Here's how the army of mannequins helped the Allies win World War II

2023-04-22 15:08:00, Blog CNA

A fake army at war? Yes, there was and was the 23rd division of the US Army, also called the Phantom Army. The Fake Army participated in countless missions during World War II, during which, through a series of stunts, it convinced the Nazis that the Allies had up to thirty times more troops on the battlefield than they actually had. Its existence remained a secret for a long time, and was only acknowledged in 2022, when the US Congress awarded it a gold medal.

Getting into action

Founded on January 20, 1944, the Phantom Army had the opportunity to be used for the first time in the same year, during the famous Normandy landings on June 6. It consisted of over 1100 men. But in his ranks were not soldiers, but artists, advertisers, sound experts, actors, architects and scenographers who came from 46 states of the USA.

Their main objective was to confuse the enemy by simulating the existence of two whole divisions (almost 30,000 men). But how could this be done? Using inflatable rubber weapons (tanks, jeeps, trucks and planes), all realistically painted to fool Nazi planes watching from above. Also used were mannequins that were parachuted in to make the Nazis believe that they were surrounded by many enemy soldiers.

Like a movie set

What made their entrance on the scene even more realistic was the reproduction of noises simulating armored vehicles in action and moving troops. Not only that: the soldiers pitched tents, lit fires, hung clothes and left footprints on the ground, as if they were camped out waiting to go into action.

Sometimes they disguised themselves as soldiers of different divisions, changing the badges on their uniforms and going to village cafes to deceive any German informers. They participated in about 20 such missions that saved many lives.

But at the end of the conflict, the Phantom Army was disbanded and its members were ordered not to speak about their activities under any circumstances. It wasn't until 1985 that they began talking about their role in the Allied victory, until the gold medal presented by President Joe Biden last year.

Illusions of war

The Phantom Army was modeled after Operation Bertram, a series of visual deceptions by which the British misled the Germans about the date and location of their attack that eventually led to the Second Battle of El Alamein (1942).

But it was not the first time that attempts were made to confuse the enemy with "tricks of war". The Japanese used wooden templates, the Germans used in World War I cars disguised as armored cars. The French tried to deceive the German aviators with interlaced tree branches.

The British even went so far as to recruit the illusionist Jasper Maskel, who built a fake port in the desert like that of Alexandria, the lights of which went out when the German planes arrived, making the pilots believe they were right over their target. / Translated and adapted by CNA.al