During WWII, the official Bushey & Oxhey station was nicknamed Amerspand due to a misinterpretation of obscuring orders which led to the & symbol being retained. The aim was to protect against enemy aircraft using railway signs for navigation. Despite efforts to conceal station names, the signs remained readable and railway maps were readily available. The government formalized rules for obliterating visible signs in June 1940 to prevent assisting invading forces, although some areas maintained exemptions, particularly within London.
In the 1940s, it was possible to catch a Bakerloo line train from Amerpersand station, even though no such station officially existed.
The government, knowing this, was worried that the railways would assist enemy aircraft. Therefore, in June 1940 it was decided to formalise the rules.
Although often described as making life difficult for spies or invaders, in fact, with the signs sometimes simply painted out, it was quite easy to walk up to the sign.
Before modern navigation, aircraft pilots used paper maps and looked for local landmarks to work out where they were.
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