Pranksters move Loch Ness signs

This is true: road signs were removed in Britain in the early part of WWII.

It would certainly have hindered the speed of an invasion. England, certainly the rural southern part, was and is riddled with small hamlets and small roads. It is very easy to get lost in them if you don't have roadsign names to compare to a map.

Actually, it was done all over Europe.

In my country, Belgium, the Germans finally noticed it and used to paint the correct signs on the very wall of houses located near crossroads. You can still find many today, as long as the facade hasn't been renovated.

This was done in many European countries during WW2, not just Britain, and was variously said to be intended to stall invaders, confuse spies or prevent sabotage. It was probably equally confusing to any allied forces moving about the country, of course.

As well as roadsigns, all railway station names were removed, along with all platform illumination. With all windows and doors obscured because of "blackout" regulations, it became impossible to know where you were whenever night fell. In response passengers would frequently alight at every stop and call out asking the station's name. This lead to numerous accidents when the train stopped at signals and unwary passengers would step out into empty air.

Eventually a paper in the British Medical Journal pointed out that the new rules were causing upwards of 600 deaths/month through accidents, while costing the Luftwaffer nothing. Restrictions were loosened slightly and "glimmer lighting" allowed at stations, road crossings, etc.

West Germany had a similar policy in place even after WW2, just in case of an imminent Soviet invasion.

The Japanese took it to a whole new level, mind you. Tokyo's road system was deliberately designed to be confusing; many roads were left unnamed and block and house numbers were non-consecutive to create a defensive maze around the Imperial Palace (Bruce Schneier, "Beyond Fear").

These comments show why the internet is so great.

In Britain in the 1940s, unless a paratropper landed IN a town they'd have no idea where they were without roadsigns. No motorways or strong network of roads (even if they did, you still wouldn't know where you were going).

Leaving them up would have just made Jerry's job that bit easier. And part of a war is making life difficult for the enemy every way you can.

Didn't you ever see the beginning of "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"?

In Holland, to this day we still have the habit of pointing German-speaking people the wrong way when they ask for directions... "Immer gerade aus!" is a famous slogan here, to the detriment of many a German.... ;-p

This Way To The Egress

What've female eagles go to do with anything?

I suspect that the real purpose of steps like removing road signs was to provide a sense of purpose and involvement for the locals, to make them feel safer and give them an illusiory sense that they were doing their bit. Somethiong akin to bomb-taped windows, duck&cover;, contemporary airport security checks, and other ineffective but visible precautions.

My Grandfather was in a job that exempted him from Military Service and involved travelling. He would have to ask for directions and was often refused them and treated with suspicion or hostility as he was suspected of being a German spy.

There's a wonderful little routine about this from a 60's-era British comedy group called Beyond the Fringe, which included Dudley Moore. Some bumbling home guard chaps moving signs around to fool the Germans, then can't figure out how to get home, that sort of thing.