Download or read book A Force written by Whitney T Bendeck and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A” Force explores an area of World War II deception history that has often been neglected. While older studies have focused on the D-day deception campaign and Britain’s infamous double-agents, this work explores the origins of Britain’s deception activities to reveal how the British became such masterful deceivers. This is the first work to focus exclusively on "A" Force and the origins of British deception, examining how and why the British first employed deception in World War II. More specifically, it traces the development of the "A" Force organization—the first British organization to practice both tactical and strategic deception in the field. Formed in Cairo in 1941, "A" Force was headed by an unconventional British colonel named Dudley Wrangel Clarke. Because there was no precedent for Clarke's "A" Force, it truly functioned on a trial-and-error basis. The learning curve was steep, but Clarke was up for the challenge. By the Battle of El Alamein, British deception had reached maturity. Moreover, it was there that the “deceptionists” established the deception blueprint later used by the London planners to plan and execute Operation Bodyguard, the campaign to conceal Allied intentions for the D-day landing at Normandy. In contrast to earlier deception histories that have tended to focus on Britain’s later efforts emphasizing Operation Bodyguard, this work clearly shows that this strategy was forged much earlier in the deserts of Africa under the leadership of Dudley Clarke, not in London. Moreover, it was born not out of opportunity, but out of sheer desperation, when in June 1940 the British found themselves completely unprepared for war.

Download or read book Masquerade written by Seymour Reit and published by Dutton Adult. This book was released on 1978 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story behind the various organizations responsible for trickery and deception during World War II.

Download or read book Secret Soldiers written by Philip Gerard and published by Dutton Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Secret Solders" reveals how an extraordinary group of American artists, designers, and engineering wizards became America's unsung heroes of the Second World War. Photo inserts.

Download or read book A Genius for Deception written by Nicholas Rankin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-11-10 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In February 1942, intelligence officer Victor Jones erected 150 tents behind British lines in North Africa. "Hiding tanks in Bedouin tents was an old British trick," writes Nicholas Rankin. German general Erwin Rommel not only knew of the ploy, but had copied it himself. Jones knew that Rommel knew. In fact, he counted on it--for these tents were empty. With the deception that he was carrying out a deception, Jones made a weak point look like a trap. In A Genius for Deception, Nicholas Rankin offers a lively and comprehensive history of how Britain bluffed, tricked, and spied its way to victory in two world wars. As Rankin shows, a coherent program of strategic deception emerged in World War I, resting on the pillars of camouflage, propaganda, secret intelligence, and special forces. All forms of deception found an avid sponsor in Winston Churchill, who carried his enthusiasm for deceiving the enemy into World War II. Rankin vividly recounts such little-known episodes as the invention of camouflage by two French artist-soldiers, the creation of dummy airfields for the Germans to bomb during the Blitz, and the fabrication of an army that would supposedly invade Greece. Strategic deception would be key to a number of WWII battles, culminating in the massive misdirection that proved critical to the success of the D-Day invasion in 1944. Deeply researched and written with an eye for telling detail, A Genius for Deception shows how the British used craft and cunning to help win the most devastating wars in human history.

Download or read book Squadron of Deception written by Stephen M. Hutton and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 1999 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here at last is the exciting, detailed story of the U.S. Eighth Air Force's only Radar Countermeasure squadron that flew from England duing World War II. This book tells of the men of the elite 36th Bomb Squadron and the special operations they flew in modified B-24s to jam the German radar which controlled the fighter and flak batteries. Here too is the story of the men behind the scenes who sought to develop an extension of modern air warfare into the electronic arena and keep ahead of German scientists in the "War in the Ether." This chronological account gathered from secret records, personal diaries, and interviews with the "Old Crows" describes the night missions with the Royal Air Force and the daylight missions with the Eighth. The first jamming mission on the morning of D-Day "contributed materially to the success of the landings on the beachhead." Later missions during the Battle of the Bulge involved trickery, ingenious deception, spoofs, and tank communications jamming. This squadron flew on bad weather days, when the rest of the Eighth Air Force stood down, and paid its price in blood. Before the war in Europe ended the 36th Bomb Squadron screened Eighth Air Force radio transmissions to stop the enemy from learning important mission details. Here now is the story of how this secret squadron saved many Allied lives during World War II. Included are over 330 rare photographs and illustrations never before published.

Download or read book The Deceivers written by Thaddeus Holt and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-05-11 with total page 1176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In World War II, the Allies employed unprecedented methods and practiced the most successful military deception ever seen, meticulously feeding misinformation to Axis intelligence to lead Axis commanders into erroneous action. Thaddeus Holt's elegantly written and comprehensive book is the first to tell the full story behind these operations. Exactly how the Allies engaged in strategic deception has remained secret for decades. Now, with the help of newly declassified material, Holt reveals this secret to the world in a riveting work of historical scholarship. Once the Americans joined the war in 1941, they had much to learn from their British counterparts, who had been honing their deception skills for years. As the war progressed, the British took charge of misinformation efforts in the European theater, while the Americans focused on the Pacific. The Deceivers takes readers from the early British achievements in the Middle East and Europe at the beginning of the war to the massive Allied success of D-Day, American victory in the Pacific theater, and the war's culmination on the brink of an invasion of Japan. Colonel John Bevan, who managed British deception operations from London, described the three essentials to strategic deception as good plans, double agents, and codebreaking, and The Deceivers covers each of these aspects in minute detail. Holt brings to life the little-known men, British and American, who ran Allied deception, such as Bevan, Dudley Clarke, Peter Fleming, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Newman Smith. He tracks the development of deception techniques and tells the hitherto unknown story of double agent management and other deception through the American FBI and Joint Security Control. Full of fascinating sources and astounding revelations, The Deceivers is an indispensable volume and an unparalleled contribution to World War II literature.

Download or read book Deception in War written by Jon Latimer and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2003-04-29 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Trojan Horse to Gulf War subterfuge, this far-reaching military history examines the importance and ingenuity of wartime deception campaigns. The art of military deception is as old as the art of war. This fascinating account of the practice draws on conflicts from around the world and across millennia. The examples stretch from the very beginnings of recorded military history—Pharaoh Ramses II's campaign against the Hittites in 1294 B.C.—to modern times, when technology has placed a stunning array of devices into the arsenals of military commanders. Military historians often underestimate the importance of deception in warfare. This book is the first to fully describe its value. Jon Latimer demonstrates how simple tricks have been devastatingly effective. He also explores how technology has increased the range and subtlety of what is possible—including bogus radio traffic, virtual images, even false smells. Deception in War includes examples from land, sea, and air to show how great commanders have always had, as Winston Churchill put it, that indispensable “element of legerdemain, an original and sinister touch, which leaves the enemy puzzled as well as beaten.”

Download or read book The Ghost Army of World War II written by Rick Beyer and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2023-10-10 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A riveting tale told through personal accounts and sketches along the way—ultimately, a story of success against great odds. I enjoyed it enormously.” —Tom Brokaw The first book to tell the full story of how a traveling road show of artists wielding imagination, paint, and bravado saved thousands of American lives—now updated with new material. In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of young GIs—artists, designers, architects, and sound engineers, including such future luminaries as Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Arthur Singer, Victor Dowd, Art Kane, and Jack Masey—landed in France to conduct a secret mission. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1,100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units. Every move they made was top secret, and their story was hushed up for decades after the war's end. Hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs, along with maps, official memos, and letters, accompany Rick Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles’s meticulous research and interviews with many of the soldiers, weaving a compelling narrative of how an unlikely team carried out amazing battlefield deceptions that saved thousands of American lives and helped open the way for the final drive to Germany. The stunning art created between missions also offers a glimpse of life behind the lines during World War II. This updated edition includes: A new afterword by co-author Rick Beyer Never-before-seen additional images The successful campaign to have the unit awarded a Congressional Gold Medal History and WWII enthusiasts will find The Ghost Army of World War II an essential addition to their library.

Download or read book Deception Tactics of World War II written by Peter Darman and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Starting in 1939 with the Gleiwitz incident and ending in 1945 with Allied operations in the Pacific theater. Deception Tactics of World War II presents a vivid retelling of the most audacious deception efforts of the war. It provides eye-opening insight into the obscure world of counterintelligence and espionage, in which truth is often far stranger than fiction. Take for example the camouflaging of California's giant war plants, carried out by Hollywood's finest set designers, painters, landscape artistis, carpenters, lighting experts, and prop men, and executed so effectively that the factories were unrecognizable from the the air. Or consider one of the biggest conjuring tricks in military history, pulled off by an unlikely crew of artists, sculptors, filmmakers, and stage designers to make the Allied forces in the North African desert appear much larger than they actually were. Underpinning these efforts were the double agents: legendary operators such as Juan Garcia, codenamed Garbo, whose misinformation convinced the Germans that the main thrust of the D-Day invasion would be in Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy and who was so good he was decorated by both Axis powers and the British.

Download or read book Double Cross written by Ben Macintyre and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The number one bestselling author of Agent Zigzag and Operation Mincemeat exposes the true story of the D Day Spies.

Download or read book Diversion and Deception written by Whitney T. Bendeck and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2021-03-04 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the operations known as Plan Bodyguard, the deception devised to cover the Allies’ Normandy landing, was the little known but critical Plan Zeppelin, the largest and most complex of the Bodyguard plans. Zeppelin, in conjunction with the Mediterranean Strategy, succeeded in pinning down sixty German divisions from southern France to the Balkans in time for D-Day. This was the work of “A” Force, Britain’s only military organization tasked with carrying out both strategic and tactical deception in World War II. Whitney T. Bendeck’s Diversion and Deception finds “A” Force at its finest hour, as the war shifted from North Africa to Europe. Focusing on the years 1943 to 1945, Bendeck describes how “A” Force, under the leadership of Dudley Clarke, orchestrated both strategic and tactical deception plans to create notional threats across the southern perimeter of Europe, with the chief objective of keeping the Germans pinned down across the Mediterranean. Her work offers a close and clarifying look at “A” Force’s structure and command, operations and methods, and successes and failures and, consequently, its undeniable contribution to the Allies’ victory in World War II. By shining a light on the often overlooked Mediterranean theater and its direct connection to European plans and operations, Diversion and Deception also provides a deeper understanding of Allied grand strategy in the war. Combining military and deception histories—so often viewed in isolation—this book provides context for the deceptions and adds a layer of knowledge regarding the planning of military operations. The result is a more complete and nuanced view of Allied operations than is to be found in most histories of World War II.

Download or read book Battle of Wits written by Stephen Budiansky and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2000 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is the story of the Allied codebreakers puzzling through the most difficult codebreaking problems that ever existed.

Download or read book D Day Deception written by Mary Kathryn Barbier and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2005-03-04 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before landing in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies executed an elaborate deception plan designed to prevent the Germans from concentrating forces in Normandy. The lesser-known first part, Fortitude North, suggested a threat to Norway. The more famous Fortitude South indicated that the invasion would occur at the Pas de Calais rather than Normandy, largely by creating a fictitious army group under Gen. George S. Patton. While historians have generally praised Operation Fortitude, Barbier takes a more nuanced view, arguing that the deception, while implemented well, affected the invasion's outcome only minimally. A much-needed reassessment of the deception operation that preceded the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II Involves double agents, fake equipment, phantom units, and famous commanders

Download or read book Games of Deception written by Andrew Maraniss and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *"Rivaling the nonfiction works of Steve Sheinkin and Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat....Even readers who don't appreciate sports will find this story a page-turner." --School Library Connection, starred review *"A must for all library collections." --Booklist, starred review Winner of the 2020 AJL Sydney Taylor Honor! From the New York Times bestselling author of Strong Inside comes the remarkable true story of the birth of Olympic basketball at the 1936 Summer Games in Hitler's Germany. Perfect for fans of The Boys in the Boat and Unbroken. On a scorching hot day in July 1936, thousands of people cheered as the U.S. Olympic teams boarded the S.S. Manhattan, bound for Berlin. Among the athletes were the 14 players representing the first-ever U.S. Olympic basketball team. As thousands of supporters waved American flags on the docks, it was easy to miss the one courageous man holding a BOYCOTT NAZI GERMANY sign. But it was too late for a boycott now; the ship had already left the harbor. 1936 was a turbulent time in world history. Adolf Hitler had gained power in Germany three years earlier. Jewish people and political opponents of the Nazis were the targets of vicious mistreatment, yet were unaware of the horrors that awaited them in the coming years. But the Olympians on board the S.S. Manhattan and other international visitors wouldn't see any signs of trouble in Berlin. Streets were swept, storefronts were painted, and every German citizen greeted them with a smile. Like a movie set, it was all just a facade, meant to distract from the terrible things happening behind the scenes. This is the incredible true story of basketball, from its invention by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, to the sport's Olympic debut in Berlin and the eclectic mix of people, events and propaganda on both sides of the Atlantic that made it all possible. Includes photos throughout, a Who's-Who of the 1936 Olympics, bibliography, and index. Praise for Games of Deception: A 2020 ALA Notable Children's Book! A 2020 CBC Notable Social Studies Book! "Maraniss does a great job of blending basketball action with the horror of Hitler's Berlin to bring this fascinating, frightening, you-can't-make-this-stuff-up moment in history to life." -Steve Sheinkin, New York Times bestselling author of Bomb and Undefeated "I was blown away by Games of Deception....It's a fascinating, fast-paced, well-reasoned, and well-written account of the hidden-in-plain-sight horrors and atrocities that underpinned sports, politics, and propaganda in the United States and Germany. This is an important read." -Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Newbery Honor winning author of Hitler Youth "A richly reported and stylishly told reminder how, when you scratch at a sports story, the real world often lurks just beneath." --Alexander Wolff, New York Times bestselling author of The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama "An insightful, gripping account of basketball and bias." --Kirkus Reviews "An exciting and overlooked slice of history." --School Library Journal

Download or read book Strategic and Operational Deception in the Second World War written by Michael I. Handel and published by Frank Cass Publishers. This book was released on 1987 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Churchill s Deception written by Louis C. Kilzer and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They invited the Deputy Fuhrer of Germany, Rudolf Hess, to attend a peace conference at which Hitler would negotiate the coming invasion of the Soviet Union with the British "Peace Party.".

Download or read book Deceptions of World War II written by William B. Breuer and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2002-07-02 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical acclaim for William B. Breuer "A first-class historian." -The Wall Street Journal Top Secret Tales of World War II "A book for rainy days and long solitary nights by the fire. If there were a genre for cozy nonfiction, this would be the template." -Publishers Weekly "Perfect for the curious and adventure readers and those who love exotic tales and especially history buffs who will be surprised at what they didn't know. Recommended for nearly everyone." -Kirkus Reviews Daring Missions of World War II " The author brings to light many previously unknown stories of behind-the-scenes bravery and covert activities that helped the Allies win critical victories." -Albuquerque Journal Secret Weapons of World War II "Rip-roaring tales . . . a delightful addition to the niche that Breuer has so successfully carved out." -Publishers Weekly