Ancient history

The Ghost Army:the artists who tricked Hitler with inflatable tanks

Before 1996, little or nothing was known about the Ghost Army (Ghost Army ) that the Americans created during World War II. The documents and images attesting to its existence had been kept secret for decades. Many of them are still classified today and are difficult to access.

The Ghost Army was actually the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops , and was composed of about a thousand soldiers. Most of them had been recruited from art schools in New York and Philadelphia, or through agent agencies.

They were architects, designers, painters, actors, who put all their ingenuity to defeat the Third Reich. They intervened in more than 20 crucial battles, although not directly. But his contribution was essential.

His mission was to deceive the enemy, making him believe that two full armored divisions of 30,000 men were moving towards a specific place, while the real army was moving in the opposite direction.

For this they built and used tanks, cannons, vehicles, planes and everything else that was supposed to constitute a division. All this made with inflatable balloons, cardboard, wood and a lot of imagination.

At the same time that they were moving all these fake vehicles in a circle, to give the impression of a large convoy, they were emitting sounds and special effects recorded at Fort Knox, and that simulated the noise of heavy infantry units.

The gigantic speakers used allowed the sound to be heard over 20 kilometers away.

Since the aim was for the Nazis to notice this phantom army, they painted the tanks with imperfect camouflage, to make them more easily detectable.

The actors used to walk around the liberated French cities dressed as generals, so that would-be Hitler spies would be convinced that they were in fact a real army.

In 2013, the documentary The Ghost Army was released, which tells the whole story of this secret unit, receiving several awards at festivals. And last month Rick Beyer's book The Ghost Army of World War II was released, also available in electronic version.

What's more, both the director of the documentary and the author of the book are going on a tour next year, following in the footsteps of the Ghost Army around Europe. And you can reserve a place to accompany them.