A History of Deception Trivia Quiz

Answer: Odysseus

It was ten years since Paris had kidnapped Helen of Troy, and the embittered war between the Trojans and Greeks was at a stalemate. The Greeks were unable to defeat their enemy as they could not enter the heavily fortified city walls of Troy, that is until the wily Odysseus came up with a cunning plan.

One particular night, the Greek army "appeared" to have abandoned their camp, leaving behind a large wooden horse as a peace offering to Athena, goddess of war. The Trojans were delighted and heaved the heavy horse into the confines of the city wall, celebrating their alleged victory of winning the war by drinking into the night. While they were comatose, Odysseus and his small army slipped from a trap door inside the horse and set the course of history by attacking their foes. This is believed to have happened around 1180 B.C.

After completing "Iliad", the ancient poet Homer also wrote another story called "The Odyssey", telling of the long ten year journey home of Odysseus following the Trojan Wars.

The image shows the front page of Alexander Pope's 1752 translation of "The Odyssey".

Answer: The Art of War

China went through a stage called the Age of Warring States when wars were frequent. Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) was a successful general during the latter part of this period and wrote about his philosophy on the strategy and tactics of warcraft. His book "The Art of War" has been used ever since by leaders, politicians and soldiers.

The 13 chapters within the book (translated by Lionel Giles in 1910) include:

I. Laying Plans
II. Waging War
III. Attack by Stratagem
IV. Tactical Dispositions
V. Energy
VI. Weak Points and Strong
VII. Maneuvering
VIII. Variation in Tactics
IX. The Army on the March
X. Terrain
XI. The Nine Situations
XII. The Attack by Fire
XIII. The Use of Spies

Other Sun Tzu quotes include "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." and "All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near."

"The Art of Love" was written by Ovid, "The Aeneid" by Virgil and "The Histories" by Herodotus.

The image shows that of another Sun Tzu quote.

Answer: Hannibal Barca

Hannibal was a great Carthaginian general who lived from 247 to 182 BC, known for his strategy in taking out opposing forces in the way he utilised his infantry and cavalry. Just 28 years old when he became commander-in-chief of the Carthaginian army, he hated the Romans with a vengeance, and this showed when he made the unprecedented move of taking his army (and the famous elephants) across the Alps and attacking Italy by land and not sea as was expected.

The Battle of Cannae was fought in 216 BC as part of the Second Punic War. Hannibal attacked the mighty Roman force from the middle of the field with his light infantry, but they were then ordered to retreat by the general. The Romans kept pushing forward and were deceived into believing they were winning the battle. Hannibal directed his heavy cavalry at the two flanking wings and such was his advance that his army drove around into a convex curve and attacked from the rear, causing a pincer like movement. It is believed that approximately 70,000 Romans were killed during the day, making it one of the bloodiest battles in history with the most men killed in one day.

The image shows a picture of Hannibal Barca.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_Hannibal_Barca.jpg?uselang=en-gb

Answer: Machiavellian

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an Italian author, philosopher, historian and politician who lived and died in Florence, Italy. He has been known as the "father of modern political theory" after writing about cunning and ruthlessness in his book "Il Principe (The Prince"). The book was dedicated to "the magnificent" Lorenzo de Medici, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic (1469-1492).

"Il Principe" told of a prince's capacity to survive under his own destiny rather than at the fate of others, especially using deceit, corruption and immorality while governing. The book was written in 1513 but was not published until five years after Machiavelli died. His work has been read all over the world, the negative traits used by "Il Principe" giving advice on how a politician should rule a government disregarding moral and ethics, the opposite beliefs and practice that most decent people adhere to.

The term "machiavellian" stems from book, and some of its quotes which include, "The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves."

The image is a portrait of Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli.

Answer: Boer War

The Boer Wars consisted of the First Boer War (Transvaal Rebellion 1880-1881) and Second Boer War (Second War of Independence 1899-1902), both between the United Kingdom, the South African Republic and latterly with the Orange Free State. The Boers were descendants of the original Dutch settlers of South Africa, also known as Afrikaners, who went into conflict over independence against British rule. There was also a contest for control of the Witwatersrand gold-mining complex near Johannesburg.

Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) was a lieutenant general of the British army and fought in both India and Africa. In 1899, he was successful in holding the town of Mafeking for 217 days with a small force of 1,500 men against a mighty force of 8,000 Boers, using deception, decoys and trickery. One deceptive method was to dress some of his soldiers as women who were then ordered to do housework in full view of the Boers, making them believe that life under the British rule was more desirable. Imaginary barbed wire obstacles, fake forts and fake minefield signs were all used as a decoy. The fake letter was written to a friend in Transvaal who Baden-Powell knew was already dead, fully expecting it to be intercepted and read by the Boers. The letter said that additional British troops were on their way; a strategic use of disinformation that was sometimes used to mislead the enemy.

The image is an old postcard of Robert Baden-Powell.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baden_Powell.jpg?uselang=en-gb

Answer: Ghost Army

The Ghost Army were a troop of approximately 1,100 secret soldiers, people who were actors, designers, engineers, audio technicians and artists that were recruited and trained in the art of deception. Their main target was to deceive the German army that the Allies had a much stronger force, all of which was done by illusions and trickery. After initial training in America and England, they were sent into France just after D-Day and stayed until the end of the war.

They created whole battlefields out of dummy rubber tanks, trucks and aircraft. They sent actors into cafes to spread gossip which the enemies fed back to Berlin. Actors were also used to impersonate radio operations and give spoof radio broadcasts giving phoney information. Operation Bettembourg was set up to help George Patton's Third Army as they were attempting to attack the city of Metz. The Ghost Army created a sound effect which made it appear that there were tank movements for four nights running. The sound boomed loudly through the woods into enemy earshot, stopping them from going on the offensive. In amongst the recording was even the sound of an officer falsely instructing his soldier to "Put out that cigarette, private!". Their most important deception came in March 1945 as they proceeded into Germany. Their 1,000 force impersonated two whole troops of 40 thousand men with phoney convoys.

The image shows the insignia used by the Ghost Army.

Answer: Joseph Stalin

Political decoys are people who have been recruited to impersonate politicians, sometimes because of their strong resemblance, and other times due to the similarity in voice. There have been unfounded rumours about body-doubles used by Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein, but nothing was ever proved.

Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) was a tyrant who feared for his life and there were several attempts to assassinate him including Operation Zeppelin, the failed German bid to end his life in 1944. Felix Dadaev had been recruited by the KGB the year before and was trained to copy the voice, gait and behavioural manners of the Soviet leader. The former dancer and juggler was used at motorcades, parades and seen on newsreel footage. His secret was kept for over 50 years until the archives were declassified in 1996 and he was able to tell his story.

The image shows the real Joseph Stalin.

Answer: Operation Desert Storm

Who would have thought a dead tramp helped to save the allies in World War 2? Operation Mincemeat (1943) was the name designated to the allied invasion of Sicily, and the disinformation passed on to the Germans that they were to invade Greece and Sardinia instead. To do this, they obtained the body of a dead tramp, dressed it in uniform and planted false documents before setting it to sea in a strategic position. The body washed up on the south-west coast of Spain where it was found by the enemy. Operation Mincemeat was the brainchild of James Bond creator, Ian Fleming.

Operations Quicksilver and Bodyguard (1943-44) were part of one of the most major deception plans in World War 2. It was a feint used to deceive the Germans into believing an invasion of France would take place at the Pas-de-Calais instead of the Normandy beaches. Operations Fortitude, Graffam, Zeppelin, Ironside and Copperhead were all part of the same plan.

Operation Desert Storm was the code-name for the Gulf War 1990-1991.

The image shows Lockheed C-130 Hercules flying over Kuwait during Desert Storm.

Answer: Lieutenant Colonel Timothy R. O'Neill

Camouflaged uniform and equipment has got to be one of the biggest military deceptions in the modern era. Drab coloured suits to blend in with the scenery dates back to the 18th century, but it was during the 1st and 2nd World Wars when the design and use of camouflage advanced beyond belief. Artists and even zoo keepers were recruited to help design improved patterns, as who better would understand than the people who worked closely with the masters of disguise themselves, wild animals and chameleons. These designers were called "camofleurs". Ghillie (yowie) suits, flecktarn and "razzle-dazzle" are all words synonymous with military camouflage.

Further advancements in camouflage were made in the 1970s when Lieutenant Colonel Timothy R. O'Neill (born 1943) designed the first "digital" pattern using small squares of colour. The professor of engineering psychology at West Point used a "pixelated" design that would trick the eye into seeing the pattern blend in with the environment, whether on uniform or on a truck. The first pixelated digital camouflage designed by computer was first adopted by the Canadian forces in 1997 and based on O'Neill's work. They called the design CADPAT (Canadian Disruptive Pattern). This was closely followed by MARPAT, the US Marines camouflage.

Millions of dollars have since been spent on improving pixelated digital camouflage but it is almost impossible for a computer to replicate what the human eye can see.

The image shows a pixelated digital design camouflage utility cap from 2003.

Answer: Canadian Caper

Tony Mendez was a CIA consultant who was brought in to help extract six hostages holed up secretly at the Canadian embassy in Tehran, Iran, during the 1979 revolution. He was aided by a make-up artist and a movie producer. They came up with the idea of creating a phoney film studio along with a cover story for each of the hostages. The title of the fictitious film used in the rescue mission was called "Argo".

The 1976 Entebbe Raid was a daring mission when Israeli commandos disguised themselves as part of an Idi Amin motorcade to rescue 106 hostages from Entebbe airport. Operation Nimrod was the 1980 mission to rescue 26 hostages from the Iranian embassy in London. The 2004 Beslan School Siege in Russia lasted for three days and sadly ended with the death of 385 hostages, 186 of which were children.

The image shows President Jimmy Carter meeting Tony Mendez.