EXPLAINED | What Was 'Ghost Army'? Secretive WWII Deception Unit Awarded Congressional Gold Medal

The Ghost Army was the first mobile, multimedia, tactical deception unit in the history of the US army. It used visual, sonic, & radio deception to fool German forces during World War II's final year.

A member of the 603rd Camouflage Engineering Battalion standing in front of an inflatable tank destroyer | Photo: Ghost Army Legacy Project

New Delhi: On February 1, United States President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that awards the Congressional Gold Medal to the secretive World War II deception unit known as the Ghost Army. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, activated on January 20, 1994, was known as the Ghost Army.

 

The Ghost Army was the first mobile, multimedia, tactical deception unit in the history of the US army, according to an article published by The National World War II Museum in New Orleans. 

 

After the Ghost Army was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal this week, Bernie Bluestein, a 98-year-old Ghost Army veteran, said that he had never expected anything like this in his lifetime, according to a statement issued by the Ghost Army Legacy Project, which is dedicated to honouring the soldiers of the deception units. The mission of the Ghost Army Legacy Project is to preserve and honour the legacy of these men.

 

"What an honour," Bluestein said. "I never in my lifetime expected anything like this, it completely blasts me. I'm just sorry that there are not more of my fellow soldiers still alive that can be enjoying this as much as I do."

 

The Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133rd Signal Company Special in Italy. The latter was a sister unit that carried out two deceptions in Italy in 1945.

 

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest distinction the Congress can bestow, and is Congress's utmost expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. It dates back to the American Revolution.

What Was The Ghost Army?

The Ghost Army consisted of an authorised strength of 82 officers and 1,023 men under the command of Army veteran Colonel Harry L. Reeder, and was a unique and top-secret unit capable of simulating two whole divisions — approximately 30,000 men. It used visual, sonic, and radio deception to fool German forces during World War II's final year. 

 

The Ghost Army, armed with nothing heavier than 0.50 caliber machine guns, took part in 22 large-scale deceptions in Europe from Normandy to the Rhine river, according to The National WWII Museum. The bulk of the unit arrived in England in May 1944. This was shortly before June 6, 1944, often referred to as D-Day. It was the largest seaborne invasion in the history of warfare. 

 

The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, also called the 23rd, was the brainchild of Colonel Billy Harris and Major Ralph Ingersoll, both American military planners based in London. The unit consisted of a carefully selected group of artists, engineers, professional soldiers, and draftees, including famed artists such as fashion designer Bill Blass, painter Ellsworth Kelly, and photographer Art Kane, according to The National WWII Museum.

Ralph Ingersoll (left) (Photo: Ingersoll Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University via Ghost Army Legacy Project); Colonel Billy Harris (right) (Photo: Ghost Army Legacy Project)

 

How Did The Ghost Army Fool The Germans?

The 23rd involved many West Point graduates and former Army Specialised Training Program participants. 

 

The unit, said to have one of the highest IQs in the Army, with an average of 119, waged war with inflatable tanks and vehicles, fake radio traffic, sound effects, and even phony generals, using imagination and illusion to trick the enemy in order to send thousands of lives, the National WWII Museum said on its website. 

 

The inflatable tanks, sound effects, and imagination were used to fool the Germans on the battlefields of Europe, according to the Ghost Army Legacy Project.

Members of the 3132 Signal Service Company with one of their speciall equipped sonic halftracks. (Photo: Ghost Army Legacy Project)

 

A handpicked group of G.I.s, an initialism of "government issue" or "general issue", and used to refer to the WWII soldiers, landed in France in the summer of 1944 to conduct a special mission. They were armed with truckloads of inflatable tanks, a massive collection of sound effects records, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, the Ghost Army Legacy Project said on its website.

 

The job of the G.I.s was to create a travelling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe. The German Army was their audience. 

 

The 1100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters from Normandy to the Rhine, to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units.

 

The requirement of each deception was to impersonate a different, and vastly larger US unit. The soldiers, like actors in a repertory theatre, would mount an ever-changing multimedia show tailored to each operation. The men, who immersed themselves in their roles, used to hang out at local cafes and spin their counterfeit stories for spies who might lurk in the shadows. 

 

According to the Ghost Army Legacy Project, painstakingly recorded sounds of armoured and infantry units were blasted from sound trucks. Also, radio operators created phony traffic nets, and artillery and even airplanes were imperfectly camouflaged to make them visible to the enemy reconnaissance.

 

Quoting veteran John Jarvie, an article published by the Ghost Army Legacy Project said that it was a big war. He said that it was a big war and everybody went.

The Ghost Army Consisted Of Soldiers From 46 States

Artists and engineers served alongside truck drivers and bartenders in the Ghost Army, which consisted of soldiers coming from 46 states. This was the first time many of them had ever been exposed to people so different than themselves. The Ghost Army, in the best tradition of American soldiers, pulled together to make it work, the Ghost Army Legacy Project said on its website.

 

The 23rd carried out more than 20 deception missions, which were often dangerously close to the front, in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. 

 

"Its complement was more theatrical than military," the unit's official history noted, according to the Ghost Army Legacy Project.

 

"It was like a traveling road show that went up and down the front lines impersonating the real fighting outfits," the unit's official history noted.

 

The Ghost Army soldiers frequently put themselves in danger, suffering casualties as a consequence. While carrying out the missions, three Ghost Army soldiers were killed, and dozens were wounded. 

Selected Operations Of The Ghost Army

Some operations carried out by the Ghost Army include Operation Brittany, Operation Bettembourg, Operation Kodak, and Operation Viersen.

 

Operation Brittany was carried out in July 1944. The Ghost Army tricked the enemy about where General George Patton was headed. This helped him to race across France and smash much of the German army, according to the Ghost Army Legacy Project.

 

During Operation Bettembourg, carried out in September, the Ghost Army helped hold a dangerously undermanned part of Patton's line as he was attacking the fortress city of Metz in France. According to the Ghost Army Legacy Project, Patton wrote to his wife: "There is one rather bad spot in my line, but I don't think the Huns know it." 

 

Operation Kodak was a US tactical deception undertaken by the Ghost Army on the Western Front in December 1944. The Western Front of the European Theatre of WWII encompassed Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and West Germany. 

 

During the Battle of the Bulge, the Ghost Army conducted a radio deception that helped draw German attention away from the effort to relieve Bastogne.

 

Operation Viersen was carried out in March 1945. The Ghost Army out on a dazzling deception along the Rhine River. This was the unit's biggest ever deception. 

 

It drew the enemy away from a real crossing by the 9th Army. Operation Viersen earned the Ghost Army a commendation from 9th Army commander William Simpson.

The Ultimate Test For The Ghost Army

The Ghost Army faced their ultimate test in the final days of the war. They performed a deception along the Rhine, in which thousands of lives depended on them, according to the Ghost Army Legacy Project.

 

The soldiers succeeded in fooling the Germans about when the 9th US Army would cross the Rhine.

 

Together, the unsung heroes of the 23rd and the 3133rd Signal Company Special saved thousands of lives, helped win the war, and helped liberate Europe from the Nazis.  

 

According to the Ghost Army Legacy Project, the "traveling road show of deception" of only 1,100 troops appearing to be more than 20,000 are credited with saving an estimated 30,000 American lives. 

 

"Rarely, if ever, has there been a group of such a few men which had so great an influence on the outcome of a major military campaign," the Ghost Army Legacy Project quoted US Army analyst Mark Kronman as saying. Kronman had studied their missions and was deeply impressed with the impact of their illusions. 

 

The Ghost Army's efforts were kept secret for 50 years. The unit's soldiers were sworn to secrecy following the war, records were classified, and equipment packed away, according to The National  WWII Museum.

 

There was a newspaper article right after the war which talked about the Ghost Army. Apart from this, no one spoke publicly about the Ghost Army until a 1985 Smithsonian article.

 

The knowledge of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops was officially classified until the mid-1990s, according to the National WWII Museum.

What Was The Order Of The Battle?

On January 20, 1944, at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, the new unit was officially activated. The army brought together three existing units and one brand new one, to carry out the deception mission. They were placed under the command of Colonel Harry Reeder. He continued to command the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops until the unit returned home from Europe.

 

The 603rd Camouflage Engineering Battalion was the largest unit in the Ghost Army, and consisted of 379 men. They handled visual deception, using an array of inflatable rubber tanks, trucks, artillery, and jeeps to create a deceptive tableau for enemy aerial reconnaissance or distant observers.

 

The Signal Company Special was formerly known as the 244th Signal Company, and included 296 men who carried out radio deception, also known as "spoof radio". Phony traffic nets, impersonating radio operators from real units, were created by operators in the Signal Company Special.

 

The 3132 Signal Service Company was the sonic deception unit staff, staffed with 145 men, with the mission to play sound effects from powerful speakers mounted on halftracks, or armoured vehicles with wheels in the front and tracks in the back, to simulate the sounds of units moving and operating at night, the Ghost Army Legacy Project said on its website.

 

The 3132 Signal Service Company became part of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops,  according to the Ghost Army Legacy Project.

 

The 406th Combat Engineers were led by Captain George Rebh. The 168 men of the 406th were trained as fighting soldiers, provided perimeter security for the rest of Ghost Army, and executed construction and demolition tasks including digging tank and artillery positions.

Who Are The Surviving Ghost Army Veterans?

Now, there are just nine surviving Ghost Army veterans scattered throughout the US, according to the Ghost Army Legacy Project. These are: 

• Nick Leo — He is the oldest of the surviving veterans. Aged 99, he lives in Brentwood, New York. 
• Bernie Bluestein — Aged 98, Bluestein lives in Schaumburg, Illinois.
• Mark Mallardi — Aged 98, he lives in Edgewater, Florida
• Seymour Nussenbaum — The 98-year-old lives in Monroe Township in New Jersey
• Bill Anderson — Aged 97, he lives in Kent, Ohio
• John Christman — He lives in Leesburg, New Jersey, and is 97-years-old
• George Dramis — Aged 97, he lives in Raleigh, North Carolina
• Manny Frockt — The 97-year-old lives in West Palm Beach, Florida
• Bill Nall — He lives in Dunnellon, Florida, and is 97 years of age

What Is The Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act?

US President Biden signed into law S.1404, or the "Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act". 

 

According to a statement issued by The White House, the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the "Ghost Army", in recognition of their unique and highly distinguished service in conducting deception operations in Europe during World War II.