Hiding WW2 tanks in plain sight, the art of misdirection during warfare.

[Sylvain]

I've been reading about some stage magicians who became camoufleurs during WW2.
I came across some pictures that I've never seen before and thought I would share with the group.
I know there are some history buffs on here, those people probably won't learn anything knew.

A group of painters and magicians came together to form a special military unit.
There task was to make real things disappear and fake things appear somewhere else.

It was mainly used to fool German reconnaissance planes.

Those were used in Egypt to make convoys of tanks look like trucks when viewed from the air.

 

[Sylvain]

Not only did they turned tanks into harmless trucks, they also turned harmless Jeeps into tanks.

 

[SSGSAD]

THAT, is pretty cool .....

 

[Sylvain]

Inflatable vehicles were used as well (maybe more famous) especially during the preparation of the Normandy landing.

Apparently the dummy vehicles are still used today.
Now with heaters added to radiate a heat signature comparable to the real thing.It's supposed to fool spy satellites.

 

[GregD]

I have seen the inflatable tanks on the Smithsonian Channel.

 

[Sylvain]

I have seen the inflatable tanks on the Smithsonian Channel.

I've seen those but never the tanks camouflaged as trucks.
That adds another level of complexity to the battlefielld.

Tanks that look like tanks.
Tanks that look like trucks.
Trucks that look like trucks.
Trucks that look like tanks.
Inflatable dummies that look like trucks or tanks.

The Allied did some double bluff stuff too.Like not hiding real tanks very well, leading the enemy to think they were dummies meant to be seen.

 

[actaeon277]

You might find this interesting


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Army

 

[Sylvain]

You might find this interesting


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Army

Some troops went to Normandy two weeks after D-Day, where they simulated a fake Mulberry harbour at night with lights which attempted to draw German artillery from the real ones.

I think they used the same technique in Egypt.They had lights in the desert a few miles away from a city to attract German air raids, while having a total blackout in the actual city.

Not something you could do today with GPS.

 

[femurphy77]

Inflatable vehicles were used as well (maybe more famous) especially during the preparation of the Normandy landing.

Apparently the dummy vehicles are still used today.
Now with heaters added to radiate a heat signature comparable to the real thing.It's supposed to fool spy satellites.

Wouldn't you love to set up one of those inflatable tanks pointing right at your neighbors bedroom window after yet another sleepless night due to their wild parties!!!

I wonder if they'd charge you with manslaughter if he stroked out upon rising at the crack of noon and looked out to see that thing pointing right at him?

 

[littletommy]

I remember reading a story years ago about a very small group of confederate soldiers, like 2 or 3 men, being trapped by a far larger group of Union soldiers. They got the idea to light campfires all over a hillside, giving the approaching Union soldiers the impression that there were hundreds of enemy combatants in the area. Apparently it worked because someone lived to tell the story.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I remember reading a story years ago about a very small group of confederate soldiers, like 2 or 3 men, being trapped by a far larger group of Union soldiers. They got the idea to light campfires all over a hillside, giving the approaching Union soldiers the impression that there were hundreds of enemy combatants in the area. Apparently it worked because someone lived to tell the story.

The Aussies had a clever way of fooling the Turks to hide their retreat at Gallipoli.

https://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/gallipoli/drip_rifle/

[video=youtube;OhQ-scixu2w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhQ-scixu2w[/video]

 

[Leadeye]

Great info Frenchman, thanks!

 

[indykid]

In World War II my late father was part of the 78th Lightning division, which worked with the "23rd" Ghost Army as well as one other at the Rhine River. With the Ghosts in the south, my father's unit went slightly north, and the third further north. My dad was one of those who came upon and crossed the Ludendorff Bridge in Remagan. One of the few things he ever spoke about the war was crossing that bridge. He considered it one of the most memorable points of his life, which included a lot of work with the original manned space program!

Amazing how a fake army can win a war. Come to think about it, a certain Star Wars Defense Initiative help bankrupt the Soviet Union.