Ghosts of the ETO: American Tactical Deception Units in the European Theater, 1944 - 1945

Ghosts of the ETO: American Tactical Deception Units in the European Theater, 1944 - 1945 by Gawne, Jonathan. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780971170957.

No history of the war in Europe has ever taken into account the actions of the men of the US 23rd Special Troops. These men took part in over 22 deception operations against the German Army. Some of these operations had tremendous impact upon how the battles in Europe were fought. The men who participated in these actions were sworn to secrecy for 50 years, and are only now willing to talk about their role. The 23rd was composed of four main units. A signal deception unit to broadcast fake radio signals, an engineer camouflage unit to set up rubber dummies of tanks and trucks, a combat engineer unit to construct emplacements and provide local security, and a sonic deception company. The sonic unit was developed to fool German listening posts by playing audio recordings of various sounds, such as tanks moving up or bridges being built. The 23rd was the only tactical deception unit of the American Army in World War ll combining all aspects of deception. This book also covers the birthplace of sonic deception: the Army Experimental Station at Pine Camp; and their smaller sister unit, the 3133rd Sonic Deception company that saw action for 14 days in Italy. Jonathan Gawne is a leading military historian and is the author of the best selling Spearheading D Day and The US Army Photo Album (both published by Histoire & Collections and available from Casemate) as well as books in the Greenhill Books “GI Series”. He has contributed articles to numerous military magazines. He lives in Framingham, MA. Table of Contents Foreword Preface 1. Military Deception 2. Developments in the United States 3. On to England 4. France and Operation ELEPHANT 5. Sonic Deception 6. Operation BRITTANY 7. Operation BREST 8. Operation BETTEMBOURG 9. Operation WILTZ 10. Artillery, Operation VASELINE, and Propaganda 11. Operation DALLAS 12. Operation ELSENBORN 13. Operation CASANOVA 14. Operation KOBLENZ and the Bulge 15. Operation KODAK 16. Operation METZ-I 17. Operation METZ-II 18. Operation LEGLISE 19. Operation FLAZWEILER 20. Operation STEINSEL 21. Operation LANDONCILLERS 22. Operation WHIPSAW 23. Operation MERZIG 24. Operation LOCHNIVAR 25. Operation BOUZONVILLE 26. Operation VIERSEN 27. The 3133rd and the War in Italy 28. Wars End and DP Camps 29. After the War Appendix 1. The Correct Name of the 23rd Appendix 2. Officers of the 23rd Special Troops Appendix 3. Medal and Decorations Awarded in the 23rd Special Troops Appendix 4. Table of Organization Appendix 5. Patton and Deception Appendix 6. Original Poop Sheets Glossary Select Bibliography End Notes Index