The Ghost Army (I had NO idea!)

[Totally Tunsie]

I've lived my entire life without ever hearing of The Ghost Army deployed in WWII, but tonight - while watching my local news - I learned about this fascinating bit of history. Not only that, but there is a direct connection to my Little Rhody in that the inflatables utilized were manufactured in Woonsocket, RI, a nearby town.

I KNOW that there are many here on DU who were not ignorant of the existence of this Army, and thought you might want to explore some of what I've found, starting with this photo:



From Wiki (in brief): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Army

The visual deception arm of the Ghost Army was the 603rd Camouflage Engineers. It was equipped with inflatable tanks,[5] cannons, jeeps, trucks, and airplanes that the men would inflate with air compressors, and then camouflage imperfectly so that enemy aerial reconnaissance could see them. They could create dummy airfields, troop bivouacs (complete with fake laundry hanging on clotheslines), motor pools, artillery batteries, and tank formations in a few hours.

Here's a great compilation of information put together by WPRI-TV:
https://www.wpri.com/12-on-12/ghost-army/

...and some incredible photos:
https://ghostarmy.com/bio/f/Equipment/418#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20website%20www,fighter%20pilots%20in%20the%20Pacific.)

Because this is all new to me I'm presenting this as a "drop only" as I am no where near qualified to discuss this in depth. Just thought it's a fascinating bit of history to be visited.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. One of many things about ww2 that get lost in the chatter...

Glad you heard about it-- it's a really interesting story.

[Totally Tunsie]

3. It's fascinating, and I'll be exploring it further.

[ZZenith]

2. "We'd all be speaking German otherwise"

As the saying goes. WWII history is fascinating for so many reasons, and especially because there were so many crucial pieces that had to happen at exactly the right moments to enable the outcome we got. Misdirection is a powerful tool and the Ghost Army worked to perfection.

[Totally Tunsie]

5. I'm finding it's the little stories coming out of Ukraine that have really been interesting

me over the past few weeks: the babushkas giving the Russian soldiers the sunflower seeds to place in their pockets; the brilliance to turn off the power to elevators being used by the Russians; the Ukrainian farmers towing tanks with their tractors; Ukrainian housewives and youth hand-manufacturing camouflage curtains with which to cover equipment.

The "behind the scenes" are always great stories. The history of The Ghost Army is something I need and want to explore.

[sdfernando]

4. Both the Allies and the Axis used deception techniques

and here is a great one:

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/myth-real-wooden-bombs-fool-allies.html?chrome=1

[Totally Tunsie]

7. Humor in wartime!

Thanks for adding this.

[Jedi Guy]

9. I thought of that too when I read the OP and was going to post it, but you got there first. +1 N/T

[3auld6phart]

6. Patton's

Army. It fooled the Germans big time. Keeping many of them
tied down north of Normandie for several weeks.

[Totally Tunsie]

8. So I am learning...

How I wish my dad had told me more of his war adventures, but he'd rarely speak of that time.

[Jedi Guy]

10. I wish you'd gotten the chance, too, but I don't blame him for not wanting to speak of it.

My grandfather was a tank mechanic in the 11th Armored Tank Division. He told me a number of stories, and I still have the Bronze Star that he won as a result of one of them. When he told some of them he smiled, but he either got very quiet or wept after telling others. He was there when Mauthausen was liberated, but he flatly refused to talk about that, and I can't blame him a bit. My grandmother told me that even 60+ years later, he'd still occasionally cry in his sleep when he dreamed of it.

I had the privilege of going with him to his 50th reunion with his old war buddies in the mid-90s, and it was a real treat getting to sit with those old duffers and listen to their stories, too.

Respect and gratitude to your dad for his service.

[Totally Tunsie]

11. Then you understand well, Jedi Guy.

My dad was a Navy courier whose job it was to transport messaging, sometimes "behind the lines" as he would say, but I rarely got more info. One thing's for sure - he LOVED the Navy.

Thank you for the mention of your grandfather. How wonderful that you were able to accompany him to the reunion. I'm sure he enjoyed taking you as much as you enjoyed going.

Much respect for grandfather's service also. They paved the way for us to live peacefully and well for quite some time.

[Pobeka]

12. I hadn't thought about that in a very long time.

But, I do remember hearing about it at some point when I was younger.

Misinformation can be a useful weapon of war.

[WVreaper]

13. And the General in command of the ghost army was...

George Patton. He was getting his hand slapped for one of his historic Indescetions. The Germans felt that he was one of the most capable allied commanders. With loads of fake radio traffic, the Germans bought it.j

[canetoad]

14. I think I have

A full documentary on this. I'll have a look and post link if possible.

[cbabe]

15. Ghost army documentary

Last edited Fri Apr 1, 2022, 12:27 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.pbs.org/show/ghost-army/

RE-AIRED DECEMBER 2018

War, deception, art and glory come together in the documentary film "The Ghost Army," the astonishing true story of American G.I.s, many of whom would later have illustrious careers in art, design and fashion, who tricked the enemy with rubber tanks, sound effects and carefully crafted illusions during the Second World War.

…

I also remember an amazing fictional film but can’t find it. Detailing Hollywood special effects and set designers doing their bit for the war effort. Anyone?

Edit: or perhaps the doc was so fantastical I remember it as fiction.

[Totally Tunsie]

16. Thanks for posting this.

I'll look forward to watching it later today.

[JHB]

17. Not the Ghost Army but part of the same campaign of deception...

The British hid some of the large prefabricated portions of the Mulberry floating harbors to support Operation Overlord from aerial reconnaissance by painting fake doors and windows on them to make them look like office bulidings.

(Before they were moved into the water, obviously.)

[Totally Tunsie]

18. The cleverness of war...

[cbabe]

19. Too bad we don't use the same cleverness for peace.

[Totally Tunsie]

20. True this.

[FSogol]

21. Book recommendation

"Rogue Heroes: The History of the Sas, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War"
by Ben Macintyre

The publisher's overview reads: The incredible untold story of WWII's greatest secret fighting force, as told by our great modern master of wartime intrigue Britain's Special Air Service--or SAS--was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young, gadabout aristocrat whose aimlessness in early life belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a battlefield map of World War II's African theater and saw a protracted struggle with Rommel's desert forces, Stirling saw an opportunity: given a small number of elite, well-trained men, he could parachute behind enemy lines and sabotage their airplanes and war material. Paired with his constitutional opposite, the disciplined martinet Jock Lewes, Stirling assembled a revolutionary fighting force that would upend not just the balance of the war, but the nature of combat itself. He faced no little resistance from those who found his tactics ungentlemanly or beyond the pale, but in the SAS's remarkable exploits facing the Nazis in the Africa and then on the Continent can be found the seeds of nearly all special forces units that would follow. Bringing his keen eye for psychological detail to a riveting wartime narrative, Ben Macintyre uses his unprecedented access to SAS archives to shine a light inside a legendary unit long shrouded in secrecy. The result is not just a tremendous war story, but a fascinating group portrait of men of whom history and country asked the most.

[Totally Tunsie]

22. Thank you. I'll add it to my list.