intelligence launched a propaganda campaign about the miraculous power of carrots.

“Night vision can be a matter of life and death” – British propaganda poster promoting carrot consumption during World War II. Photo: Smithsonianmag.

Today, many people believe that eating lots of carrots will help keep their eyes sharp. This notion may have originated from one of the most successful propaganda campaigns by British intelligence about the miraculous power of carrots, to conceal military secrets that contributed to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.according to Smithsonianmag magazine.

Science has proven that carrots contain a large amount of vitamin A, which is good for the eyes, but cannot help normal people improve their eyesight. However, British intelligence has made people both in the country and the enemy believe that carrots can help them have "eyes as sharp as an owl" through their propaganda campaign.

During the Blitzkrieg campaign in 1940, the German air force intensified its air campaign, taking advantage of the darkness to send planes to bomb important targets in England. In response, the British government decided to cut off electricity in major cities at night to make it difficult for German planes to observe their targets.

During this campaign, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was able to repel German aircraft in part thanks to a new secret radar technology called Airborne Interception Radar (AI), which was installed on fighter planes from 1939, capable of identifying enemy bombers before they approached the English Channel.

To keep this crucial radar technology a secret, British intelligence decided to make the German people and military believe that their pilots had excellent eyesight and could detect enemy planes from a distance, and it was all thanks to carrots.

In 1940, night fighter pilot John Cunningham was the first to use AI radar technology to shoot down a German fighter. He then went on to achieve an impressive feat, destroying 20 enemy aircraft, including 19 fighters shot down at night. The British Ministry of Information told the press that their pilots achieved such a great feat by eating lots of carrots to have better eyesight.

Pilot John Cunningham was credited with having excellent night vision thanks to eating lots of carrots. Photo: Telegraph.

The purpose of British intelligence in releasing the above information was to waste German strategists' time learning about something that was not true, according to John Stolarczyk, director of the World Carrot Museum.

"The story of British pilots' superior eyesight thanks to eating carrots was so impressive that it was reported that the German air force believed it and also started feeding its pilots lots of carrots to counter the British," Stolarczyk said.

Meanwhile, British newspapers and radio stations have been promoting the idea that eating more carrots will help people see better in areas of the city that are cut off from electricity at night. Advertisements with the slogan "Carrots are good for your health and help you see clearly at night" have appeared everywhere.

In addition to concealing weapons technology, this propaganda campaign also helped solve the food crisis in Britain during wartime.When German submarines blockaded food supply ships offshore, Britain fell into a serious food shortage.

To solve this crisis, the British government encouraged people to switch to using vegetables that were easy to grow and easy to find, typically carrots. The above propaganda campaign had a strong impact, making the British at that time "crazy" about carrots.

"This is a food war. Adding more vegetables to your diet reduces the burden of shipping by sea. The battle on the kitchen front cannot be won without the support of your home garden. An hour spent in the garden is better than an hour spent in the grocery line,"Lord Woolton, British Minister of Food, declared in 1941.

Also in that year, the British Ministry of Food launched the "Garden to Win Campaign" through cartoons such as "Dr. Carrot" and "Potato Pete" to encourage people to eat more homegrown vegetables. Carrots were promoted as a sweetener for desserts when sugar supplies were in severe shortage.

Propaganda poster of Potato Pete and Dr. Carrot in England, 1941. Photo: Smithsonianmag.

The BBC's Kitchen Front, which suggested new recipes for carrots, became one of the most popular radio programs of the era. According to Stolarczyk, the campaign promoting the miraculous properties of carrots was so successful that Britain had a surplus of 100,000 tons of carrots by 1942.

According to VNE