Cover Image: The Ghost Army

The Ghost Army

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Member Reviews

A really interesting insight into the deceptive talents of the Allied forces. I leant quite a lot about the techniques involved and the depth to which secrecy had to be maintained

It was to be expected that the stories would become a little repetitive, as the techniques deployed were limited in number. Nonetheless it's worth a read

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Authors Gerry and Janet Souter (http://www.avril1.com) published the book “The Ghost Army: Conning the Third Reich” in 2019. They have published more than 50 books on a variety of topics.

I categorize this book as ‘G’. The book tells the stories of British and American forces going to unusual lengths to fool the Nazis. The first part of the book looks at efforts by the British in North Africa. The remainder looks at the US 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. Each of their assignments is described in detail.

I enjoyed the 6.5 hours I spent reading this 226-page WWII history. I have read other accounts of these units and always find them fascinating. I do like the selected cover art. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

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Gerry and Janet Souter bring the story of the Ghost Army to life in this fascinating book. Their extensive research and stellar story telling skills make this book a must read for anyone interested in military history, tactics and especially WWII. I so appreciated the background they provided in other distract and deflect actions in fooling the Nazis. I have seen a documentary regarding the Ghost Army, and read other mentions, but The Souters' provided more insight and revelations than anything else I've seen or read. I would love to see a film based on this book, but at the very least it would make a superb book discussion selection.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

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I would describe The Ghost Army as a must-read for those into history, world war II curio, military tactics and general non-fiction as it is such a fascinating account of a truly inspired and highly successful attempt to mislead the Hitler, Germany and the Axis Powers to gain military advantage. This book breaks down the several bold strategies that were utilised in order to trick the Nazis, and let's face it, in the heat of battle everyone needs as much working for them as possible. It comes across as thorough in its breadth and depth as well as meticulously researched and compiled and the attention to detail and nuances didn't escape my notice.

With General George S. Patton at the helm, we journey through the remarkable and astonishing adventures of a wholly unique concept; a band of ragtag brothers in arms who were instructed to carry out an original clandestine operation never seen on this scale before. This group worked stealthily towards the ultimate con which would be widely recognised as being one of the single most important activities in WWII which would allow D-Day to unfold as it did, signifying the Allied victory. It's only now retrospectively that we are able to explore fully the crucial role The Ghost Army played in the defeat of German forces. Many thanks to Arcturus Publishing for an ARC.

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I watched a PBS documentary on this subject a couple of years ago and was happy to see this book available. It's the story of FUSAG (the First U.S. Army Group), which was an army commanded by Gen. George S. Patton, and poised to invade France at Calais...and completely imaginary. OK, not COMPLETELY imaginary, since they had inflatable tanks,bu t still...

Allied commanders, knowing the Germans respected Patton and would expect an invasion to cover the least distance possible through the English Channel, used the Ghost Army and "double cross" (agents working for the Allies but believed to be loyal spies to the Germans) to make Hitler believe the Normandy landings were really a feint - and resulted in sizable German forces held back in the area of Calais until nearly 2 months after D-Day. Thus, the Ghost Army was pivotal in the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany. The fact that this deception worked despite previously hoodwinking Hitler into believing the Allies would land in Greece rather than Sicily makes it even more impressive.

This book not only tells this story, but goes into detail about the "double-cross" agents and their successes, the previous operation regarding the invasion of Italy, and the capers of the Ghost Army in Europe after D-Day - using sound trucks to create the illusion of tanks and equipment maneuvering, hoping that the next German attack wouldn't come through their position since they were pretty much doomed if that occurred.

Fascinating dive into one of the best military strategies of all time.

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