22 Photos Inside Operation Fortitude’s Deception During World War II
Neill Lynskey
Published
23 hours ago
in
History
Go behind the scenes of the most elaborate deception of World War II.
In 1944, while preparing for the invasion of Normandy, the Allies also began a plan to convince the German command that they would instead be landing in Pas de Calais, France. A fake army, complete with inflatable tanks, dummy aircraft and even airborne paratrooper dolls, was set up in Dover, where German air reconnaissance could see what they believed to be a massive invasion force assembling. These efforts, alongside disinformation and jamming radio communication, led to major resources diverted away from Normandy and the success of the D-Day invasion.
Witness how phony weaponry and ingenious plotting ultimately led to an Allied victory.
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1. A dummy plane
Used in Operation Fortitude -
2. The reconstructed repeater station in the tunnels beneath Dover Castle.
From here, coded fake radio messages were relayed across Britain to simulate the communications of the fictitious army, FUSAG -
3. General Patton
Designated as the commander of the fictitious "First United States Army Group (FUSAG) -
4. Dummy plane
Used for Operation Fortitude -
5. A factory worker producing foil code-named WINDOW which was dropped by allied aircraft to jam enemy radar
1944 -
6. Lancasters dropped tinfoil strips called Window
Confounded German radar and disguised the position of the real bombers. -
7. Scaffolding of a dummy tank
Would later be fitted with rubber -
8. A dummy landing vessel
Used for Operation Fortitude -
9. Juan Pujol García or "Garbo", in his disguise. A Spanish spy who worked as a double agent for Britain.
His relaying of false information to the Germans was an instrumental part of Operation Fortitude and the success of D-Day -
10. Fake Venezuelan passport of Juan Pujol García
Used by Garcia in his work as a double agent -
11. Fake Division Shoulder Patches
Used by the Airborne of Operation Fortitude -
12. A camouflaged dummy tank
Operation Fortitude 1944 -
13. An inflatable tank in color
Operation Fortitude 1944 -
14. A dummy paratrooper
Operation Fortitude 1944 -
15. A FUSAG soldier carrying an inflatable dummy Jeep
Operation Fortitude 1944 -
16. Two dummy tanks
Operation Fortitude 1944 -
17. A dummy tank, rubber and wood, in color
Operation Fortitude 1944 -
18. Inflatable truck used for Operation Fortitude
Dover, 1944 -
19. Inflatable tank being carried by soliders
Operation Fortitude, 1944 -
20. Dummy landing craft, used during Fortitude
Unknown location in the South-East of England -
21. FUSAG soldier next to a dummy tank
Operation Fortitude, 144 -
22. Operation Fortitude was essential in the success of the Normandy invasion
Landings at Omaha Beach on D-Day, 1944
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A dummy plane
Used in Operation Fortitude
Used in Operation Fortitude
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