Secret Soldiers: How the U.S. Twenty-Third Special Troops Fooled the Nazis

Janeczko, Paul B. Secret Soldiers: How the U.S. Twenty-Third Special Troops Fooled the Nazis. 2019. 304p. ISBN 9780763681531. Available at 940.542 JAN on the library shelves.


Wars are won through the courage of troops out on the battlefield. Often, however, the success of these troops rest with the extensive preparations that took place before hand. During the Second World War, the United States army employed a specialized unit called the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops, whose job it was to use special effect warfare to confuse the Germans. Camouflage and spycraft has always been part of fighting wars, but this unit took the processes of obfuscation to a new level. 

Composed of actors, artists, set designers, sound engineers and experts with camouflage, the 23rd began training in the United States before being deployed in the United Kingdom. Their first assignment was to convinced the Germans that the Allies intended to land near the Pas-de-Calais, the shortest distance between England and occupied France. The 23rd created large inflatable armies, drove real tanks to leave tracks on top of which inflatables could be placed, and generated a lot of radio traffic that could be intercepted by the enemy. This operation helped confound the Germans into thinking a large army was getting ready to land.

Following D-Day, the 23rd began its difficult assignments of protecting frontlines with very little troops by creating the illusion, through models, sounds, and radio traffic, that the Germans had in front of them actual fighting units. Throughout the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945, the Germans often thought that the American units in front of them were real, allowing real divisions to maneuver and surprise the German army elsewhere.

Following the war, many of the members of the 23rd used the skills they had sharpened during the war to become successful artists, movie makers, and sound engineers. Secret Soldiers reviews the twenty military operations the 23rd participated in, and the oversized impact this unit had on the successful termination of hostilities in Europe in 1945. Fans of military history will enjoy the improbable story of what became known as the Ghost Army.