During the Blitz, an aerial bombing campaign waged against Britain by the Nazis between September 1940 and May 1941, the German Luftwaffe often struck under the cover of darkness. To make it more difficult for enemy planes to hit their targets, the British government issued citywide blackouts. The Royal Air Force (RAF) also repelled the German fighters with the aid of a new, secret radar technology.
First used by the RAF in 1940, the onboard aircraft interception radar (also known as A.I. radar) could pinpoint enemy bombers before they reached the English Channel. To keep that information under wraps, however, the ministry provided another reason for the RAF’s success: carrots.
In 1940, RAF fighter ace John Cunningham, nicknamed “Cat’s Eyes,” became the first British pilot to shoot down an enemy plane with A.I. radar. He’d later rack up an impressive total of 20 kills, 19 of which were at night. The government told newspapers that the reason for the RAF’s success was the fact that pilots like Cunningham ate an excess of carrots.
The ruse, perhaps meant to send German tacticians on a wild goose chase, may not have fooled the Nazis as planned.
“I have no evidence they fell for it, other than that the use of carrots to help with eye health was well ingrained in the German psyche,”
*: carrots contain beta-caroteen, which your body turns into vitamin A. Eating insufficient vitamin A will cause worsening eyesight and especially night blindness.
It’s not common in Europe now, since vitamin A is common in animal products and gets put into everything vegetarian too, but people growing up in the early 20th century would absolutely have known about this problem.
Eating more carrots absolutely will NOT give you super night vision eyesight. Or on-board radar.
Explanation:
Carrots actually ARE good for your eyes*
*: carrots contain beta-caroteen, which your body turns into vitamin A. Eating insufficient vitamin A will cause worsening eyesight and especially night blindness.
It’s not common in Europe now, since vitamin A is common in animal products and gets put into everything vegetarian too, but people growing up in the early 20th century would absolutely have known about this problem.
Eating more carrots absolutely will NOT give you super night vision eyesight. Or on-board radar.
Well my auntie said she has onboard radar because she had a carrot smoothie every 47 minutes for two days.