Have you heard of the Ghost Army of WWII? Have you heard of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops? If you have not it is not surprising because these special troops were kept a secret for 50 years. The 1100 men of this troop were put together as a deception unit that created fake troop movements the last year of the war to create schemes to keep the German army unaware of actual troop movements. Besides the Headquarter (HQ) staff there were four companies; the 406th Engineer Combat Company, the Signal Company Special, the 3132nd Signal Service Company and 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion. Let’s see what each of these companies did to help keep the Germans in the dark.
406th Engineer Combat Company
The 406th Engineer Combat Company consisted of 168 men whose job it was to construct and demolish things that helped the troop function. They also helped with artistic elements of the ruses they created such as bulldozers creating realistic tank tracks. They also used flash artillery in coordination with sound effects to fool anyone watching from a distance. On several occasions it was the 406th job to not only deceive the Germans but even the allied troops to make sure their mission remained a secret.
Signal Company Special
The next troop was the Signal Company Special who was in charge of the radio portion of the deception. There were 288 radio operators. They created fabricated scenarios, invented dialogues and then sent fake transmissions. These men were known as the “stage-setters.” They used the fake sounds another troop created while using English transmissions with clever but crackable codes. With these fake transmissions the German were tracking fake prop troops.
3132 Signal Service Company
There were 150 men in the 3132 Signal Service Company who were tasked with making the fake troops sound real. They created what they called “concerts” of sounds that replicated tanks, shifting gears, banging, hammering, voices shouting orders and cursing. These effects were so convincing that many believed it was the sounds of an entire corps moving, which can be from 25,000 to 45,000 men. These men also would dress like officers from actual troops that were somewhere else and go into towns so spies would report back to the Germans.
603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion
Finally, approximately 380 men were in the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion. These men used their artistic talents to create fake tanks, howitzers, trucks, etc. These props were made out of wood, fabric and inflatables. They left behind things to make it realistic troops were there like trash and bullet casings. They were skilled in exposing just enough to be noticed but not seem obvious and to make German reconnaissance believe they were taking pictures of the real army.
Can you imagine being a part of 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and being in charge of fooling the entire German army to keep the Allies safer? And then not be able to tell anyone how important of a role you played until 50 years later. There is a documentary from 2013 called The Ghost Army where you can hear some of the stories from the men who were part of the special troops. You can also read more stories at ghostarmy.org.
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