Editing Somerset (section)

===20th century===
Many Somerset soldiers died during the [[First World War]], with the [[Somerset Light Infantry]] suffering nearly 5,000&nbsp;casualties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sommilmuseum.org.uk/article.php?id=1 |title=Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) |publisher=Somerset Military Museum |access-date=23 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807030002/http://www.sommilmuseum.org.uk/article.php?id=1 |archive-date=7 August 2007 }}</ref> War memorials were put up in most of the county's towns and villages; only nine, described as the [[Thankful Villages]], had none of their residents killed. During the [[Second World War]] the county was a base for troops preparing for the [[Normandy landings|D-Day landings]]. Some of the hospitals which were built for the casualties of the war remain in use. The [[Taunton Stop Line]] was set up to repel a potential German invasion. The remains of its [[Bunker|pill boxes]] can still be seen along the coast, and south through [[Ilminster]] and [[Chard, Somerset|Chard]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pillboxes-somerset.com/taunton_stop_line.htm |title=Taunton Stop Line |work=Pillboxes Somerset |access-date=25 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028164855/http://www.pillboxes-somerset.com/taunton_stop_line.htm |archive-date=28 October 2007 }}</ref>

A number of decoy towns were constructed in Somerset in World War&nbsp;II to protect Bristol and other towns. They were designed to mimic the nighttime geometry of "blacked out" streets, railway lines, and [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station]], to encourage German bombers away from these targets.<ref name=brown>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Donald |year=1999 |title=Somerset&nbsp;v Hitler: Secret operations in the Mendips 1939–1945 |place=Newbury, UK |publisher=Countryside Books |isbn=1-85306-590-0}}</ref> One, on the German [[Battle of the Beams|radio navigation beam]] flight path to Bristol, was constructed on [[Black Down, Somerset|Beacon Batch]].<ref name=brown/><ref name="auto"/> It was laid out by [[Shepperton Studios]], based on [[Aerial photography|aerial photographs]] of the city's railway [[Classification yard|marshalling yards]].<ref name=brown/> The decoys were fitted with dim red lights, simulating activities such as the stoking of [[steam locomotive]]s. Burning bales of straw soaked in creosote were used to simulate the effects of [[incendiary device|incendiary bombs]] dropped by the first wave of Pathfinder night bombers; meanwhile, incendiary bombs dropped on the correct location were quickly smothered, wherever possible. Drums of oil were also ignited to simulate the effect of a blazing city or town, with the aim of fooling subsequent waves of bombers into dropping their bombs on the wrong location.<ref name=brown/>

The [[Chew Magna]] decoy town was hit by half a dozen bombs on 2&nbsp;December 1940, and over a thousand incendiaries on 3&nbsp;January 1941.<ref name=brown/> The following night the [[Uphill]] decoy town, protecting the airfield at [[Weston-super-Mare]], was bombed; a herd of [[Dairy cattle|dairy cows]] was hit, killing some and severely injuring others.<ref name=brown/>