Tantallon Castle Bass Rock sunset, Seacliff Beach Scotland

Of drills and decoys

There's a lot going on in this shot, from the ruin of Tantallon Castle at left to the solitary Bass Rock at right—and a beach bathed in sunset in between. During World War II, this spot would have been witness to yet more action, as the Royal Air Force used this part of the outer Firth of Forth for training. It's not the most famous beach in WWII history, but there's a connection to the war's best-known battle: The RAF developed a technique here to confuse German radar by dropping decoy aluminum strips into the sea, which they did during the D-Day landings to distract the enemy from the beaches of Normandy.