Fooling the Nazis Trivia Quiz

Answer: FUSAG (First US Army Group)

Part of this deception had many men driving around the countryside simulating the radio traffic of an army group on the move. Other deceptions were to advertise in local newspaper about upcoming dances for servicemen, marriage engagements of servicemen, etc. The Germans thought Pas de Calais was the logical choice for an invasion since it was the closest part of France to England and it had ideal beaches for an invasion.

Historical note:
The three wrong answers all played significant roles in the Normandy invasion and subsequent breakout. The Screaming Eagles were the nickname of the 101st US Airborne force that was parachuted into Normandy the night before the ground invasion began. The Big Red One was a ground division with a reputation for toughness (earned during the North Africa and Sicily campaigns). They bore the brunt of the bloody fighting on Omaha beach on 6 June 1944. Third Army (under General George S. Patton) headed the breakout from hedgerow country after the Operation Cobra saturation bombing campaign.

Answer: General George S. Patton

Patton was highly regarded by the Germans, and they thought he would lead any invasion. He was still in the doghouse over his slapping of two soldiers in Sicily, so General Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower's decision to use Patton in this role rather than in combat was easier. The scene in the movie "Patton" where Patton addressed a ladies' group and his bull mastiff dog William (the Conqueror) was cowered by a yapping small dog was typical of his visibility during this period. (The name "William" was changed to "Willie" after this incident!) Patton got his chance to redeem himself after the slapping incidents by being recalled to head up Third Army after it broke out from hedgerow country to open ground.

Historical note:
The three wrong answers all played significant roles in the invasion of Normandy. General Bradley was one of the leading Allied field commanders in WWII. General Montgomery was an important British general who had command of all ground forces during the Normandy invasion. General Smith served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Chief of Staff at Allied Forces Headquarters during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy. Later he was Eisenhower's Chief of Staff at SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force).

Answer: All of these

At the time of the D-Day invasion, additional deception steps were employed to give the Germans the impression a large fleet was sailing for the Pas de Calais. A device called a "Moonshine" repeater was transported across the English Channel. It would receive a radar signal and return it greatly magnified, which gave the impression of a much larger object than actually existed. In addition, six Lancaster bombers dropped many small pieces of foil (chaff) at regular intervals to simulate a large fleet. The planes would maneuver so their periodic chaff drops would approximately match the speed of a surface fleet of ships (and thus mislead German radar operators). The combination apparently was very successful.

Historical note:
The main German defenders of Calais were forces in the 15th German Army. If they had been moved to Normandy, they could have caused major damage to the Allied invasion forces. Eisenhower said, "Just keep the [German] 15th army out of my hair for the first two days. That's all I ask."

Answer: All of these

The inflatable tanks were designed so several men could climb underneath them and simulate movement of the tank. When this was done, another piece of equipment was used to create impressions of tank treads in the dirt. Dummy tanks and other vehicles were designed, but never used.

Historical note:
The German Luftwaffe was so depleted by this point in the war that very few surveillance flights were successful. A 1981 movie called "Eye of the Needle" told the story of a German spy in England (Donald Sutherland) who saw these were fakes, and was trying to get back to Germany to report that. This movie is one of my favorites. Just like "The Guns of Navarone," this story is fiction, but it was done very believably!

Answer: General Hans Cramer

General Cramer was captured in North Africa, but the Allies decided to repatriate him to Germany via Sweden because of his severe asthma. On the way to London he saw elements of the real Allied army of the invasion force being assembled, but was misled about his location. He was told that Dover, Kent was "just over the hill," placing the invading force where the Allies wanted Hitler to believe it was. Karl Dönitz, Joseph Goebbels and Albert Speer were important German figures in World War II and were never captured *during* the war.

Historical note:
Karl Dönitz was the top commander (Grand Admiral) of the German Kriegsmarine (Navy) at the surrender of Germany on 7 May 1945. He is credited with introducing the "wolf pack" tactic in submarine warfare. Just before Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945, Dönitz was named by Hitler as his successor as Head of State. Germany's surrender to the Allies was signed by Alfred Jodl (acting as Dönitz's representative). Joseph Goebbels was the German Minister of Propaganda during WWII. He had a huge influence in shaping German public opinion through speeches, staging spectacular public assemblies, and censoring the daily news. He and his wife Magda committed suicide on 1 May 1945, after first poisoning their six young children. Magda had said she didn't want her children growing up hearing their father branded a war criminal (an older child from Magda's first marriage, Harald Quandt, survived the war). Albert Speer served as Hitler's Minister of Armaments and War Production during WWII. He was convicted at the Nuremberg war crimes trials for his use of slave labor and spent 20 years in Spandau prison.

Answer: Norway

Norway was a probable target (in the German eyes) because iron ore deposits important to the German war effort were shipped through the Norwegian port city of Narvik, and the geography of the area would give the Allies a clear path to northern Germany.

Historical note:
An especially nice touch of Operation Fortitude North was rigging the Swedish stock market to go up in anticipation of Norway being free. Hitler kept several hundred thousand German soldiers stationed in Norway, forces that could have done major damage if they had been moved to Normandy.

Answer: Juan Pujo Garcia (better known by his code name "Garbo")

The British quietly named Garbo as a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1944. As a result, he is probably the only person to be awarded both decorations during the same war! Garcia's first codename was "Bovril," but that was changed to "Garbo" in recognition of his great acting ability. He gained credibility with the Germans when he reported 24 hours before D-Day the non-specific news that "something big is brewing." Three days after D-Day he reported that Normandy was just a diversion and that the main invasion would come elsewhere. By this time, the German Enigma code had been broken by the codebreakers at Bletchley Park, and Enigma decrypts showed the Germans swallowed this story completely!

Historical note:
Mata Hari, Kim Philby and Aldrich Ames were all spies, but in different conflicts. Mata Hari was a female German spy in World War I. She was executed by the French in 1917. Kim Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence during the Cold War, but was also working for the Russians. He was not fully exposed until he defected to the Soviet Union in 1963. He died in Russia in 1988. Aldrich Ames worked for the United States CIA during the Cold War and sold U.S. secrets to the Russian KGB. He was caught in 1994 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Answer: Greece and the Balkans

Personal effects on the body included a picture of his fiancée Pam (actually, a British clerk in the war office), love letters from Pam (which had been folded and unfolded many times), a jeweler's bill for a diamond ring, theater tickets for an upcoming performance and an overdraft notice from his bank. Copies of all the documents were forwarded to the Germans. They so fooled Hitler that he overruled Mussolini, who thought the invasion would come through Sicily. One possible author of those love letters was later reportedly the model for Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond novels (Ian Fleming also worked in her office).

Historical note:
There is some disagreement about where the body came from, but one interesting theory is that it was a drowned British sailor from the mysterious explosion of the aircraft carrier HMS Dasher, which had sunk on 27 March 1943, just a few weeks before Operation Mincemeat. (Various possible causes of this explosion have been theorized, but no official cause was ever stated.) Another possible source of the body is that it was a vagrant Welshman who had committed suicide with poison (his body had been kept in cold storage for three months). Winston Churchill, who took particular delight in intrigues like this, was briefed on the plan and on being advised of possible failure said, "In that case, we shall have to get the body back and give it another swim." The architect of this deception, Ewen Montagu, later was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire), one of Britain's highest decorations.

Answer: The Suez Canal

Maskelyne took advantage of the physiological fact that the eye's pupil automatically contracts when a bright light shines on it (thus restricting the light reaching the retina). You can see this yourself by facing the front of a car (with headlights off) at night. When the headlights are turned on, the car seems to disappear!

Historical note:
Maskelyne almost didn't make it in the army. He was age 37 when WWII in Europe started in 1939. He was convinced his illusionist skills would be useful in camouflage, but was initially used just to entertain the troops. He got his big chance when A Force (aka the Magic Gang) was established in 1941. His team included a hand-picked group of 14 assistants, including an architect, art restorer, carpenter, chemist, electrical engineer, electrician, painter, and stage-set builder.

Answer: Alexandria

The Magic Gang built an illuminated mockup of the night-lights of Alexandria in a bay three miles from the city, and had the real lights in Alexandria turned off. It completely fooled the German bomber pilots, and their bomb loads were dropped on the bay. Another major success the Magic Team had was in Operation Bertram in 1942, before the second battle of El Alamein. They used painted canvas and plywood to make jeeps look like tanks and tanks look like trucks (from the air). They built a fake railway line, faked radio conversations, and faked the sounds of construction. They also built a fake water pipeline and made it look as if it would never be ready before attack. The net result was German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel thought the British attack was coming from the south when General Bernard Montgomery planned to attack from the north.

Historical note:
After he joined the army, Maskelyne had to convince skeptical generals of his skills. In one memorable demonstration at camouflage school, he hid a machine-gun bunker so completely that the inspecting general couldn't find it (even when he was standing right on top of it!). Maskelyne's amazing story is told in the book "The War Magician" by David Fisher (published in 1983, and now out of print). For a copy, try www.abebooks.com (searches many used-book shops). In 2001, a movie based on this book, with Tom Cruise in the lead role, was announced (although movie projects at this stage are iffy, at best). Winston Churchill, who just loved subterfuge like this, praised Maskelyne's efforts.