The Ghost Army of World War II
This was a well-kept secret. It was, in fact, so well-kept for over 50 years, that no one knew anything about it, including the families of these people who worked in this unit, until it was finally declassified. It was the Ghost Army, a replicated army of equipment, tanks, landing craft, planes, etc., placed where Hitler’s spies and army could see them, and be fooled into believing they were real.
Most of the people who participated in this project just put it behind them and got on with their lives, so much so, that when Bernie Bluestein, a local Chicago area artist who is now 95, decided he wanted to take an Honor Flight to Washington, DC, all those memories he’d let fade into the past started coming to the surface. When he went to Europe with his son Keith, now 63, he began to tell his son all of this buried, long-suppressed stuff, astonishing him.
Mr. Bluestein was 19 when he was drafted into the Army. Because of his ability to sketch comic strips and pinup girls in Cleveland, OH, he was placed with the 603rd Camouflage Engineers Battalion, the objective being to create an entire army that would fool Adolf Hitler’s spies and aerial observers. These people were all levels of skill in art, from professional artists to students. They created everything from fake airplanes parked on what appeared to be airfields to convoys emplaced in France, to inflatable tanks with loudspeakers playing tank noises – all to fool the German army. And they couldn’t tell their families where they were (23rd Headquarters Special Troops unit) or what they were doing.
The full story on Mr. Bluestein is here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-ghost-army-veteran-20181110-story.html
To keep historical records intact, an organization titled The Ghost Army Legacy Project has been formed. The link is here: http://www.ghostarmylegacyproject.org
The first ever Ghost Army historical marker was dedicated September 26, 2018, in Bettembourg, Luxembourg.
The marker stands on the exact spot where the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops carried out Operation BETTEMBOURG, one of their longest and most important operations. http://www.ghostarmylegacyproject.org/news
Category: Army News, Historical, Veterans in the news, War Stories, We Remember
Thanks, Ex. I knew they spoofed the Germans into thinking the D-Day assault landings would be at Pas-de-Calais, and not Normandy. I had no idea they went across and continued their mission in France and Germany itself. Interesting.
Same here AW1Ed, I knew they had the inflatable tank, jeeps Etc and even a George Patton look alike running the ghost Army. Saw the whole shebang on the History channel a few years ago. The Brits had a Magician that was an illusanist that set up cities off of the coast as an illusion to fool the German bombers who dropped their bombs over open water off of the North African coast. Masculane I think his name was and there is a book about his exploits but the way it was done is still classified to this day. Another History Channel documentary.
Patton for a time was placed in command of the ghost army, on the belief that the Germans wouldn’t have any doubts that one of our greatest field commanders would be placed in command of the invasion.
Looks like I’m getting my stories mixed up. What Ex posted above is a later operation. I was referencing the fictitious first army group, which was a part of the pre-Normandy invasion deception Operation Fortitude. The first army group was put under Patton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fortitude#Operation_Quicksilver
Jasper Maskelyne, “The War Magician”. Hell of a story… sadly Hondo informed me that it had a lot of puffing-up to it and not to place much faith in it. Maskelyne was a well known English stage magician before the war.
I found this fascinating because when the “Ghost Army” came to light (I think on the History Channel), there was nothing at all said in reference to who put it together or that it was a specific military unit.
The logistics behind it were immense, however, and it is something that should not be lightly addressed.
I love the CCD employed during the war, and the ghost army is only part of that story. There was an entire communications unit that was part of the ghost army dedicated to recreating all of the myriad radio signals and transmissions for a unit of that size. All of it faked.
There’s the fake city built atop the Boeing bomber factory:
https://www.boredpanda.com/boeing-fake-rooftop-town-world-war-seattle/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
The corpse the Brits found and made a fake Captain to deceive the Axis regarding the invasion of Sicily.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat
Camo netting was put over some of the factories that turned out war production in California.
That entire operation was the basis for the 1956 movie “The Man Who Never Was”. Quite good, stuck to the course of events and kept the suspense to the last moment.
I have often wondered if the whole “Patton gets relieved” bit was 100% setup, entirely a put-on, so that he could be given command of the fake unit and thus make it highly plausible to the Reich.
Excellent post Mi’Lady. Like everyone else, I was familiar with the D-Day Spoof, but not as familiar with this unit’s activities. Makes one wonder how many lives might have been saved, or resources diverted by the Germans from other fronts, by these men. Do understand the whole “You don’t talk about who we are, what we do, what our capabilities are” thing. Had that pounded in our heads often enough.
Thanks. This fakery did what it was supposed to do, and gave the Allies the edge that they needed.
Sounds like the same outfit as the one featured in “Ghost Soldiers” by Hampton Sides, Copyright 2001. Anchor ISBN: 0-385-49565-X
Available at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Soldiers-Account-Greatest-Mission/dp/038549565X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541983597&sr=8-1&keywords=ghost+soldiers
No, I do not think they are related. The title of Sides book is a bit deceptive. His story is actually about a rescue of POWs in the Pacific. Good read, though.
BJ, Thanks for the correction. Best I can remember, I had read the account of the 603rd in a book of similar title that I own. Murphy is active and I can’t seem to find it now. Re-checking Amazon, I do find other books with similar titles that do cover the 603rd.
Thanks, Ex-PH2! My mother was a riveter and shift lead for Boeing @ Tukwila where this plant was. During her tenure @ Boeing, her crew would transit to SoCal numerous times to help their plant production down there then turn around and do it all again @ Tukwila. Wish she were still alive to see this article, she’d be awfully proud.