The Deceptive Role of The Ghost Army of World War II!
Though World War II ended nearly 80 years ago, the stories that continue to emerge from the remaining survivors of that war can be truly astounding, especially when it involves secrets that most of the military didn’t even know about.
Such is the case with the story of the Ghost Army, a unit of the U.S. Army that used a special fleet of World War II Sherman tanks, tactical deception, and various forms of media to save the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers in a remarkable way during World War II.
It was an extraordinary defense mechanism used by the United States to scare off the enemy on the battlefields of Europe.
Now the story of the Ghost Army is out and has been verified and recognized by the American government for the ingenious and creative Army unit that it was!
What Was the Ghost Army?
Known more formally as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, the Ghost Army was a troop of U.S. soldiers who used real-looking inflatable World War II tanks and trucks, sound effects, deceptive radio signals, and a lot of imagination to deceive the German Army and help the Allies succeed during numerous military operations in Europe.
The inflatable tanks and trucks looked very real from a distance and were used along with all the others tricks of illusion as a ruse to pull the attention of enemy troops away from the actual tanks and military vehicles on the battlefield, allowing Allied troops to pass undetected in their missions.
This highly effective presentation employed loud amplifiers to play recorded sounds of active military equipment as well as fake communications broadcasts that were used to intentionally confuse the Germans and lead them to attack the fake tanks while the real ones went unnoticed.
How Did The Ghost Army Come Into Existence?
The Ghost Army was an ingenious idea that was developed in 1943 by U.S. Army Planners Ralph Ingersoll and Billy Harris as a way to use the power of illusion to deceive the enemy and aid the Allied troops.
The project, which was advertised at numerous art schools to draw in recruits with artistic capability, involved the creation of dummy tanks and vehicles, sound equipment, artwork, and was led by 82 officers and 1,023 enlisted soldiers to create the illusion of troops and tanks on the field to draw enemy fire away from the actual troops.
Enlisted artists and illustrators from art schools in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and more were picked for this project and it was kept a secret, even from most of the U.S. Army itself.
Initially, the tanks were made from burlap-covered wooden structures, then painted and decorated with camouflage to make them look real from a distance.
With the help of the 603rd Camouflage and Engineering Battalion, the fakes evolved into 100-pound inflatable Sherman tanks and military trucks, all of which were then used along with their other articles of deception in many successful decoy missions to protect Allied troops.
The Many Successful Stunts of the Ghost Army
In total, the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops executed more than 20 operations all over Europe, from France to Germany.
It was the first true multimedia tactical deception unit used by American military forces and the illusion was never broken throughout those successful 20-plus operations which were estimated to have saved the lives of 15,000 to 30,000 soldiers.
The top-secret Ghost Army unit could simulate two actual military units consisting of 30,000 men, their tanks, and other military vehicles using decoys, sound equipment, and fake communications transmissions in a “traveling road show” deception that was used for various operations over eighteen months.
From January 1944 to July 1945, the Ghost Army – armed with nothing more than .50 caliber machine guns – operated throughout Europe until it returned to United States soil at the end of World War II.
The Ghost Army Recognized After Decades of Mystery
For more than forty years, tales of the Ghost Army were viewed as mere myths, considering even high-level Army commanders knew nothing of its existence.
It wasn’t until 1985 that veteran and artist Arthur Shilstone detailed the existence of the unit and his role in it for an interview for Smithsonian Magazine and the world outside of the 23rd began to actually believe the stories.
This led to additional stories from more of the remaining veterans who were a part of the Ghost Army speaking out, all of which prompted PBS to create an amazing documentary telling their tales for all to finally know.
Since the release of the documentary, the publishing of a number of books, and a grassroots effort to convince Congress to recognize the Ghost Army, that recognition did finally come in 2022.
On Tuesday, February 1, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Ghost Army Congressional Medal Act, awarding a Congressional Medal to all of the members of the Ghost Army.
As of that date, there were 10 remaining Ghost Army veterans still alive to receive this special honor and continue to tell their tales of this amazing project and how it helped the Allies win the war.
