The Second World War was a breeding ground for pranks, some top-tier,
and some a waste of valuable resources. Among the most game-changing pranks was the deception
codenamed Operation Bodyguard, a super-prank with a variety of lesser deceptions wrapped up inside
of it. One deception under Bodyguard that was of particular significance to the outcome of the war
was Operation Quicksilver, which fell into the lap of "Old Blood and Guts" Patton, who probably
wasn't all too impressed with the assignment. In this video, we discuss Operation Quicksilver and
the events which saw American General George Patton in charge of a fictitious army group.
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By mid-1943, the Western Allies were gearing up to invade northwest Europe and take back the
territory which Hitler had for so long held in his grip. But simply rushing the coastline would not
do. The Germans were deeply entrenched, so the situation called for a bit of an
outside-the-box approach — a deception. Chiefly, the Allies intended to mislead the Germans about
the location of the invasion, which was actually Normandy. As we said, the big-picture deception
was known as Operation Bodyguard, but Bodyguard was comprised of a number of lesser deceptions,
with one of the most important being Operation Fortitude, which was, in itself, comprised of two
operations — Fortitude North and Fortitude South. The former pertained to a fictitious invasion of
Norway out of northern England, while the latter pertained to a fictitious invasion of Calais,
France, out of southern England. The most crucial operation under Fortitude South was
Operation Quicksilver. I know, Operation Bodyguard was a serious Matryoshka doll.
To serve the purposes of Fortitude South, the main objective of Operation Quicksilver was to
trick German command into thinking that the First United States Army Group or FUSAG would invade
Calais after they, the Germans, had moved their reserves to Normandy, where the Allies intended
to stage a "diversionary landing." In reality, the Allies' plan was basically the opposite,
and most of the divisions composing FUSAG were entirely fictitious. To convince the Germans,
the brains behind the operation employed a variety of schemes, with the larger-scale
schemes falling under six sub-operations — Quicksilver one to Quicksilver six.
Quicksilver one was more about the concept overall, and basically encompassed the main
objective of the operation, which we just discussed. Quicksilver two was all about
radio deception, specifically simulating Allied troop movements, which would, more specifically,
allude to a build-up of manpower in southern England, opposite Calais.
Quicksilver three involved a physical exhibit of dummy landing craft, which were built from
wood and canvas, as well as simulated wireless traffic communication and fake road signage. As
for Quicksilver four, it was the only "real" Quicksilver sub-operation. Allied air forces
physically bombed railways and other vital infrastructure in the Calais area,
softening it up for invasion. Quicksilver five involved an increase in activity around the
port of Dover in South East England — activity which made it seem as if the Allies were rushing
to construct wireless stations and other such infrastructure. Lastly, Quicksilver six included
light-shows which simulated night-time military activity at the site of the dummy landing craft.
But the deception really didn't end with Quicksilver six. In fact, the Allies' most
crucial scheme was their use of double agents from MI5's Double-Cross System, with some of the most
noteworthy of these agents including Juan Pujol García or "Garbo," Roman Czerniawski or "Brutus,"
and Dušan Popov or "Tricycle." While we have discussed the Spanish double agent codenamed
Garbo in a previous video, it's worth noting that he played very much the leading role in Operation
Quicksilver, sending over 500 misleading radio messages to the Germans in the lead up to the
Normandy landings, as well as managing to convince them that there were 75 Allied divisions gathering
in England, when there were only around 50. Additionally, the Allies made good use
of controlled information leaks and, of course, "Old Blood and Guts" George Patton's pretty face.
If you weren't already familiar with Patton, he was stern, glory-driven American general
who carried two ivory-gripped pistols. Patton was a born soldier, and proved it on more occasions
than one during the Second World War, earning himself the nickname "Old Blood and Guts" and
the respect of even his enemies. His blunt nature, however, also got him into a spot
of bother every now and then. During the 1943 Sicily campaign, for example, Patton literally
slapped two battle-fatigued privates, scoring himself a ticket to the naughty corner.
While his superiors barred Patton from commanding a real military force for almost a year,
they let him take charge of the phantom army group FUSAG, which, for a time, was actually referred
to as Army Group Patton. While there wasn't all that much glory in playing fantasy army commander,
Patton would be permitted to take command of the US Third Army in the real invasion of Normandy
if he fulfilled his role Operation Quicksilver, which he did. As for Operation Quicksilver,
having Old Blood and Guts around was great for the deception. If German command caught wind
that Patton — a formidable, well-known Allied general — was commanding FUSAG, they would take
the threat of an invasion via Calais even more seriously, and fall even deeper into the trap.
All in all, with the combined efforts Quicksilver one through to six,
the efforts various double agents, and the mug of Old Blood and Guts, the Germans *totally*
fell for it. Even after the Allies struck the beaches of Normandy in full force in June 1944,
the Germans *still* believed the landings were a diversion from the "real" invasion,
which would soon take place at Calais. As such, they left *15* reserve divisions in Calais.
After D-Day, the Allies continued to support the notion that FUSAG was real,
persuading the Germans that the army group had simply moved to Normandy after the — in
quotation marks — "diversion" at Normandy had become an unintentional success.
In the words of German-born American military historian Gerhard L. Weinberg, The German 15th
Army was in the Calais region expecting the 'real invasion' and it remained there until
the Allied breakout from Normandy in July. [...] It waited there for an invasion that never came.
Given that the Allies had a good deal of trouble on June 6 it is likely they would have been thrown
back into the sea if the Germans had been able to concentrate their main forces at Normandy."
While Operation Quicksilver was a crucial component of Operation Fortitude and, in turn,
Operation Bodyguard, it was by no means the sole reason why the Western Allies were able
to gain a foothold in Europe. Bullets still had to be fired, and blood still had to be spilt.
But we're interested to hear what you think. Had you heard of Operation Quicksilver
before this video? What about General Patton slapping a pair of battle-fatigued privates?
Lastly, how vital do *you* think Quicksilver was to the overall success of the Normandy landings?
Please share your thoughts in the comments.