Following two weeks after the events of D-Day on June 6th, 1944, the United States devised a plan in an attempt to fool Hitler. Inspired by the techniques utilized by the British in the battle of El Alamein in late 1942, the United States assembled the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, an 1100-man unit specializing in tactical deception. This platoon, so to speak, did not contain the usual kind of soldiers. Instead, they were recruits from art schools and advertisement agencies, solicited for their artistic abilities. The aggregate of the unit consisted of four parts, including the 3132 Signal Service Company Special, the 406th Combat Engineers, the 603rd Camouflage Engineers, and the Signal Company Special.
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| Ghost Army Insignia circa 1944 |
Akin to that of the Trojan Horse, in the story from the Trojan War, this elite force utilized mock-ups, or props, to dupe German forces. These fakes took in the form of full-sized inflatable tanks and aircraft, costumes, as well as speakers playing pre-recorded soundtracks, creating the illusion of a strong military occupation in a particular region. Also, spoof radio transmissions were broadcasted, to confuse Axis armies regarding the whereabouts of Allied forces. Between the years of 1944 and 1945, over 20 battlefield "performances" were acted out, proving to be a surprising success against German troops. These deceptions also took place as close as a few hundred feet of the front lines, in addition to being combined with real forces.
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| An inflatable dummy tank |
The Ghost Army proved to be an amazing success, in its elaborate ploy to confuse the Axis powers. It was very influential in many Allied victories in Europe, retiring from use after the incursion on the Rhine River Valley. Not only did the Ghost Army help the Allied forces secure a decisive victory, but it also saved tens of thousands of lives, by diverting Axis forces away from real troops.
Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/ghost-army-the-inflatable-tanks-that-fooled-hitler/276137/
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day
https://warontherocks.com/2018/05/pioneers-of-deception-lessons-from-the-ghost-army/
Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/ghost-army-the-inflatable-tanks-that-fooled-hitler/276137/
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day
https://warontherocks.com/2018/05/pioneers-of-deception-lessons-from-the-ghost-army/
This post was extremely interesting that an army could pull off the illusion of creating another attack and confusing an army with inflatable tanks, sounds, and costumes. I looked into the Ghost army and learned that in order for the illusion of the Ghost Army to have been pulled off, people had to be extremely into their roles. This included being in local cafes and discussing fake plans, hoping spies would pick up and use the false information.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/may/20/ghost-army/
Haha, the Ghost Army seems like such a stupid tactic in such a trying time, yet it worked. Adding on to uses of deception other than El Alamein and the Ghost Army, I remember there was the use of a dead Nazi soldier to inform the Germans of the incorrect plans. This was called Operation Mincemeat, and was used to divert Italy and Germany away from Sicily. After this operation, the Allies were easily able to start to invade Sicily.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/4-great-military-deceptions-world-war-two.html
The allies gambled and it paid off for them. I did some more research on how the allies managed to make the 1000 or so volunteers to look like tens of thousands of men with all the tanks and artillery. It turns out that not only did the allies make fake planes and tanks, they made fake landing spots, fake tents with laundry hanging out of them to make it look like there were people there, and used speakers so loud that people could hear them 15 miles from the base. The best part was that they could move the entire set up within hours, so it was portable and efficient. The Allies managed to avoid severe casualties in the D-Day invasion because of this so it was a major success for them.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/ghost-army-operation-quicksilver