1944

Photo: UK Government / IWM • Believed to be in the Public Domain (Crown Copyright expired)

Operation Fortitude

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Operation Fortitude was the code name for a military deception employed by the Allies as part of an overall deception strategy (code named Bodyguard) during the build-up to the 1944 Normandy landings. Fortitude was divided into two sub-plans, North and South, with the aim of misleading the German High Command as to the location of the invasion.

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Both Fortitude plans involved the creation of phantom field armies (based in Edinburgh and the south of England) which threatened Norway (Fortitude North) and Pas de Calais (Fortitude South). The operation was intended to divert Axis attention away from Normandy and, after the invasion on 6 June 1944, to delay reinforcement by convincing the Germans that the landings were purely a diversionary attack.

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The Allies had developed a number of deceptions, which were referred to as "special Means". They included combinations of physical deception, fake wireless activity, leaks through diplomatic channels and double agents. Fortitude used all of those techniques to various extents. For example, Fortitude North relied heavily on wireless transmission (the Allies thought that Scotland was too far for German reconnaissance to reach), and Fortitude South used the Allies' network of double agents. Fortitude South even invented an entire fictitious new field army. The First United States Army Group (FUSAG), commanded by Lt. Gen. George Patton.

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Plans included:

Physical deception: To mislead the enemy with non existent units by fake infrastructure and equipment, such as dummy landing craft, dummy airfields and decoy lighting.

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Controlled leaks: Information would pass through diplomatic channels, which might be passed on via neutral countries to the Germans.

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Wireless traffic: Created to simulate actual units to mislead the enemy.

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Using German agents: Agents controlled by the Allies through the 'Double Cross System' to send false information to the German intelligence services.

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Public presence of notable staff: Associated with phantom groups such as FUSAG, most notably the well-known US General George Patton.

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Garbo

 

One of the main deception channels for the Allies was the use of double agents. B1A, the Counter-Intelligence Division of MI5, had done a good job in intercepting all of the German agents in Britain. Many of them were recruited as double agents under the Double Cross System. The most famous had the code name 'Garbo'.

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Juan Pujol García (Garbo), was a Spanish citizen who managed to be recruited by German intelligence. He sent them abundant but convincing disinformation from Lisbon until the Allies accepted his offer, and he was employed by the British. He had created a network of 27 imaginary sub-agents by the time of Fortitude, and the Germans unwittingly paid the British Exchequer large amounts of money regularly, thinking they were funding a network that was loyal to themselves.