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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You won't want to put it down, August 24, 2002
I generally have little interest in military stories, but this book is exceptional. I can't recommend it too highly. I had trouble working last week because my reading hours ran long. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops makes for a great story to begin with. This specialized and highly secret unit of guys put on "shows" throughout the Allied campaign from Normandy into Germany with inflatable tanks, stereo broadcasts over the countryside of moving tanks and equipment (where nothing was moving but show-people), and pyrotechnic light shows -- all designed to cover up weak spots in the Allied line, tie up German divisions where they were ineffectual, and to draw attention away from actual troop movements. But who do you round up to do such work? For camoufleurs you need artists, including a guy who's spent years studying how birds blend into their habitat; for producing "shows" you need scriptwriters and other show people. Fashion designer Bill Blass was involved. The antithesis of gung-ho Army grunts became a unit that saved untold numbers of lives. The interplay of contrasting styles between unconventional creative artists and career Army officers is captivating. Yet, for the most part, they all made it work. You get a sense of even the men themselves shaking their heads in wonder. Philip Gerard's writerly craft brings much to the story. The book is arranged chronologically, introducing the various players and their training before following them to England and through the operations in Europe. Early on, certain readers might find some of the technical detail a bit much, but later when the action cranks up overseas we understand exactly what's going on and appreciate the careful preparation. We know the characters, their personalities and their functions, and we know the hardware, so the stories flow during the cross-country race toward Berlin. And the technical matters are delivered through warmly human stories throughout the book, profiles of unlikely heroes, men thrown into circumstances that demanded more than they knew they had in them. Gerard's meticulous and wide-ranging research -- and surely some luck as well -- are plainly evident, not only in the stories but in the extensive notes, bibliography, and index. There is far more to the book than I can say here without giving away too much. Read it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An overdue unit history, July 29, 2002
My last 40 months in the Army (1996 - 2000) were spent at Ft. Drum, New York. While there I soon learned that such well known divisions as the 45th Infantry Division and Patton's famous 4th Armored Division trained there before shipping out for combat in Europe. What I also learned about was a signal corp unit which did top secret or "hush-hush" work. Unfortunately there wasn't much else in the way of information. When I was there I heared that the surviving members of the unit had a reunion and that an author was researching for a book. I made a mental note to look for the book, but after a couple of years forgot. Well this year for Fathers Day my seven year old daughter bought Secret Soldiers for me. It's a great read. It keeps your attention and shines a light on a part of the war effort that has been dark until recently. No these men did not engage the enemy in hand to hand combat, sieze a vital target or hold out for several days against overwhelming odds. What these men did is harder to measure in those terms. But their contributions were important in so many ways. This is a well researched book and also well written. Those two things don't always go together. The author goes technical just enough so one can understand exactly how the various operations worked and he also explains how these soldiers and their ruses could lead the Germans to deploying their forces where they shouldn't have. If for no other reason this book should give one an appreciation for the pioneering efforts in developing speakers and tape recorders. One could argue this unti is the reason why we now have compact discs. But it should also give one a sense of appreciation for those soldiers who served in ways other then on the front line in a foxhole.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars for Great Content, 3 Stars for "OK" Presentation, May 17, 2004
I picked up this book expecting one thing, and got another. The Hardback version ~seems~ to promise an overall history of Deception Warfare in WWII, the most famous of which is probably "Fortitude" - the deception of Rommel into believing Patton would lead the D-Day forces to Calais, closely followed in general public awareness by the story of "The Man who Never Was". Well, while these are indeed touched on, they're not dealt with in depth. What you get in its place, however, is admirable. The story of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops is a great one - ESSENTIAL, I'd say, because it helps open your eyes to the activites of US Army "support" Units, which you must know to have a well rounded view of WW II.
As I've said in another review on the 3AD's WW II Maintenance Operations (Deathtraps), most books on the War in Europe give the view from the Foxhole or the View from HQ, with little said about the activities of other units, which were just as important to the success of the overall campaign.
The Good Points of this book:
- Needed light shown on a unfamiliar topic
- Great attention to the detail in portraying the individual work of the units of the 23rd(Camofleur ops with Dummy vehicles & Encampments, Sonic Operations, Radio Spoofing, etc), and how that work evolved and improved over the course of their operations
- Great attention to the personalities of the men who made up the unit. An unlikely mix of combat men, artists, showmen and techies who found a way to work together against the enemy and upon occasion, shortsighted leadership. Whoda' thunk Bill Blass or Douglas Fairbanks Jr. played such roles in WWII? The 2000 reunion at the end of the book was effectively recounted
Things I wish were better:
- The cover blurbs promise more than the book really aims to deliver. Probably more a marketing thing than the authors true intent, which was primarily the 23rd. However, I still wish the Author could have talked about Fortitude, and if/how the 23rd learned anything from the operation
- As another reviewer noted, we learn a lot about Douglas Fairbanks Jr's naval deception experience - a lot more than we learn about Fortitude, in fact. While this was welcome information, I would have preferred it to be covered in either a larger book about all WW II Decpeption OPs, or edited out of this book, where its a bit less relevant. - The disorganized nature of the 23rd, which was really cobbled together from separate units, and their loose affiliations in the field, make for difficult history telling. The author does not always make it clear how the units worked together, and how they did not. A "chain of command" diagram would have been much appreciated
I do recommend this book. I think it could have used a bit more editing and could have been shorter, but the enthusiasm of the author for the material shines through, as does the depth of his research. The story is a great one, and the book is well worth purchasing for anyone seeking a well rounded view of WWII.
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