The Ghost Army

[Shiloh 12]

This is a few months off but something to keep an eye on. From the website:

 

In June 1944, a secret U.S. Army unit went into action in Normandy. The weapons they deployed were decidedly unusual: hundreds of inflatable tanks and a one-of-a-kind collection of sound effects records. Their mission was to use bluff, deception, and trickery to save lives. Many were artists, some of who would become famous, including a budding fashion designer named Bill Blass. They painted and sketched their way across Europe, creating a unique visual record of their journey. The story of what these men accomplished was hushed up by the Pentagon for more than forty years.

 

After seven years of effort, and interviews with more than 20 veterans, the documentary that tells their story is coming to PBS on May 21 at 8 PM.

 

http://www.ghostarmy.com/

[Olham 164]

Thanks for the link, Shiloh - very interesting! Would have been THE job for me in that war!

 

Have you seen the film "The Needle" with Donald Sutherland as a spy?

It shows him creeping up near an airfield which looked like being crammed with bombers.

But they were all only dummies made of wood and canvas, to bluff the Germans.

[Hauksbee 103]

...but they were all only dummies made of wood and canvas, to bluff the Germans.

And very good dummies they were. This would have been an easy place to skimp, but the reality of those planes and tanks lent an extra dollop of reality to the rest.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Hauksbee

[Shiloh 12]

I haven't seen that Olham but it sounds really interesting. I'm amazed by all the little side stories that helped sway the outcome of the war. In WW2, new stuff we didn't know much about seems to come to the surface all the time.

[Olham 164]

Shiloh, the original name is "The Eye of the Needle".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_the_Needle_%28film%29

[Hauksbee 103]

That build-up of (bogus) forces in East Anglia was the classical "Quaker Canon"...a weapon that does the trick and hurts nobody. It convinced the Germans that there would be a channel crossing at the narrowest point, the Pas-de-Calais. They held their Panzer units there long after it was clear that Normandy was the invasion point. It was also 'leaked' that Gen.George Patton would command the invasion. The general's detractors would later claim it was his most brilliant victory.

[Shiloh 12]

Thank you Olham...I do like Donald Sutherland in a role of that nature. I'll have to check it out.

 

Yes Hauksbee...I do agree that at that moment in time, using Patton as a diversion was nothing less than brilliant. The German high-command feared no one more than he so he garnered their full attention.

[Shiloh 12]

Olham,

 

This movie just happened to be on today and I really enjoyed it. As I was watching, I started remembering little things about it. Then at the end, I knew for sure I had seen it before, probably sometime in the 1980's as a teenager. Thanks again for the recommendation!

 

Also, The Ghost Army has been selling out here in New England with advanced showings and the buzz has been good.

 

Shiloh

Edited March 21, 2013 by Shiloh

[Flyby PC 23]

My Grandpa on my mother's side served with the Dover patrol in WW1, then post WW1, he was in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders reaching the rank of colour sergeant during 7 years service inter war. He was too old for military service in WW2, but his contribution was building barracks and accommodation for US servicemen, and also, working with trees, trimming them and painting them to make them look like anti-aircraft artillery. More than that I can't tell you, because he died a long time ago.

 

Actually, there is more, after WW2, he came back to Scotland to set up his own sawmill which was just on the point of opening up for business when he had an accident and cut off three of his fingers. His insurance was still in the envelope above the mantlepiece, and it happened in the weeks before the Health Service was set up. Bit of a disaster with a wife and two kids to support. When I was a nipper of 2 or 3 years old, I used to have a comfort blanket and suck on my index finger. My grandpa used to yank my finger out my mouth and tell me to stop sucking my finger before it shrunk and disappeared, thereupon waving the stumps of his own fingers. I would then check, and find my index finger was already shorter than my middle finger so it MUST be true and a self inflicted mutation already in progress. It sounds a bit gruesome, but it wasn't really like that. It was just a grandpa with 'special effects', and some training in the art of illusion.

Edited March 21, 2013 by Flyby PC

[Olham 164]

The good side of modern TV, Shiloh - everything will get repeated some day.

 

Good story about the hardships of life, and how they dealt with that before we got flooded with after-war comfort, Flyby.