Harris was a straight-arrow West Point graduate. His boss at the Special Plans Branch was Colonel Billy Harris. “He’d say anything to get what he wanted.” “I’ve never met anyone who was such a bright guy who was such a goddamned liar,” said Went Eldredge, a fellow American intelligence officer. He developed a reputation for playing fast and loose with the truth. In the second half of 1943, Captain Ingersoll was stationed in “Special Plans” branch in the Army’s headquarters in London, working with British planners on various strategic deceptions so that American activities would dovetail with the overall British plan. The New York Times once described the colorful Ingersoll as “a prodigiously energetic egotist.” After war broke out, Ingersoll joined up and served in North Africa, then came home and wrote a best-selling book entitled The Battle is the Payoff. Major Ralph Ingersoll was a celebrity journalist and best-selling author. Army staff officers who made an unlikely pair. MAJ Ralph Ingersoll and COL Billy HarrisThe 23 rd was the brainchild of two U.S. Painstakingly recorded sounds of armored and infantry units were blasted from sound trucks radio operators created phony traffic nets and inflatable tanks, trucks, artillery and even airplanes were imperfectly camouflaged so they would be visible to enemy reconnaissance. The men immersed themselves in their roles, even hanging out at local cafes and spinning their counterfeit stories for spies who might lurk in the shadows. Like actors in a repertory theater, they would mount an ever-changing multimedia show tailored to each operation. From Normandy to the Rhine, the 1100 men of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as the Ghost Army, conjured up phony convoys, phantom divisions, and make-believe headquarters to fool the enemy about the strength and location of American units.Įach deception required that they impersonate a different (and vastly larger) U.S.
Armed with truckloads of inflatable tanks, a massive collection of sound effects records, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, their job was to create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the German Army as their audience. In the summer of 1944, a handpicked group of G.I.s landed in France to conduct a special mission.
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