Inspired by the success of British subterfuge in North Africa earlier in the war, the U.S. Ghost Army member Freddy Fox described his unit as “a traveling road show that went up and down the front lines impersonating the real fighting outfits.” From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge, the Ghost Army performed more than 20 missions throughout the European theater of war in 19. WATCH: World War II Documentaries on HISTORY Vault Ghost Army: A 'Traveling Road Show'Ī rubber (and clearly light) decoy tank designed to deceive German forces in World War II, shown in England, circa 1939. “Rarely, if ever, has there been a group of such a few men which had so great an influence on the outcome of a major military campaign,” declared a U.S. Members of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and 3133rd Signal Company Special who literally practiced the art of war saved the lives of thousands of American servicemen and earned one of the country’s highest civilian honors.Įmploying inflatable decoys, fake radio chatter and loudspeakers that blared sound effects, the Ghost Army could simulate a force 30 times its size as it operated as close as a quarter mile from the front lines. Yet, a top-secret unit of 1,100 American artists, designers and sound engineers unofficially known as the “Ghost Army” helped to win World War II by staging elaborate ruses that fooled the forces of Nazi Germany about the location and size of Allied forces. Its artillery couldn’t fire, its tanks couldn’t move and its members were more adept at wielding paintbrushes than guns.
0 kommentar(er)
