The Ghost Commander

The Battle of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord, better known as D-Day, began on June 6, 1944, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France's Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning, to include a large-scale deception intended to make the Germans think the main invasion target was Pas-de-Calais (the narrowest point between Britain and France) rather than Normandy. Many tactics were used to carry out the deception, including a "ghost" army commanded by Gen. George S. Patton. It was codenamed 'Operation Fortitude,' one of the most successful deception campaigns of WWII.

The German High Command had more respect for Patton than for any other allied commander, and absolutely certain he was central to any plan to invade Europe from England. So confident were they on Patton's involvement, the Germans were monitoring his daily location and activities. The Allies, aware of the Germans keeping an eye on him 24/7, fed German spies, a steady stream of false intelligence that Gen. Patton had been named commander of the First United States Army Group (FUSAG) and was preparing his command for an invasion of Pas-de-Calais.

The "phantom" FUSAG command, of course, was, in reality, an intricately constructed decoys, props, and fake signals traffic based around Dover to mislead German aircraft and to make Axis leaders believe a large force was massing there in an effort to mask the real location of the invasion in Normandy. To facilitate this deception, additional buildings were constructed; dummy aircraft and landing craft were placed around possible embarkation points. Patton paid many of these a visit along with a photographer.
 

At no point were the Germans fed false documents describing the invasion plan itself, however. Instead, they were allowed to assemble a misleading order of battle for the Allied forces. To mount a massive invasion of Europe from England, military planners had little choice but to stage units around the country with those that would land first nearest to the embarkation point at Cornwall. As a result of FUSAG's having been placed in the south-east, German intelligence would (and did) deduce that the center of the invasion force was opposite Pas-de-Calais, the point on the French coast closest to England and therefore a likely landing point.

Throughout this massive deception, Patton was ordered to keep a low profile to deceive the Germans into thinking he was in Dover throughout early 1944, when he was actually training the Third Army. As a result, the German 15th Army remained at Pas de Calais to defend against Patton's expected attack. Seven weeks after the invasion of Normandy, this formation held its position, convinced the landings were purely a diversionary attack. This mistake on the part of the German High Command delayed critical tank and infantry reinforcements rushing to Normandy to stop the advance of the Allied forces.

Although the cost in lives - 4,413 of which 2,499 were Americans - were high, landing along the French coast where the German was not expecting a raid, was a brilliant and well-executed plan that ultimately spelled defeat for the Nazis. 

Following the landings at Normandy, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower stood overlooking Omaha Beach and said: "These men came here - British and our allies, and Americans - to storm these beaches for one purpose only, not to gain anything for ourselves, not to fulfill any ambitions that America had for conquest, but just to preserve freedom. Many thousands of men have died for such ideals as these but these young boys were cut off in their prime. I devoutly hope that we will never again have to see such scenes as these. I think and hope, and pray, that humanity will have learned, we must find some way to gain eternal peace for this world."
 

Don Pryor served in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division (D Company 1/12) in 1968, as well as TDY with ROK White Horse Rangers, ARVN's, 5th Mechanized Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade operating in the Bong Song AO. He returned home and went to college where he was in ROTC. He reentered the Army as an officer, retiring as a major. 

He had the honor to serve under Maj. Gen. George S. Patton (General Patton's son), Commander, 2nd Armored Division, Ft Hood, Texas, in 1975 and remained in contact with him through correspondence until his death 30 Jun 2004. "He was the image of his father and I am proud to have served with him and known him personally.

"My father spent 4 years in the Pacific in WWII then sent to Russian language school and subsequently assigned as a Commander in the OSI in post-war Germany. He spoke many times of what would have happened had we not won the war and been successful on D-Day. We feared the Russians would possibly split the European Continent with the Germans. It was generally felt the Germans would succumb to communism with the Russian's influence and strength. Imagine the world today with complete communist rule across all of Europe. How might the global stage evolve over that time? Who would be actors today and most of all where would America be?"