Overview
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In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of G.I.s landed in France to conduct a special mission. Armed with truckloads of inflatable tanks, a massive collection of sound effects records, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, their job was to create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units.
Each deception required that they impersonate a different (and vastly larger) U.S. unit. Like actors in a repertory theater, they would mount an ever-changing multimedia show tailored to each operation. The men immersed themselves in their roles, even hanging out at local cafes and spinning their counterfeit stories for spies who might lurk in the shadows. Painstakingly recorded sounds of armored and infantry units were blasted from sound trucks; radio operators created phony traffic nets; and inflatable tanks, trucks, artillery and even airplanes were imperfectly camouflaged so they would be visible to enemy reconnaissance. Ghost Army soldiers came from 46 states. Artists and engineers served alongside truck drivers and bartenders. “It was a big war,” said veteran John Jarvie. “It was a big war and everybody went.” Another veteran recalled that you could hear Beethoven’s Fifth at one end of the barracks, and “Pistol Packin’ Mama” at the other. For many it was the first time they had ever been exposed to people so different than themselves. In the best tradition of American soldiers, they pulled together to make it work. The Ghost Army staged more than 20 deception operations in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, often operating dangerously close to the front lines. “Its complement was more theatrical than military,” noted the unit’s official history. “It was like a traveling road show that went up and down the front lines impersonating the real fighting outfits.” They frequently put themselves in danger, suffering casualties as a consequence. Three Ghost Army soldiers were killed and dozens wounded carrying out their missions. As the Allies moved inland through Normandy, as Patton broke out of the hedgerows and raced across France, as General Bradley ordered the relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, the Ghost Army was there, playing an sung role In the final days of the war they faced their ultimate test: a deception along the Rhine in which thousands of lives depended on their delivering a convincing performance. They succeeded in fooling the Germans about when the 9th US Army would cross the Rhine, and are credited with saving thousands of lives in the bargain. The story of the 23rd was kept secret for more than 50 years, along with the story of their sister deception unit, the 3133rd Signal Company Special, which operated in Italy and carried out two deceptions as the war there neared an end. Thirty years after the war, when the details of their story were still being kept secret, a United States Army analyst who studied their missions came away deeply impressed with the impact of their illusions. “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.” |
A member of the 603rd stands in front of an inflatable tank destroyer.
Members of the 3132 Signal Service Company with oneof their speciall equipped sonic halftrakcs.
Stan Nance in front of his radio truck, "Kilowatt Kommand."
One of the four companies in the 603rd Camouflage Engineers, the visual deception arm of the Ghost Army.
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Creation
Ralph Ingersoll
Billy Harris
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The Ghost Army was born from a marriage of opposites. Major Ralph Ingersoll was a civilian who was drafted into the Army – a flamboyant left wing celebrity journalist described by The New York Times as “a prodigiously energetic egotist.” He was genuinely creative thinker involved in the creation of Fortune Magazine and Life Magazine - he was also a bold, confident dissembler. A fellow officer once said: “I’ve never met anyone who was such a bright guy who was such a goddamned liar.” (What a great pedigree for a deception officer!) By 1943 Ingersoll was a staff officer working on deception plans in London. His boss there was Colonel Billy Harris. Harris was the exact opposite of Ingersoll. A buttoned-up, straight arrow, West Point military guy. His father was a general. His uncle was a general. Billy himself eventually commanded the 7th Cavalry in Korea – Custer’s old outfit, and went on to become a general himself. Thrown together by war, these two very different men from the civilian and military worlds forged an amazingly fertile partnership. Ingersoll was the wild idea, pie-in-the sky guy. Harris was the feet on the ground “how do we make this work” guy.” Inspired by the British deceptions, especially Operation Bertran in North Africa, and wanting to give the American army every advantage they could when they went into France, these two planners dreamed up The Ghost Army and sold the idea to the top brass. |
Order of Battle
The new unit was officially activated on January 20, 1944 at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. To carry out the deception mission, the army brought together three existing units and one brand new one, placing them all under the command of Colonel Harry Reeder, who would continue to command the Twenty-third Headquarters Special Troops until the unit returned home from Europe.
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The 603rd Camouflage Engineering Battalion
The largest unit in The Ghost Army, its 379 men handled visual deception, using an array of inflatable rubber tanks, trucks, artillery and jeeps to create deceptive tableau for enemy aerial reconnaissance or distant observers. The unit had spent the previous two years doing camouflage work, and included in its ranks many artists specially recruited for that job. The Signal Company Special Formerly the 244th Signal Company, this group of 296 men carried out radio deception, also known as “spoof radio.” Operators created phony traffic nets, impersonating radio operators from real units. They mastered the art of mimicking an operator’s method of sending Morse code, so that the enemy would never catch on that the real unit and its radio operator were long gone. The 3132 Signal Service Company This was the sonic deception unit, staffed with 145 men. Their mission was to play sound effects from powerful speakers mounted on halftracks (armored vehicles with wheels in the front and tracks in the back) to simulate the sounds of units moving and operating at night. Recently formed, they were undergoing training at the Army Experimental Station at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum) in upstate New York when the Twenty-third was formed and would join them later in Normandy. The 406th Combat Engineers Led by Captain George Rebh, the 168 men of the 406th were trained as fighting soldiers. They provided perimeter security for the rest of Ghost Army. They also executed construction and demolition tasks including digging tank and artillery positions. The men of the 406th frequently used their bulldozers to simulate tank tracks as part of the visual deception. Selected Operations |
This illustraton by Lt. Fred Fox, who also wrote the official history of the unit, shows the separate parts of the 23rd and compares them to a theatrical company. "We must remember that we are playing to a very critical and attentive radio, ground, and aerial audience," he wrote. "They must all be convinced."
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Operation BRITTANY
In July 1944, they tricked the enemy about where General George Patton was headed, helping him to race across France and smash much of the German army.
Operation BETTEMBOURG
In September, they helped held a dangerously undermanned part of Patton’s line as he was attacking the fortress city of Metz. “There is one rather bad spot in my line, but I don’t think the Huns know it” Patton wrote to his wife. “Hlding it now by the grace of God and a lot of guts
Operation KODAK
During the Battle of the Bulge, they conducted a radio deception that helped draw German attention away from the effort to relieve Bastogne.
Operation VIERSEN
In March 1945, they put on a dazzling deception along the Rhine River, their biggest ever, that drew the enemy away from a real crossing by the 9th Army. It earned them a commendation from 9th Army commander William Simpson.
In July 1944, they tricked the enemy about where General George Patton was headed, helping him to race across France and smash much of the German army.
Operation BETTEMBOURG
In September, they helped held a dangerously undermanned part of Patton’s line as he was attacking the fortress city of Metz. “There is one rather bad spot in my line, but I don’t think the Huns know it” Patton wrote to his wife. “Hlding it now by the grace of God and a lot of guts
Operation KODAK
During the Battle of the Bulge, they conducted a radio deception that helped draw German attention away from the effort to relieve Bastogne.
Operation VIERSEN
In March 1945, they put on a dazzling deception along the Rhine River, their biggest ever, that drew the enemy away from a real crossing by the 9th Army. It earned them a commendation from 9th Army commander William Simpson.
ART
Many of the deceivers were young art students, some of whom would go on to be come famous – like fashion designer Bill Blass, minimalist painter Ellsworth Kelly, wildlife artists Arthur Singer and photographer At Kane. As they traveled across Europe, they filled their duffel bags with the drawings and paintings they created between missions. Their art offers intense, personal and sometimes humorous glimpses of life on the battlefield.
