In Plain Sight D-Day Deception - Dane G. Hansen Foundation
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World War II Remembered
Field Trip Enhancement Program
In Plain Sight
D-Day Deception
Generously Sponsored by the
Dane G. Hansen Foundation
In Plain Sight
D-Day Deception
INTRODUCTION !
! !
The best deception is attained by feeding CONTENTS
an opponent with falsehoods which he
wants to believe. Using code names such
!
3 Lesson Plan
as Bodyguard, Double-Cross, Fortitude,
and Quicksilver, General Dwight D.
!4 Background Briefing
Eisenhower commanded a series of covert !5-6 Glossary
operations that fooled the Germans time
after time and played a crucial role in the
!7 Briefing Organizer
victorious Allied invasion of Europe. In
this program, students will examine
!8-15 Secret File topics 1-8
visual and textual data presented in
16
primary source documents to gain an
understanding of D-Day deception plans.
! Conclusion
TARGET AUDIENCE: Grades 9-10
! !
OBJECTIVES
! TIME REQUIREMENT: 1 hour
• Students will gain knowledge of !
several of the deception plans that COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
!
aided in the successful D-Day invasion. !
For English Language Arts & Literacy in History/
• Students will evaluate primar y Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects
sources to determine how a specific !
operation helped deceive Hitler’s ! Grade Level 9th-10th
forces of the where, when, and/or what !
Allied forces would be used in the ! RI - Reading Informative
!
OVERLORD invasion? ! Text
1-4, 7, 9, 10
!
!
Standards
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SL - Speaking and
1, 4
! ! Listening
This unit was produced in June 2014 by !
the Eisenhower Foundation. ! RH - Reading History/ 1, 2, 4, 7, 9,
! ! Social Studies 10
Mitzi Bankes Gose, writer ! WHST - Writing History/
Emily Miller, editor ! Social Studies
1, 7
!Thanks to the Dane G. Hansen Foundation !
This curriculum also fulfills portions of the Kansas
for funding and the Eisenhower Standards for History, Government and Social Studies:
Presidential Librar y, Museum and High School level: Modern World History: The World at
Boyhood Home for support. War (@1910-1950).
2
Lesson Plan
INTRODUCTION
1. Have this quote visible to all students: THE BEST DECEPTION IS
ATTAINED BY FEEDING AN OPPONENT WITH FALSEHOODS WHICH HE
WANTS TO BELIEVE.
!
!
2. The facilitator delivers Background Briefing, referencing the supporting
10 minutes
documents found in the Background Briefing files (1 per group).
!
EXERCISES
!
3. In small groups, students analyze one of the SECRET FILES containing 15 minutes
primary and secondary sources on each topic. They use this information
to fill out the Briefing Organizer. !
4. Each student group orally presents their Briefing Organizer to General
!
Eisenhower. 20 minutes
CONCLUSION
5. Summarize the success of these deceptions to D-Day and/or OVERLORD.
How does what you’ve learned explain the quote?
!
!
6. Show the video “D-Day Deception” from the History Channel:
5 minutes
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day/videos/d-day-deception
!
3
Background Briefing
Everyone knew there would have to be an a thick evening London fog. It
Allied invasion to liberate western Europe was supposed to be a week before an
from Nazi control; that fact could not be kept a announcement was made of the new
surprise. But where, when, and what forces commander’s identity and location, but
had to be secret if there would be any hope for Eisenhower soon learned that a German spy
success. The Allied forces were greatly had already notified his Nazi controllers!
outnumbered—some reports say 10:1—by When Ike demanded to know how this
Hitler’s Nazi armies who had already built a information was leaked, he was not only
great “Atlantic Wall” of military obstacles and informed that it was done on purpose by one of
reinforcements all along the Atlantic coast the Allies’ double-agents, he was also briefed
line. It was obvious to Hitler that the most on many covert operations and groups that
advantageous invasion site for the Allies were already in place or being proposed to
would be Pas de Calais, France because of its help with Overlord. As Supreme Commander,
proximity to Dover, England. If the Calais Ike was now tasked with being the single
ports were taken, they would provide Allied guiding head of the various plans of deception.
troops a place to quickly deport soldiers and All responsibility came to his desk.
supplies, and access the established French
highways to make a straight-line to Hitler’s In groups, you are each going to learn
Germany. about different aspects of these covert
operations and then deliver a briefing to
Knowing all this, the Allied forces began General Eisenhower. You will inform Ike of
strategizing how to successfully invade. A how your deception will help deceive Hitler of
complex web of deception plans were created the where, when, and what forces will be used
to simultaneously be carried out and mislead in the invasion. To do this, you will be given a
Hitler’s Nazi forces. Bodyguard was the file containing primary and secondary sources
codename chosen for the overall strategy to to analyze and use to fill out a briefing
protect the invasion. Operation Bodyguard organizer.
included many deception plans to keep the
Nazi forces spread out and guessing where
and when the Allies would invade western
Europe.
1 Dover,
General Dwight D. Eisenhower was already England
serving as the Supreme Commander of Allied
Forces in North Africa when he was secretly 2 Pas-de-Calais,
chosen to serve as the Supreme Commander of France
the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
Under this title, he would lead the invasion, 3 Beaches of
codenamed “Overlord,” to liberate Europe Normandy,
from Hitler. Ike reported to his new London France
office on January 15, 1944, under the cover of
4Glossary
As you analyze the primary and secondary sources in your file, you may
need to refer to this glossary to better understand the terms and titles used.
23rd Headquarters Special Troops = A United States Army tactical deception unit whose
mission was to impersonate other U.S. Army units to deceive the enemy. It is unofficially often
called “The Ghost Army.”
Abwher = the German military intelligence division.
BODYGUARD (Operation or Plan Bodyguard) = The code name for the overall strategy to
protect Operation OVERLORD. BODYGUARD contained a number of cover and deception
operations.
“By Special Means” = the term used by insiders to mean “purposefully leaking information
through an enemy agent.”
BI-A = Counterespionage arm of MI-5, responsible for handling double-agents.
BIGOT = This was stamped on documents to designate them as the highest security
classification. They contained information about the key secrets of Operation Neptune.
COSSAC = Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander. This was renamed SHAEF after the
appointment of Dwight D. Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
Double Cross System = The operation of turning captured German spies into double agents
working for the Allies. They were controlled by a group called the Twenty Committee. In
Roman numerals, twenty is XX, so the use of these double-agents was labeled the “double-cross
system.” Also, to double-cross someone means to cheat or deceive them.
Enigma = The German encoding machine, thought by the Abwher to be undecipherable.
FORTITUDE (Operation Fortitude) = A major part of Operation BODYGUARD, this was the
code name of a deception plan aimed at misleading the German high command about the
OVERLORD invasion, especially, NEPTUNE. It was broken into several sub-plans.
FUSAG = The First United States Army Group. A skeleton army purportedly preparing for the
Allied invasion at Pas de Calais. It pretended to be up to fifty army divisions.
General Harold R. Bull = Head of the Operations Division at SHAEF. He exercised day-to-day
control of the deception plan.
!
5Ghost army or phantom army = General terms used for small tactical groups that use deception
techniques to fool the enemy into thinking they are a much larger unit than they really are and
in a different location than the real army is. “The Ghost Army” is the unofficial name often used
for the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops.
Joint Security Control (JSC, American) and
London Controlling Section (LCS, British). They were both responsible for devising and
coordinating strategic cover and deception schemes.
M.I.5 = British Secret Service section responsible for security within Great Britain (similar to
the FBI in the U.S.).
M.I.6 = British Secret Service section responsible for security outside of Great Britain.
Notional = The term used by the British to describe a simulated, or dummy, unit or position.
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) = The U.S. intelligence and covert action agency during World
War II.
Operation NEPTUNE = This was the code name for the naval aspect of the D-Day invasion onto
Normandy’s beaches.
Operation OVERLORD = The code name for the entire Allied invasion at Normandy, France. This
included navy, air, and ground forces. Commonly called D-Day, it occurred June 6, 1944.
Operation QUICKSILVER = The codename for a number of deceptions to support the fabrication
of FUSAG. It was subdivided into six sub plans numbered I through VI.
Operation ULTRA = The British code name for the systematic breaking of the German’s secret
codes and communications.
Ops (B) = An Allied (SHAEF) military deception planning department in charge of the
operations and intelligence for Operation BODYGUARD. It was also referred to as the Committee
of Special Means (CSM).
ULTRA = The code name for the Allied (but handled mostly by the British) cryptographic
intelligence, which was derived from breaking the code of the German Enigma machine and
decoding the messages.
SHAEF = Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the
Commander of SHAEF in Europe.
Strategic deception = Involves attempting to fool the enemy on a grand scale over a time period
of months or years.
Tactical deception = Concerns events that take place in a more localized area—generally within
the same country or within the boundaries of one army group—and over a time period of a few
hours to a few weeks.
6Briefing Organizer
Secret File title/topic:
Description of this deception plan:
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
How will it help deceive Hitler of the where, when, and/or
what forces will be used in the OVERLORD invasion?
THE BEST DECEPTION is ATTAINED BY FEEDING AN OPPONENT WITH FALSEHOODS WHICH HE WANTS TO BELIEVE.
7overlord cover plan
An admirer of strategic deception, convincing him that the real invasion
Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston was just a diversion for a larger
C h u r ch i l l e s t a b l i s h e d t h e L o n d o n imminent invasion.
Controlling Section (LCS) in mid-1942. To a ch i e ve t h i s , B o d y g u a r d
This was a secret bureau that met within proposed a war plan that was just close
Churchill’s underground Cabinet War enough to the truth to seem credible to
Rooms to plan stratagem against Hitler’s Hitler, but would mislead him completely
Nazi regime. As Chief of the LCS in July, about the time, place, and force of the
1943, Colonel John Bevan submitted invasion. Therefore, Bodyguard created
“Plan Jael,” the overall deception policy no less than 36 subordinate deception
for the Overlord invasion. plans with peculiar names to keep the
Plan Jael, named after a woman in Nazi forces spread out and guessing
the Old Testament who committed acts of where and when the Allies would invade
treachery, contained five main spheres of western Europe. For example, Operation
secret activity: offensive intelligence, Ironside presented the threat of an
counter-intelligence and security, special assault at Bordeaux, France, while
operations, political war fare, and Operation Vendetta threatened the
deception. After many revisions and region of Marseilles, F rance, and
names, Jael became “Bodyguard” and Operation Ferdinand kept Nazi troops
was presented to General Eisenhower occupied in the Genoa region of Italy.
when he reported to duty as the Supreme Operation Fortitude was a major
Allied Commander in January, 1944. piece of Bodyguard and it was also
The codename “Bodyguard” was divided into two sub-plans, Fortitude
chosen due to the following quote said by North and Fortitude South.
Winston Churchill to Joseph Stalin in The objective of Fortitude North
1943: “In wartime, truth is so precious was to convince Hitler to keep the 27
that she should always be attended by a divisions he had stationed in Norway,
bodyguard of lies.” Denmark, and Finland in place until the
Bodyguard was the overall Allies invaded Normandy. This was to be
strategy for a number of cover and accomplished through threats of an
deception operations intended to mislead Allied invasion from Scotland.
the enemy and protect the Overlord S i m i l a r l y, t h e o b j e c t i v e o f
invasion. It had two objectives: Fortitude South was to convince Hitler to
First, Bodyguard operations would keep his 15th Army at Pas de Calais
need to convince Hitler to disperse his before, during, and after the Allies
forces so that they would not be invaded at Normandy. This was to be
concentrated in the real invasion area, accomplished by presenting Hitler with
the beaches of Normandy, France. the threat of an Allied invasion from the
Secondly, Hitler’s response to the Dover, England area.
invasion needed to be delayed by
8Quicksilver I: first u.s. army group
To give credibility to the deception,
Operation Fortitude was a major
the men of FUSAG would even wear
piece of Operation Bodyguard. It was a different shoulder insignia patches and
deception plan aimed at misleading the unifor ms to impersonate different
German high command about the Overlord divisions and then go places where they
invasion. It was divided into Fortitude knew spying eyes or press would be
North and South. One of Fortitude South’s watching and reporting. Fake wedding
sub-plans was codenamed Quicksilver, announcements were even sent to the
which was also broken into six sub-plans. papers to “validate” that a man from a
Quicksilver I established a phantom First phony division was in a certain area.
United States Army Group, commonly If all went as planned, the Nazis
referred to as FUSAG. would falsely conclude that the June
invasion at Normandy was just a small
An ULTRA decrypt of January 10, diversion to pull German troops away
19 4 4 , s h o w e d t h a t t h e Na z i s h a d from a larger main invasion yet to come
discovered the existence in England of at Calais.
both an American-led First Army Group
FUSAG’s most notable leader was
and a British-led 21st Army Group. At
U.S. General George Patton. Because
that time, the First was small, but real
of his reputation as a tough and
and under the command of
tried military leader, Hitler
G e n e r a l O m a r B r a d l e y.
expected General Patton to lead
Therefore, it was not difficult to
troops in the main invasion.
lead the Nazis to believe that
Additionally, the press followed
FUSAG was growing in size and
Patton everywhere because of his
preparing to strike.
flair for the dramatic and loose
FUSAG’s objective was to fool lips. This made him a perfect
German intelligence into believing the diversion for the Allies’ strategic
landings would occur at Pas-de-Calais, deception plan. In one instance, a
France in mid-July, 1944, rather than the captured Nazi commander was being
real invasion site at the beaches of exchanged back to Germany, so on his
Normandy, France in early June. To do way home he was wined and dined one
this, a small group of real FUSAG soldiers evening by Patton himself. In talking to
simulated all the aspects of about a million other Allied officers at dinner, Patton “let
soldiers preparing to invade Calais from slip” bits of information about FUSAG and
Dover, England. This meant tent cities Calais. As planned, the Nazi commander
were created all over eastern England to repeated all he had overheard at his
look like the facilities required for 50 debriefing back in Germany. Nazi high
divisions: mess halls, hospitals, ammo command was more convinced than ever
depots, sewage treatment farms, and fuel that FUSAG was planning an invasion at
depots, trucks, tanks, ships, docks, etc. Calais.
9Quicksilver II: WIRELESS
Operation Fortitude was a major piece of combination of true and false information about
Operation Bodyguard. It was a deception plan troop movements, causing the Germans to
aimed at misleading the German high command deduce an order of battle which suggested an
about the Overlord invasion. One of several invasion at the Pas-de-Calais instead of
Fortitude sub-plans was codenamed Normandy. The fictitious divisions created for
Quicksilver, which was also broken into six sub- this deception were supplied with real radio
plans. While Quicksilver I established the units, which maintained a flow of messages
backstory of a small unit called the First United consistent with the deception.
States Army Group (FUSAG) that pretended to Another factor that gave credibility to
be upwards of a million troops, Quicksilver II the radio traffic regarding FUSAG was that it
dealt with the need for wireless radio deception. was mixed in with real messages about real
For the enemy to perceive FUSAG as troops moving into place in south-western
real, it would require radio traffic that reflected England and preparing for the real invasion.
its assembly and movements around its The 5th Wireless Group used devices
locations in south-east England. Allied planners that played back previously recorded messages
knew that German spies would be watching and that were broadcast on a radio system that
listening for radio transmissions in order to allowed one specially equipped truck to
gather and report information to the Abwehr. transmit six different signals, simulating a
Therefore, Quicksilver II’s signal corps wanted divisional-sized unit. For example, the 5th
to make sure the Abwehr got it all wrong. Wireless Group was able to recreate what
The Nazis would be gathering their seemed like troops practicing an amphibious
intelligence information from three main landing by studying the real thing, writing a
sources: wireless (radio) intercept, aerial script, and then recreating and recording the
reconnaissance and agents’ reports. The Nazis messages themselves. When the “show” was
controlled the entire coastline of western broadcast over the radio waves, the enemy
Europe and believed that they could tap into could not tell the difference. Using this
Allied wireless traffic with ease. Therefore, the technique, this small group of soldiers could
Allies planned to turn those wireless intercepts mimic the radio traffic of a corps of 45,000.
into a tool to plant deception. Simultaneously, the 3103rd Signal
Sending planned fake telegraph and Service Battalion was the American part of the
radio signals for the Nazis to intercept allowed signal corps concerned with large scale
the Allies to create fictitious divisions and made strategic deception. It was composed of 17
it seem that they had much more strength than radio teams in 13 different locations in south-
they really did. To make the supposed FUSAG east England, working together to simulate the
invasion at Calais believable, the signal corps various notional units supposedly waiting to
filled the radio airwaves with exactly the same invade at Calais. They were able to reproduce
messages that would accompany all those the radio traffic in real time to mimic any
divisions moving into place around Dover, American unit from division size up, doing any
England, and preparing to invade. Some type of training or maneuvering. The 3103rd
messages were sent in cipher, some not. The sent an average of 230 phony messages a day.
signal corps fed German intelligence a
10Quicksilver III,V, & VI
Operation Fortitude was a major piece of craf ts to help complete the illusion.
Operation Bodyguard. It was a deception plan Additionally, fake troop camps, a fake dock
aimed at misleading the German high command facility and oil storage complex was built near
about the Overlord invasion. One of several Dover. It was all much the same as building a
Fortitude sub-plans was codenamed set for a play or movie. Upon the dock’s
Quicksilver, which was also broken into six sub- completion, an inspection was held by King
plans. While Quicksilver I established the George VI and General Montgomery. General
backstory of a small unit called the First United Eisenhower also spoke at the affair, honoring
States Army Group (FUSAG) that pretended to the “engineers and contraction foremen.” This
be upwards of a million troops, Quicksilver III, was, of course, a staged event to take photos
V, and VI dealt with the need for FUSAG’s which were given to the newspapers and
physical deception. therefore leaked to the enemy.
Several types of physical deception were The soldiers of Quicksilver V created the
used around the coast of Dover, England where appearance of extra wireless (radio) stations
FUSAG was supposed to be assembling and and extra tunnel construction that would be
preparing to invade Calais, France. Dummy consistent with all the new troops that had
assault landing craft were known as wetbobs, moved to the Dover area.
while dummy tank landing craft were known as Fake runways were constructed with
bigbobs. Two hundred and fifty-five of these fake aircraft. Sound tracks blared forth the
dummies were built and displayed along the noise of aircraft engines revving, presumably
coast. prior to takeoff—just for the ears of enemy spies
In an attempt to keep the fake landing who might be nearby. At night, salvaged
craft a secret, they were built at Folkestone automobile headlights mounted on wheels were
Harbor (near Dover) behind huge canvases that dragged up and down the fake airfields,
were hung across the streets while the men conveying the impression that planes were
built the dummies on the beach. Civilians were landing and taking off.
not allowed near the harbor. Once the dummies Tanks, artillery, and trucks made of
had been floated, they were moored in position inflatable rubber were used in all the areas
in the harbor, as if they were real. Soldiers of where Patton’s huge army should have been
Quicksilver III would then have to maintain amassing and preparing to invade Calais.
their condition each day, mending joints, Quicksilver VI set up and maintained
tightening canvas and reattaching floatation night lighting to simulate the troop activity that
drums. If all went as planned, spying Nazi would be occurring at night where dummy
flights could not get close enough to see that landing craft and air craft were situated.
none of this was real. Simulated beach lighting and vehicle lights
However, the dummy landing crafts suggested round the clock business in the
could not deceive alone. That would be like Dover area. At the same time, deceptive
having a bunch of cars with no gas stations or lighting schemes were used to camouflage the
roads; the enemy would quickly catch on to the real Allied ports in south-western England.
ruse. Hards (embarkation slipways from which When actual bombs were fired at dummy areas,
the notional troops would board) were oil drums were lit to complete the illusion that
constructed to go alongside the dummy landing real equipment had been hit.
11Quicksilver IV & air support
Operation Fortitude was a major Normandy, two were dropped on the Pas de
piece of Operation Bodyguard. It was a Calais area.
deception plan aimed at misleading the Attacks on railway junctions were
German high command about the Overlord focused entirely on the area near Pas de
invasion. One of several Fortitude sub-plans Calais. These targets had been chosen by
was codenamed Quicksilver, which was also Allied railway experts as the best means of
broken into six sub-plans. Quicksilver IV bringing the French rail network to a
dealt with the need for an air plan. standstill.
The Nazi enemy knew that prior to It should be noted that Pas-de-Calais
the real invasion, the Allies would need to was also a launching site of the Nazi’s V-
run training flights and practice air-sea weapons (long-range artillery) towards
rescue missions. Therefore, this is exactly England. Therefore, those were legitimate
what Quicksilver IV set out to provide. One sites for the Allies to bomb, regardless of it
tactic of air deception was to have fighter helping the Fortitude deception plan.
aircraft do training drills out of bases near Hitler knew this also made Calais an
Dover, England, because those airfields obvious target, and stated in his Fuhrer
would be the most obvious if the invasion Directive No. 51 of November 3, 1943, that
was to be at Pas de Calais. The Allies knew he had decided to reinforce the defenses,
that Nazi spies would be watching and “particularly those places from which the
reporting. For example, on May 29, 1944, long-range bombardment of England will
sixty-six squadrons took part in an begin. For it is here that the enemy must
exercise, landing on airfields in Kent and and will attack, and it is here—unless all
Sussex to rearm and refuel. German indications are misleading—that the
aircraft were “allowed” to venture close decisive battle against the landing forces
enough to observe the operation, and will be fought.”
Double-Cross agent “Donny” reported his
observations of the operation to Abwehr. In April 1944, Eisenhower was given
control of all air operations and SHAEF
Ad d i t i o n a l ly, t a c t i c a l b o m b i n g initiated the Transportation Plan, using
missions were carried out that disrupted bombers to destroy rail centers and bridges
the railways, bridges, and beaches of the serving northwestern France. Through the
Calais area. The basic Overlord air plan month of April, the Ninth (tactical) Army
stressed disruption of facilities that Air Force in England dropped 33,000 tons
supported the Nazi forces, and interception of bombs on French and Belgium railway
of the Seine River bridges, and therefore no targets. During May 1944, transportation
adjustment was needed for Quicksilver IV. attacks were greatly intensified by all air
Bombing of these sites served both the forces and cunningly focused on routes
deception plan and the real plan. However, which led into Normandy while seemingly
for every bombing that was done of the concentrated on those serving Calais.
coastal defenses and radar stations at
12Ultra & enigma
As the Supreme Allied Commander of how they planned to meet the Allied attack.
the Overlord invasion, General Dwight D. These reports exemplify how completely
Eisenhower was fortunate to learn that he the Germans were fooled, and how much we
would have the best spies in the world knew about the German forces. The
working for him: the British Secret Service. Appreciations were circulated to very few
The Allies’ ability to break Axis and stamped “Top Secret.” From this
ciphers enabled them to read enemy fears information, Eisenhower and his staff were
and intentions and to monitor the effects of able to work up precise tables on the
their deceptions. The information gathered German’s ability to move reinforcements
from decrypted messages was known by the into Normandy.
code name Ultra. It proved invaluable to E n i g m a r e fe r s t o a f a m i l y o f
the D-Day deception planners because it typewriter-like cipher machines. The
permitted them to see if the Germans operator typed the letters of a message and
accepted their misinformation as truth. the machine would do the rest. The wheels
U l t r a w a s u n d o u b t a b ly t h e m o s t rotated to produce an encrypted
powerful source of obtaining Axis letter, which lit up above the
enemy information during keyboard. The code
World War II. changed according to the
Much of German wheel and plug positions.
radio traffic was encrypted To read or write a coded
on the Enigma encr ypting message, the operator wrote
device. With over 200 trillion possible down all of the letters as they lit
letter combinations, its code was hailed by up. Operators were given monthly charts to
the Nazis as unbreakable. However, with indicate the daily setting, because a
the help of Polish cryptographers, the code message enciphered by an Enigma machine
was cracked by Allied intelligence in could be deciphered only by another
December of 1941. From that point on, the Enigma machine with the same settings.
Allies were able to “listen in” on the Ultra’s operation headquarters were
enemies’ conversations. Of course, the fact at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire,
that Enigma had been broken was kept Top England. Thousands of wireless operators
Secret. tracked the enemy’s radio networks,
The Ultra obtained was compiled into carefully logging every letter or figure.
weekly reports, called “Appreciations,” These messages were then sent back to
which told Eisenhower where the German Bletchley Park to be deciphered, translated
forces were, what their order of battle was, and fitted together like a gigantic jigsaw
and what strengths they had. It confirmed puzzle to produce unprecedented detail of
that the top Nazi commanders agreed the German defenses for the Allies.
Calais was the most likely invasion site, and
13double-cross
As the Supreme Allied Commander of The Double-Cross network supported
the Overlord invasion, General Dwight D. Operation Fortitude by “leaking” information
Eisenhower was fortunate to learn that he about the Allied troops located in southern
would have the best spies in the world England. Agents reported observations of
working for him: the British Secret Service. some real, but mostly notional forces who
It was, in fact a German spy, code name Tate, were preparing for a big invasion that would
working for the British Secret Service who be launched in July, 1944 (the real date was
reported to his controller that the new early June). Using the agents’ reports, Nazi
supreme commander had taken up his intelligence was also lead to believe that the
duties. When this intentional leak was majority of Allied troops were amassing
explained to Ike, he also learned about Ultra directly opposite of Pas de Calais.
and the workings of the Double-Cross The most notorious Double-Cross
System. agent was a man named Juan Pujol Garcia,
Unbelievably, the counterespionage code named Garbo because he was such a
arm of the British Internal Security Agency great actor. He was a brilliant spy who
captured every Nazi spy that had been sent created a rather bizarre cast of twenty-
to Great Britain. These captured spies had seven other double agents who supposedly
two choices, work as a double- worked under him. None were
agent for the Allies, or be real! However, Hitler and his
imprisoned and possibly executed. Abwehr believed in Garbo. A
Those who chose to “cross” their momentous telegram was sent
loyalties to the Allies continued to from Garbo on June 9, 1944,
report by radio to the Abwehr, but which told Hitler that the
only under the direct supervision Normandy invasion was just a
of BI-A agents working for the diversion from the imminent
Twenty Committee. The name was attack at Calais. This message
derived from the Roman numeral convinced Hitler to order
t we n t y ( X X ) , w h i ch i s a l s o panzer troops that were already
symbolic of the term “double- o n t h e i r w ay t o r e i n fo r c e
cross,” which described these agents. No r m a n d y, t o t u r n a r o u n d . G a r b o ’ s
The Allies’ ability to break Axis cipher deception was so successful that the German
machines enabled them to listen in on the High Command kept twenty-two divisions in
enemies’ conversations. Known as “Ultra,” the Calais area in anticipation of the “real”
this intelligence was undoubtably the most invasion through July and August, 1944,
power ful source of obtaining enemy giving Ike’s troops precious time to establish
information during World War II, thereby their bridgehead at Normandy and begin
being a great help to the Double-Cross their liberation of Europe. Eisenhower later
System. The ULTRA intercepts provided a wrote, "The German Fifteenth Army, if
constant feedback and check on how well the committed to battle in June or July, might
enemy was believing their spies’ (now possibly have defeated us by sheer weight of
working for the Allies) information. numbers.” Without these much-needed
! reinforcements, the German front line
collapsed.
14secRECY
While the many deceptions of our consciences if we were to feel, in later
Operation Bodyguard and Fortitude years, that by neglecting any security
continued to baffle Hitler, great measures precaution we had compromised the
were taken to ensure that the real success of these vital operations or
Normandy invasion was concealed. It needlessly squandered men's lives.” The
would be vital, and especially difficult, to War Cabinet and Prime Minister Churchill
keep the extensive movements and ministries conceded and the ban started in
concentrations of men, supplies, and ships April, 1944. Britain became, temporarily,
necessary for the Overlord invasion a a police state isolated from the rest of the
secret. The most rigid precautions were world.
necessary. Restrictions on the military would
S t a r t i n g i n S e p t e m b e r 19 4 3 , be even more severe. General Eisenhower
COSSAC adopted a special classification, ordered all units under his command to
known as BIGOT, by which all papers maintain the highest standard of security
relating the the Overlord operations which discipline, and that severe disciplinary
disposed the target area or the precise actions be taken in the case of any
dates of the assault were limited in violations. Ike also ordered that no one in
circulation to a small group of uniform who had any knowledge
officers subjected to stringent of the invasion be sent on an
safeguards. operation where there might be
The most crucial period danger of capture.
for secrecy was from March By mid-April the troops
1944 until after D-Day when the stationed in England were placed
heaviest concentrations of in "transit camps" and prohibited
troops and landing craft in the from leaving. All mail to and from
southern English coastal areas foreign diplomats from any other
were being made. General countries—even our Allies—was
Eisenhower requested that subject to censorship. By May 25,
civilians not be allowed to into all letters from American troops
the coastal areas, so exclusion zones were were suspended and foreign diplomats
set up starting in mid-March. He also were forbidden from sending coded
asked for strict communications messages.
censorship of civilians and press. A full blackout was slowly put into
The civil ministries of England and effect. Cities which had bustled with
Prime Minister Churchill objected to these uniforms and buses during the day fell
measures because of the restrictions it suddenly silent, but throughout the night
placed on British citizens who were the constant hum of engines on the roads
a l r e a d y u n d e r t h e s t r e s s o f w a r. of southern England betrayed the secret
Complicating matters more were the many movement of forces. If any Nazi spies had
exiled kings, queens, princes and their been present in the south of England, the
entourages who were living in England secret would not have survived. But they
and used to getting their way. General had all been captured, and the secret was
Eisenhower insisted, “It will go hard with safe.
15CONCLUSION
As D-Day neared, the deception was absolute and
on June 6, 1944, the Overlord invasion of the Normandy beaches
came as a complete surprise. The Nazis mounted fierce resistance with
the forces they had at Normandy, but it could have been much worse had the
deception plans not worked. Furthermore, instead of sending his full force of
reinforcements to the Normandy invasion, Hitler ordered the largest of his troops (the
15th Army) to stay at Calais because of his certainty that Normandy was just a
diversion for FUSAG to strike at Calais on a later date. Hitler was successfully led to
believe that the invasion wouldn't come until mid-June or even mid-August. The brave
and clever men of these many Allied deceptions left a trail of clues that fooled the
Germans so well that they still feared the “real invasion” was coming at Calais well into
August, 1944 — two months after the Allies had successfully stormed the beaches of
Normandy and were on their way to Berlin, Germany. Hitler would never
again regain control of the war.
Watch the video “D-Day Deception” from the History Channel:
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day/videos/d-day-deception
!
!
How does what you have learned in this lesson explain this quote?
THE BEST DECEPTION is ATTAINED BY FEEDING AN OPPONENT WITH FALSEHOODS WHICH HE WANTS TO BELIEVE
LEARN MORE: Once the Allies were firmly established in France, the time
for strategic deception in Europe had ended. Tactical deception was then
needed to defeat the Germans in battle. Shortly after the Allies landed in
Normandy, the first operation of the 23rd Special Troops took place. This
unit took part in over twenty major operations, fulfilling battlefield
deceptions that helped win the war. Their skill in luring in the enemy and
then disappearing at the last minute earned them the name “The Ghost Army.”
16THE BEST DECEPTION
IS ATTAINED BY
FEEDING AN OPPONENT
WITH FALSEHOODS
WHICH HE WANTS
TO BELIEVE.You can also read
