The Phantom Army

During World War II, the US Army created a secret unit to deceive Nazis on the battlefield.

The 23rd Special Troops Headquarters, also known as the Ghost Army, used illusions and other tricks to pose as real troops and confuse the Germans about the size and location of the Allied forces.

The Ghost Army employed hundreds of tanks, trucks, artillery items, jeeps and other inflatable vehicles.

These objects could be repositioned overnight to make it appear as if troops had moved. Attention to detail was critical: an excavator was used to create marks on the ground as if they were tracks from fake tanks.

Care had to be taken so that civilians did not get too close, as once when two Frenchmen on their bicycles managed to get past the security barrier and saw what appeared to be four soldiers lifting a 40-ton tank.

When Corporal Arthur Shilstone went to send them away, he gave the first explanation that came to mind:

"The Americans are very strong."

And they apparently believed it…