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The Ghost Army of World War II: How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy with Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious FakeryHardcover– April 28, 2015
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Imagine, captured German maps showing 15,000 Allied troops in a location that there were no troops. Imagine, Nazi’s keeping their soldiers out of position opposite what they think are thousand of enemy troops. Imagine, they can hear the US tanks lining up on the opposite riverbank. They can even here the soldiers yell “Hey Private! Put out that cigarette! There’s gas tanks over there!” Imagine, Nazi civilian spys transmitting radio broadcasts to Berlin that they overheard conversations in a pub in from soldiers in 4th Infantry Division that they were moving into Metz this evening. They also saw jeeps with the 4th Infantry Division markings. Nazi radio interceptors also reported to Berlin that they overheard the 4th Infantry radio transmission reporting heavy traffic as they were moving into Metz.
All of this was an illusion created by US soldiers that were talented artists, camouflagers, radiomen, soundmen, and actors. Because of their great and successful illusions and deceptions, the 23rd Special troops are more commonly called the Ghost Army of WWII. They saved many American lives while impersonating many different Infantry Divisions including the 4th, 8th, 90th, 75th, 80th, 87th, 95th, 30th, and 70th. They also faked being the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Armored divisions. In most of their 21 operations, the real combat divisions were able to move to a better strategic position. Operating mostly behind the front lines, as the war progressed and their rouses became more successful, they were moved front and center at the crossing of the Rhine, allowing Montgomery's 9th US Army to cross the Rhine with minimal casualties.Read more ›
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Having seen and enjoyed the documentary film (also by Rick Beyer) about this fascinating World War II unit I was already familiar with the subject matter. I therefore wondered if the book would hold my interest. There was no need for me to be concerned. Rick Beyer (Documentary Film maker and Author) and his co-author Elizabeth Sayles (an award winner illustrator and the daughter of a ghost army veteran) tell the story of the men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops from it's inception to war's end as they created battlefield deceptions on a grand scale. The well research and compelling narrative is richly supplemented with photographs, battle maps, and the sketches, drawings and paintings created by the members of the 603rd Camouflage Engineers. The side benefit of recruiting artists to use their skills to fool the enemy is that those same artists will use whatever down time they have to sketch and paint. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You will be well rewarded. It is a fascinating story well told by two authors who obviously want others to appreciate all that this long secret unit experienced.
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The authors--who created the extremely popular documentary several years back on PBS on this subject--combine a lively written account of the five deception campaigns post-D-Day with abundant and crystal-clear reproductions of art work, photos and other memorabilia produced by the Ghost Army. These special soldiers came from comic book, newspaper and magazine worlds; from Pratt; from budding fashion, design and writing careers. Beyer and Sayle (whose Dad served) bring to life the look, sense, feel and constant state of peril in devastated Europe, from just after Normandy to the capitulation in Germany.
On this subject, it makes all the difference in the world that the authors are so passionate. The reader quickly develops a bond of intimacy with the subjects. We feel we are there with them, eating, plotting, worrying, pranking, imagining.
Not too long ago, the authors curated an exhibition of Ghost Army materials at the Edward Hopper House; let's hope they resurrect it and take it broadly around.
We had the book out recently, with assorted others, while hosting house guests who are voracious (and picky) readers. This was the one book they kept going to again and again!
It is not a "companion" to the dvd. The book rises and triumphs on its own foundations. The recommendation here is: view the documentary on-line, but buy this book for your permanent collection.
It is a perfect Father's Day (or belated Mother's Day--or anytime) gift for anyone who appreciates art, subterfuge and history. What's more, Princeton Architectural Press has done a beautiful job. For a quite affordable price, one gets a riveting read and great artwork. This book will be a popular and unique addition to one's "coffee table," where all will want to access it.
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I have known for years about the great deception that caused the Germans to wrongly believe the invasion of France would occur at Pas de Calais instead of Normandy, but I never knew that this art of deception continued throughout the war. Now I do.
The role of the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops was to create elaborate and incredibly detailed subterfuge designed to impersonate powerful U. S. combat formations and manipulate the movements of similar German units. If everything went right, the Germans would be fooled, but if it didn’t, the deceivers could be slaughtered. They carried out their trickery from D-Day until the final weeks of the war.
Using camouflage, faux equipment, deceptive radio signals, impersonation and even sound effects they fooled the enemy into thinking what the Allies wanted them to think. But there is so much more to the book than the story of artistic creativity in the service of war.
Between the covers of The Ghost Army there are many drawings not connected to military deception, but to the soldiers’ pure joy of drawing and to their incredible adventure. These “Cecil B. DeMille Warriors” drew portraits of their chums, watercolors of their surroundings, whether it was a French family or a bombed out farmhouse and cartoons of their amorous exploits. Their artwork helped diffuse the extreme tension of their mission.
The book uses both photographs and artwork to chronicle the exploits of the Ghost Soldiers, but it is the drawings, sketches and watercolors that allow us to see their amazing experiences through our own eyes.Read more ›
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