Скачать или смотреть The One Genius 'Trick' General Patton Used to Fool the Entire German Army

Discover the story of Operation Fortitude, the greatest military deception in history. This operation was designed to protect Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy.

In the spring of 1944, German intelligence was convinced the Allied invasion would strike at Pas-de-Calais, the narrowest point of the English Channel. Their aerial reconnaissance photos from May 28th, 1944, confirmed this, showing hundreds of tanks and landing craft massed in southeastern England.

What the Germans didn't know was that they were looking at a "Ghost Army". The tanks were inflatable rubber, the landing craft were painted canvas on wooden frames, and the fuel depots were elaborate stage sets. This phantom force was the First United States Army Group (FUSAG), and its commander was the one general the German high command feared most: Lieutenant General George S. Patton.





The Allies faced the formidable Atlantic Wall, a massive fortification system strengthened by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Allied planners knew that if the Germans concentrated their full strength at the real landing site, the invasion would fail catastrophically , repeating the 1942 Dieppe Raid disaster. The solution was Operation Fortitude, a plan to make the Germans divide their forces.





This complex deception was orchestrated by units like the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, who used artists and sound technicians to create the illusion. They laid fake tank tracks and broadcast thousands of fake radio messages to mimic a real army's communications.



The deception was cemented by a network of double agents controlled by Britain's Twenty Committee. The most valuable agent, Juan Pujol García (codename "Garbo"), fed German intelligence a stream of convincing reports about FUSAG's preparations. The Germans believed, quite reasonably, that the Allies would give their best general, Patton, the main command. Patton, sidelined after the slapping incidents in Sicily , was the perfect decoy , making highly public appearances in the region.





When the real invasion began on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, at Normandy, Fortitude's most critical phase began. The goal shifted to convincing Hitler that Normandy was merely a diversion. On June 8th, Garbo sent his most important message, insisting the "real" invasion by Patton's FUSAG was still aimed at Pas-de-Calais.





The lie worked. Hitler, confirming his own bias, refused to release the powerful Fifteenth Army (nineteen divisions) and key panzer units to reinforce Normandy. These forces, which could have crushed the beachhead, sat idle for seven crucial weeks waiting for an invasion that never came.




By the time the Germans realized the truth in late July, the Allies had landed over a million men. Patton was finally given command of the real Third Army and unleashed on France. Operation Fortitude, a masterpiece of visual, radio, and human intelligence, bought the Allies the time they needed to secure victory.



⏰ Chapters
00:00:00 - The Lie: German Reconnaissance Sees an Army

00:00:38 - The Truth: A Phantom Army of Rubber and Canvas

00:01:21 - The Strategic Problem: Rommel and the Atlantic Wall

00:02:24 - The Dieppe Raid: A Lesson in Failure

00:03:17 - The Planners: The London Controlling Section

00:04:10 - Operation Fortitude: FUSAG and the Norway Deception

00:05:04 - The Patton Factor: The General the Germans Feared

00:06:06 - Patton's "Punishment": The Slapping Incidents

00:07:11 - The 23rd Special Troops: Building the Ghost Army

00:08:05 - The Props: Inflatable Tanks and Dummy Craft

00:09:54 - Layer 2: The Radio Deception

00:11:42 - Layer 3: The Double Agents (Garbo)

00:13:38 - Patton Plays His Role

00:16:15 - The Real Invasion: D-Day, June 6, 1944

00:17:27 - The Deception Continues: "Normandy is a Feint"

00:17:53 - Garbo's Masterstroke (June 8, 1944)

00:18:38 - Hitler's Fateful Decision

00:19:30 - The Result: German Reserves Paralyzed

00:20:55 - The Lie Unravels (Late July 1944)

00:21:12 - The Real Patton is Unleashed

00:22:00 - The Strategic Impact: 19 Divisions Sidelined

00:23:39 - The Secret Keepers: Fortitude Declassified

00:25:22 - Historical Debate: How Decisive Was It?

00:27:02 - The Legacy: A Multi-Layered Deception

00:27:49 - The Psychology of Deceit: Confirmation Bias

00:29:37 - Final Verdict: Patton's Theatrical Victory

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