Operation Fortitude -13

I’m not done with these just yet! I was working on this yesterday and suddenly realized what the date was. Sometimes I feel so smart! I did not plan that at all. Sorry this is long… but there’s a lot to tell when it comes to a good story. Maybe this can make up for the prolonged absence? In the past I’ve been asked to do a comic about D-Day in Normandy and how the Germans were fooled. I believe it was who requested it. Well, here it is!

Most of the Allies were involved in this deception but the cake goes to Mr. England because of British Intelligence. So I’m using him in this comic. The plan was to lessen the amount of German troops in Normandy and keep them somewhere else. The code name for this plan was Operation Fortitude with the sub-plan, Operation Quicksilver.

Fake armies were put up in England and Scotland, such as the British Fourth Army and First United States Army (FUSAG). All were set to attack Norway and The Pas de Calais. They were meant to be as noticeable as possible while the real armies, in southwest England, the opposite if not invisible. General George S. Patton was in command of the ghost army (FUSAG) because the Germans rated him highly. He was too obnoxious and loud for them to ignore. I trust you can imagine how with the help of him being an American.

The set up was made consisting of 250 landing crafts, tanks and 150,000 men… all dummies. The tanks, known as bigbobs, were steel frames with painted canvases stretched over them in the likeness of a real one. www.thinkdefence.co.uk/wp-cont… They were pretty convincing until strong winds blew them away. The fake aircrafts were made out of wood and canvas as well. www.scotsatwar.co.uk/AZ/_deriv… The only danger they ever faced were hungry stray cows. But all of this had little to no effect on the deception plan.

Russia took part as well by banking down on the Norwegian border as the time for battle got closer. Lies were set here and there for pro-Nazis or agents to hear. All of these twists and illusions became so deep and went for so long that an officer in command of Fortitude North made the comment, “As time went on we found it hard to separate the real from the imaginary.” No doubt about it, if someone privy to the truth began to believe in the sham then surely the Germans were hooked. The Germans’ attention was now focused on Calais and Norway.

Of course, I feel I should mention, there were hints on what the truth was but the Germans were overconfident in their spies and their ability to detect valid information. It’s almost adorable reading about them having such good faith in their agents when really they were being double crossed.

When D-Day happened, the Germans still held fast to Calais. Oh, they knew about the invasion to Normandy, they just thought that was a diversion for the real battle in Calais. A week went by until a German division was moved down to Normandy and another seven weeks with four more (far too late). The main body remained in Calais, waiting for the phantom army not to show up. It is believed that the trick continued as long as September. Then they started to believe that the plans were canceled… until the truth began to dawn on them.

I can imagine their faces. Although, some didn’t want to admit that they had been fooled.

This gave the Allied Forces plenty of time to take Normandy and maintain a foothold there. The rest, as you know, is history.

Most of my information is gathered from “Double Cross” by Ben Macintyre and random sites from the Internet.

EDIT: I can't believe I didn't add this. A short clip from a documentary about this plan to use dummy tanks, soldiers, trucks etc. It describes very well the details of the dummies and the process of using them. Sorry that I forgot. Enjoy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE2Euz…