Being in the shoes of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in the months leading to D-Day must
have been a living nightmare: the Allies seemed to be everywhere, preparing to strike from
every direction.
As the largest amphibious invasion in human history loomed closer, large troop encampments
had been photographed across Pas-de-Calais in the north of France.
Thousands of tanks and even more tents spoke of an unprecedented attack.
However, other reports pointed to a major invasion of Norway.
Things were just as concerning in the south, with intelligence suggesting a massive amphibious
landing on southern France.
Moreover, the British Twelfth Army was assembling in preparation for a rumored invasion of the
Balkans from North Africa.
In the end, the liberation of Europe would not start in Pas-de-Calais or in southern
France.
In fact, there was no such thing as the British Twelfth Army, and it had all been an elaborate
series of deceits designed to mislead the Germans.
Even so, ruses like Operation Zeppelin that claimed an invasion through the Balkans, were
so sophisticated and masterfully executed that some historians still debate whether
Winston Churchill actually considered liberating Europe that way…
Intrigue and Deception
D-Day proved to be the spectacular turning point of World War 2 and the start of the
liberation of Europe from the brutal clutch of the Nazi regime.
Nevertheless, fooling Germany into doing just what the Allies wanted was one of the most
outstanding achievements leading to Operation Overlord.
Dozens of deception operations were carefully orchestrated to trick, confuse, demoralize
or put the Germans at ease, depending on the situation.
All the procedures were encompassed within Operation Bodyguard, whose objective was to
ensure Germany had no clear idea of when and where the Allied invasion of Europe would
occur.
Bodyguard was divided into several specific missions all across Europe.
Operation Fortitude sought to make Adolf Hitler believe the Allies would invade Norway and
then France through Pas-de-Calais.
The scheme seemed very plausible as Pas-de-Calais sat the closest to British territory.
The Allies then arranged hundreds of enticing air patrols in the region, phony troop encampments,
inflatable tanks, and even actors playing roles as key generals on the other side of
the channel.
At the same time, Operation Fortitude South suggested that the Allied thrust would come
from the south of France.
Operation Grafham made it seem like the Allies were about to launch a significant attack
on Sweden, while Operation Royal Flush was a diplomatic scheme where Allied agents negotiated
high-profile deals with Sweden, Spain, and Turkey to show the world they were looking
for support for an invasion of Sweden and for an attack on France.
Hitler had no reason to suspect the invasion would strike in Normandy.
Operation Zeppelin
Not all deceptive operations were meant to deceive Germany about the events leading to
Operation Overlord; others were concerned with crippling the Germans’ ability to reinforce
once the invasion began.
That was the case of Operation Zeppelin, another upshot of Bodyguard designed explicitly for
the Mediterranean region.
The objective of Zeppelin was to mislead Germany into considering that the Allies were planning
an invasion of Europe through the Balkans.
Nevertheless, persuading the Germans time and time again that the Allies were about
to invade the Balkans would take cunning, perseverance, and the ultimate sacrifice of
hundreds of Allied servicemen.
The military landings in Normandy were planned as an unprecedented undertaking, with nearly
7,000 Allied ships delivering 156,000 troops to the beaches of Normandy, men who would
be supported by 12,000 aircraft, and almost 25,000 paratroopers who would be securing
crucial bridges and railroad trucks in France.
Even so, the efforts ran the risk of being easily repelled by a decisive and well-informed
German counterattack.
After all, by 1944, Hitler knew an invasion would strike any moment.
In response, he bolstered the German troops stationed in the occupied country from around
100,000 men to over 50 divisions in France and the Low Countries alone.
The Allies in Normandy would ultimately have to face a force of just over 50,000 Germans.
From their fortified bunkers and with their guns fixed on the mine-saturated beaches of
Northern France, the Germans would make the Allies pay with blood for every inch of ground
they wished to claim.
A False Order of Battle
In parallel to the simultaneous operations that comprised Bodyguard, Operation Zeppelin
aimed to contain as many German divisions in Italy and the Balkans as possible, drawing
the enemy's attention away from Southern France.
First, Brigadier Dudley W. Clarke, head of the A Force deception organization in the
Mediterranean, would have to convince the Germans of the imminent invasion.
In fact, the Allied leaders had agreed upon a major operation against the Balkans at the
Tehran conference, setting key targets in Crete, the Peloponnesus, Albania, Yugoslavia,
Mainland Greece, and the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Pola and the Istrian
Peninsula at the head of the Adriatic.
The maneuver would supposedly be an amphibious landing executed by the British Twelfth Army
from North Africa.
The story, based on a false order of battle, gave plausibility to the whole undertaking
by means of trickery.
Thus, Clarke added 24 fictional divisions to the actual forces in Italy - or about 30
percent greater than they were.
Overall, the battle would require 39 divisions, including 18 fake ones and without counting
those in Italy, on top of six fictitious corps and one phony Army.
The first stages demanded elaborate implementation of so-called special means involving double
agents and undercover operatives.
Besides, there were administrative measures ranging from issuing maps, local guides, currency,
and even interpreters.
On the other hand, reconnaissance flights and aerial and naval raids on key fake targets
would further nourish the German's imagination.
And dummy gliders, emplacements, and radio signals lent credence to the idea.
The second phase began on March 10 and came with a particular difficulty: the Allies would
have to convince the Germans that they had postponed, rather than canceled, the invasion.
The Untruth
In mid-March, a London-based double agent informed the Germans that there would be a
special message in the BBC broadcast.
The special phrase would indicate to non-existent Yugoslav leaders that the invasion would happen
in 30 days.
However, should it be postponed, the secret code would be repeated in the following transmissions.
As a result, the Germans were led to believe that the Cretan, Greek, and Albanian operation
would be pushed to April 21.
Moreover, the undertaking by the US 7th Army and the Polish II Corps would start until
May 21, in tandem with the Soviet landings at Varna in Bulgaria.
Subsequently, the British advance through Turkey was delayed until June, threatening
to bring Zeppelin to an early conclusion.
Based on the supposed grounds that the Soviets had asked for the Balkan invasion to be timed
with their own advance into Bulgaria, the third stage of the operations further postponed
the British undertakings.
But by the fourth stage, the Allies had to change the storyline to suggest the planned
operation for Crete and Greece had been abandoned - inspired by a real mutiny among the Greek
troops.
As the start of Overlord neared, A Force would be tasked with holding the German reserves
in southern France for at least 25 more days.
So began Operation Vendetta - the supposed US 7th Army's advance from the south coast
toward Toulouse and Bordeaux.
Notably, the strength of the tricky maneuver was based on fictitious formations.
In fact, two real ones were removed, and the bulk of the actual landing craft was allocated
to Normandy.
The undertaking began in early May with smoke screens, dummy landing craft, and anti-aircraft
defenses in their wake.
Meanwhile, Allied diplomats unfurled Operation Royal Flush, a scheme to negotiate with the
neighboring Spanish authorities to lend them facilities in Barcelona to deliver supplies
to the phony troops, as well as evacuate real wounded men.
Redefined Success
The final phase began at the beginning of June.
Turpitude was Zeppelin's last stage in the east, making up for the supposedly "canceled"
Cretan and Peloponnesian landings.
The new story suggested that one Greek infantry and two British armored divisions would capture
Thessaloniki, passing through Turkey into Thrace to link up with the Soviet drive through
the region.
Consequently, large amounts of dummy vehicles became the basis for the non-existent 20th
Armored Division, which nonetheless joined a genuine force near Aleppo.
In addition, deceptive roads, stockpiles, and compelling radio traffic added to the
collective imagery.
By June of 1944, Zeppelin had fulfilled its purpose, and the operation was ended in early
July, having succeeded in keeping the Germans spread out throughout Europe.
Operation Zeppelin single-handedly helped retain up to 25 German divisions locked in
the southeast of France and the Balkans while the beaches of Normandy were kept lightly
guarded.
Overall, Bodyguard was a complex and successful operation that prevented 150,000 troops, a
whole air force, and a Panzer division from reinforcing the enemy from Norway and as many
as 18 divisions of the 15th Army from counterattacking at Normandy.
Additionally, Operation Zeppelin managed to keep Field Marshal Erwin Rommel entertained,
and his Panzer Lehr division, 2 SS Panzer Corps, and other infantry corps diverted elsewhere
from the main landing.
Had it failed, the events at Normandy would have told a different story.
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