Hoodwinking Hitler: The Normandy Deception

by William B. Breuer

Overview

Despite the mighty invasion force the Americans and British mustered in England in early 1944, a top Allied general warned: If the Germans have even a 48-hour advance notice of the time and place of the Normandy landings, we could suffer a monstrous catastrophe! For his part, Adolf Hitler planned to inflict such a massive bloodbath on the invaders that the Allies would agree to a negotiated peace with Nazi Germany.

Hoodwinking Hitler is an action-packed, you-are-there account about a colossal and incredibly intricate deception scheme created and implemented by ingenious and diabolical minds, machinations intended to bamboozle the Germans on true Allied invasion plans. Facets of the global chicanery included electronic spoofing, double agents, diplomatic deceit, whispering campaigns, femmes fatales, camouflage, strategic feints, the French underground, murder plots, phony military installations, misleading bombing raids, sabotage, propaganda, traps, fake codes, and kidnap schemes. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies gained total surprise, mostly because of what Winston Churchill called the greatest hoax in history. But not until two months later, when the Allies broke out of Normandy, did the deception scheme pass into history. By that time, ultimate Allied victory in Europe was assured.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275944384
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/24/1993
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)
Lexile:	1440L (what's this?)

About the Author

WILLIAM B. BREUER landed with the first assault waves in Normandy on D-Day, then fought across Europe. Later, he founded a daily newspaper on a string in Rolla, Missouri, and after that, a highly successful public relations firm in St. Louis, Missouri. He has been writing books full time since 1982, twelve of which are now out in paperback, and eight of which have become main selections of the Military Book Club.

Table of Contents

A Plot to Murder President Roosevelt
An Ingenious Stratagem Is Unveiled
The "Santa Clauses" Duel with the "Blacks"
Machinations at Herrengasse 23
Istanbul Intrigue
Eavesdropping on the Fuehrer
A Conspiracy in Lisbon
A Flip-Flop by the Russian Bear
"Wild Bill" and His OSS
The Old Fox Is Trapped
Illusions in the Balkans
Focus on the Atlantic Wall
The Double-Cross "First Violins"
Behind the White Cliffs of Dover
A Ghost Army Threatens Norway
Connivances in Stockholm
Tightening the Security Lid
A High-Level Epidemic of the Jitters
Behind Enemy Lines
Vendetta and Copperhead
Electronic Spoofing
Invasion Fever
Threshold of a Mighty Endeavor
D-Day Decoys and Deceptions
Bombs, Bullets and Broadcasts
The Invasion Remains in Jeopardy
Rommel Clashes with the Fuehrer
Alles Kaputt!
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Plan Bodyguard, an intricate scheme designed to deceive the Germans about the date and location of the Allied cross-Channel invasion, was a success: the June 6, 1944 landings on the beaches of Normandy took the Germans by surprise. That such a gargantuan undertaking could be kept secret from the enemy has been difficult to understand. In Breuer's suspenseful, detailed narrative he shows how ``the greatest hoax in history,'' as Winston Churchill called it, was accomplished. A major element in the complicated plan was a ruse encouraging the Germans to believe that massive formations under General George Patton were preparing to land at Pas de Calais. Another aspect was the bogus radio traffic of the fictitious Fourth Army, supposedly assembling in Scotland. Still another was the performance of an actor who impersonated General Bernard Montgomery so convincingly during an ``inspection tour'' at Gibraltar that the Germans concluded that Montgomery was about to lead an Allied invasion into southern France. Breuer ( Retaking the Philippines ) describes the D-Day invasion itself, the hard fighting that followed and the Allied breakout from Normandy that marked one of the turning points of WW II. Illustrations. Military Book Club main selection. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this account of the deception about the timing and locale of the June 1944 Normandy invasion of Europe, there is plotting galore intertwined with agents, double agents, code-breakers, intelligence, counter-intelligence, camouflage, and diplomacy--all dedicated to masking the route of the actual invasion. Each plan is treated meticulously and in depth up to the assault waves on Normandy, D-Day, June 6. The Allies achieved complete surprise with ``the greatest hoax in history.'' Breuer seems to have made a career of World War II, with 12 books now out in paperback, eight of which became main selections of the Military Book Club--including this one. Although much of the material is old hat, with the D-Day story massively covered, Breuer keeps the story moving despite bombarding us with minutiae. For libraries with a World War II clientele.-- Ralph DeLucia, Willoughby Wallace Lib., Branford, Ct.

Library Journal

Prolific and popular World War II chronicler Breuer here turns to the two years of Allied efforts to deceive the Germans about the time and place of the invasion of Europe. These involved the OSS, contacts with German opponents of Hitler, extensive work with European underground movements, codebreaking, and, in due course, the deployment of a complete fake army group (including, among other things, rubber tanks) with a real (and frustrated) George Patton commanding it. Because Breuer has chosen to paint a large picture upon a comparatively cramped canvas, readers will need to bring a background in World War II to the book in order to enjoy it fully. For larger military collections, though, it's a solid addition.

Roland Green