The Taj Mahal Disguised From An Enemy Attack In WWII, 1942 Photo
A rare 1942 news photo of the Taj Mahal disguised from an enemy attack in WWII. The two women shown are Mrs Vijaylaxmi Pandit and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. The enemies were the Japanese and German air forces with their warplanes in WWII. The Japanese were almost at India’s doorstep since they had attacked and invaded Burma in January 1942.
India was their next potential target; they had invaded Kohima (Nagaland) and Imphal (Manipur) in 1944. However, driven back in a grueling Battle of Imphal- Kohima by the British Indian forces. This had created alarm with the British administration and higher echelons of power on an impending attack from the Japanese or Germans.
One of the Government of India’s tasks at the time was to protect the Taj Mahal from any aerial bombing. Thus, they camouflaged the Taj Mahal with bamboo scaffoldings erected around the dome. This was to mislead the enemy pilots into believing that it was a stockpile of bamboo. Unlike today’s electronic sophistication, fighter planes at that time lacked electronic gadgetry, and the pilots had to rely more on sight.
Did you know – that bamboo not only protects the famous silhouette but also dims its gleaming white marble that, when bathed in bright moonlight, shines like a beacon in the dark.
Past posts – Raja Ravi Varma’s “Birth of Shakuntala” Oleograph 1894., Triplicane A Locality In Madras, 1908 Postcard., Brahmin Family In India – Old Print 1861., India Past And Present, Two Volumes, 1903 Books.
