| Description |
xv, 400 pages 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Summary |
Profiles the virtually unknown 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, an elite, thousand-man "ghost army" that helped win the war in Europe and fought in more campaigns than any other unit in the European theater of operations. |
| Contents |
ACT I: REHEARSAL -- One: The Swashbuckler-1941-1942, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. brings deception to America from Britain -- Two: Hilton Howell Railey, The P.T Barnum of Deception-1942-1944, The discoverer of Amelia Earhart creates a deception lab -- Three: Casting Call for Camoufleurs-1942-1944, Artists and other talented men recruited as camoufleurs at Fort Meade, Maryland -- Four: Artists of Razzle-Dazzle-January-May 1944, Special Troops created at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, and lear tradecraft of deception -- Five: Deceptive Fidelity-The Sonic Campaign-1944, From sonic "bomb" to sound effects at Pine Camp, sonic warriors prepare -- Six: Dress Rehearsal at Stratford-upon-Avon, May-July 1944, Special Troops train in England and wait for D-Day -- ACT II: ONSTAGE -- Seven: Seeing the Elephant-June-July 1944 D-Day through the Battle of Normandy, doing it for real -- Eight: Bad Show at Brest-August 1944, First combined deception leads American tanks into a deadly trap -- Nine: Hold That Ghost Line-September-October 1944, Special Troops hold a seventy-mile-long gap in American lines, force a German retreat -- Ten: Can You Hear Me, Luxembourg? October-November 1944, Second troops into Luxembourg-more operations against German border -- Eleven: The Long, Cruel Winter-December 1944-January 1945 -- Battle of the Bulge erupts in the middle of a deception operation-winter campaigns with Patton and others to close the bulge -- Twelve: The Deadliest Show-February-March 1945, Luck runs out-German artillery at last finds them, kills and wounds seventeen -- Thirteen: Grand Illusion-March 1945, The Rhine ruse succeeds spectacularly-Ninth Army crosses, the war is virtually won -- ACT III: CLOSING THE SHOW -- Fourteen: Striking the Set-April-August 1945, Special Troops demobilized after a dramatic hunt for Russian fugitives -- Epilogue: Curtain Call-Fort Drum N.Y., 15 September 2000, Veterans assemble at Fort Drum, New York, their old training ground, and find they have been erased from history. |
| Subject |
United States. Army. Headquarters Special Troops, 23rd -- History.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Regimental histories -- United States.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Western Front.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Deception -- United States.
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Disinformation -- History -- 20th century.
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| ISBN |
0525946640 alkaline paper |
|
9780525946649 alkaline paper |
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