What role did the Ghost Army play in the Allied success at/following D-Day – why were their battlefield deceptions necessary? During World War II, both the Allies and the Axis used the most modern technology available at the time to give them an advantage in the war. One way the United States employed their new technology was through the Ghost Army, a group of battlefield performers. First, students (artists, designers, and architects) were selected from New York and Philadelphia art schools. In Europe, these 1,100 members engaged in a series of twenty operations meant to ultimately deceive the Germans about the war the Allies were fighting. From shortly before D-Day to the crossing of the Rhine River, the Ghost Army, officially known …show more content…
The Ghost Army played a vital role in the Allied successes at and following D-Day by distracting the Germans away from the veritable Allied armies. The Ghost Army used fake tanks, airplanes, jeeps, and pieces of artillery to deceive the Germans. Even before D-day had begun, the Allies used the Ghost Army to trick the Germans; on May 20, 1944, the Ghost Army deployed over two hundred fake landing craft made of canvas and steel drums around the Thames estuary. Additionally, Geoffrey C. Ward described the use of fake machinery in Dover: “…thousands of tanks and guns and landing crafts were assembled near Dover and duly reported to the enemy, were made of rubber by movie set …show more content…
Sonic deception was an extremely effective aspect of the Ghost Army in its deceptions. The Ghost Army had pre-recorded sounds of armored vehicles, troops moving, and infantry units; these were then combined with other background sounds to create the atmosphere they intended. Megan Garber explained the importance of this atmosphere: “…they relied on what the Ghost Army termed …“atmosphere” – creating the overall impression of an omnipresent military force” (Garber 3). Once the recordings were finalized, they were played through speakers and amplifiers placed on top of halftracks; the noises were blasted so loudly they could be heard from fifteen miles away. In addition to using pre-recorded sounds of armies, the Ghost Army also used the radio as a means of trickery. The Ghost Army created the “Spoof Radio”, in which some of the army’s members pretended to be radio operators for a real army; this caused the Germans to believe there were troops in certain areas when there were, in fact, none. On one occasion, members of the Ghost Army made a false announcement that the United States First Army Group, comprised of 150,000 troops, would make an attack; however, both the time and the location of the attack were incorrect. Through their sonic and radio deception, the Ghost Army managed to trick Axis Sally, a radio speaker, into announcing to the German public that an