Hoodwinking Hitler: The Normandy Deception

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)