Operation Bodyguard Research Paper

The Allied Navy used deception as well as raw power during the D-day invasion. Glimmer, Taxable and Big Drum were operations used to deceive the Germans during World War II(WWII). They were all part of Operation Bodyguard, which was a military deception used to aid the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in June 1944. This operation was crafted to deceive the Axis high command on true Allied plans leading to the invasion. The London Controlling Section (LCS) had spent a significant amount of time telling Axis command that the falsified First United States Army Group(FUSAG), composed most of the Allied invasion force. FUSAG's existence was made believable by Operation Fortitude South. The Allied story for FUSAG was that the Army Group would invade the Pas-de-Calais region a few weeks after diversionary

The German defenses used the Seetakt radar system. Scientists from the Telecommunications Research Establishment came to the conclusion that the range of the Seetakt was roughly 520 yards. To deceive the radar system, they decided on dropping clouds of aluminum foil at two mile intervals. The aluminum foil was code named Window. The clouds would appear as a continuous blip, similar to one created by an oncoming fleet, on German screens. The Allies also repurposed radio equipment, code named Moonshine, to jam the Seetakt signal. Allied command decided that, rather than mask the approaching fleet, these measures would serve to alert German defenses. It was then concluded that they would combine these techniques with small groups of boats to fake an entire invasion with the intentions to attack the Calais region. Allied planners proposed that small boats, towing large radar reflecting balloons and carrying both Moonshine jamming and standard wireless equipment, would sail toward the French coast under a cloud of