Military

Overlord’s Bodyguard: Operation Fortitude

June 4, 2021Lauren Coontz
Operation Fortitude fake tank

Soldiers carry an inflatable “tank.” Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museums.

The walls were fortified with sandbags, the machine-gun nests were loaded and ready, and the best-trained Wehrmacht units waited for the anticipated invasion of France. The Nazis had reinforced the Atlantic Wall along the coast of Pas-de-Calais, sure that the invasion would come from the white cliffs of Dover in the distance.


Germany’s 15th Army was ready with more than a million men. According to the National WWII Museum, the Nazi force was “enough to man 58 divisions.” They just were in the wrong spot. 


Now a museum open to the public, Todt Battery was a massive gun emplacement along the heavily reinforced Atlantic Wall near Pas-de-Calais that belonged to the Wehrmacht of the German 15th Army. Photo by Michel Wal, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

In fact, the Germans had fallen for an elaborate ruse. Their folly was attributed to a joint operation that used balloons, wooden props, a fake army led by US Army Gen. George S. Patton, and a tangle of misinformation laid by talented double agents.


The theaterwide subterfuge was called Operation Fortitude.


In the months leading to D-Day on June 6, 1944, Fortitude convinced the German High Command that a large-scale Allied attack was going to come from England’s southeastern corner, near Dover, to attack the region around Pas-de-Calais. It was a reasonable assumption. 


Operation Fortitude
Inflatable decoys were positioned to fool the enemy’s reconnaissance flights overhead. Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museums.

The Strait of Dover is just 18 miles wide, the narrowest point of the English Channel. The English fled across the same stretch during the early war evacuation at Dunkirk (the Channel Tunnel spans the same gap today). On a clear day, the white cliffs can be seen from French soil. But the Allies actually planned to land at Normandy, 150 miles to the west, so tricking the Germans into defending the wrong stretch of coastline was seen as vital to Operation Overlord’s success.


Fortitude South


Fortitude South, called Quicksilver by the Americans, involved the use of false equipment, Patton’s fake army, and a handful of shift workers in tunnels beneath an English castle. The Allies positioned inflatable “tanks,” fake camps full of fake soldiers, and fake landing craft around the countryside of Kent, all for German spy planes to photograph. 


A team of radio operators working diligently in tunnels below Dover Castle sent encrypted around-the-clock radio signals for the Nazis to intercept. The radio signals indicated cold-weather problems, weather reports for the North Sea, and equipment transfer and supply information for a rapidly growing fake army. False marriage announcements were posted in newspapers in and around towns in the countryside. 


Operation Fortitude Dover
Dover Castle, seen from the coast. Built in the 11th century, the castle has served as a key defensive position throughout its history. Before D-Day, in tunnels beneath the castle, radio signals were sent continuously, crucial to the elaborate ruse constructed to trick the Germans into thinking an Allied army was amassing nearby. Photo courtesy of Pixy.org.

German intelligence would eventually believe 20 divisions of troops, both American and Canadian, were massing in Kent.


The units under Patton’s notional command — the First United States Army Group (FUSAG) — were real units, all known to the Germans, but were not located in Kent. Patton was touring the countryside, and he made sure the Nazis knew it.


Patton’s presence in and around Kent was a key part of the ruse. The German High Command feared Patton above all other Allied commanders. The Nazis considered him to be both clever and a loose cannon, and with Patton at the helm of the faux operation, German intelligence was convinced the rumor had merit. 


George Patton
Gen. George S. Patton speaks with Lt. Col. Lyle Bernard during the fight in Italy in 1943. Known for his brusque demeanor, Patton had a knack for stirring speeches and unorthodox tactics. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

English historian Joshua Levine, author of Operation Fortitude, states that “Patton’s actual job as FUSAG’s notional commander consisted mainly of traveling around southeast England (where the FUSAG units were supposedly based), publicly saying the right things and keeping the pretense going.


“Describing himself as a ‘goddamned natural born ham’ who enjoyed ‘playing Sarah Bernhardt,’ he wrote in a letter to a friend: ‘I had some very interesting trips while I was working as a decoy for the German divisions, and I believe that my appearances had a considerable effect.’”


Fortitude North and Double-Cross


Based in Scotland, Operation Fortitude North used similar radio tactics as those in Kent, and also sent diversionary aerial reconnaissance patrols over Norway. The flights implied an imminent invasion of Norway by way of the North Sea, led by British Lt. Gen. Sir Andrew “Bulgy” Thorne. 


Operation Fortitude fake landing craft
Dummy landing craft, meant to confirm to German reconnaissance that an amphibious assault was planned for Pas-de-Calais. Photo courtesy of Imperial War Museums.

In England, a counterintelligence ring was run by the so-called Twenty Committee, or XX, of Britain’s MI5 — hence “Double-Cross.” British intelligence was able to turn a number of German agents and insert a few British operatives into German circles of trust, so they all could relay false information to Berlin. Agents with code names such as Garbo, Brutus, and Snow spread false leads created to point the Germans toward Pas-de-Calais.


The success of Operation Fortitude meant Hitler’s best units were still waiting in early June, completely unaware that they showed up at the wrong party. When the 150,000 Allied troops invaded, they faced only about 50,000 Germans. Even as the Allies swarmed ashore on D-Day, many German units were held near Pas-de-Calais for two months, thinking the “real” invasion was still coming there.


Read Next: World War II Paradogs: The Dogs Who Jumped on D-Day



Lauren Coontz
Lauren Coontz

Lauren Coontz is a former staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. Beaches are preferred, but Lauren calls the Rocky Mountains of Utah home. You can usually find her in an art museum, at an archaeology site, or checking out local nightlife like drag shows and cocktail bars (gin is key). A student of history, Lauren is an Army veteran who worked all over the world and loves to travel to see the old stuff the history books only give a sentence to. She likes medium roast coffee and sometimes, like a sinner, adds sweet cream to it.

More from Coffee or Die Magazine
Coffee Or Die Photo
Get Your Viking On: The Exclusive 30 Sec Out BRCC Shirt Club Design

Thirty Seconds Out has partnered with BRCC for an exclusive shirt design invoking the God of Winter.

Grizzly Forge BRCC shirt
Limited Edition: Grizzly Forge Blades on an Awesome BRCC Shirt

Lucas O'Hara of Grizzly Forge has teamed up with BRCC for a badass, exclusive Shirt Club T-shirt design featuring his most popular knife and tiomahawk.

BRCC Limited Edition Josh Raulerson Blackbeard Skull Shirt
From Naval Service to Creative Canvas: BRCC Veteran Artist Josh Raulerson

Coffee or Die sits down with one of the graphic designers behind Black Rifle Coffee's signature look and vibe.

Medal of Honor is held up.
Biden Will Award Medal of Honor to Army Helicopter Pilot Who Rescued Soldiers in Vietnam Firefight

Biden will award the Medal of Honor to a Vietnam War Army helicopter pilot who risked his life to save a reconnaissance team from almost certain death.

dear jack mandaville
Dear Jack: Which Historic Battle Would You Want To Witness?

Ever wonder how much Jack Mandaville would f*ck sh*t up if he went back in time? The American Revolution didn't even see him coming.

west point time capsule
West Point Time Capsule Yields Centuries-Old Coins

A nearly 200-year-old West Point time capsule that at first appeared to yield little more than dust contains hidden treasure, the US Military Academy said.

Ouija Board aircraft carrier
Low-Tech ‘Ouija Boards’ Have Helped Aircraft Carriers Operate for Decades

Since the 1920s, a low-tech tabletop replica of an aircraft carrier’s flight deck has been an essential tool in coordinating air operations.

  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
Contact Us
Contact Us
© 2024 Coffee or Die Magazine. All Rights Reserved