The Ghost Army of World War II is an interesting history, now that it is no longer in the dark and hidden from the public.
During World War II, the USA used the most skilled artists, audio technicians, and graphic designers to engineer replicas and sound effects of tanks, equipment, and soldiers as a trick. The army used almost one thousand of these highly talented people to achieve these missions. Some of these artists became world-famous later, such as Bill Blass, an American Fashion Designer, and many other men.
This confidential report was later released, and now the movie industry has excellent plans for a motion picture about “The Ghost Army.”
These life-sized models looked so real that it fooled the Germans into thinking that Allied forces were in one location when certainly high USA forces developed and put one over on the Nazis.
Masey’s unit in 1944 was appointed the mission of misleading the Germans. At this time, Massey was only 19 years old and remarkably talented, as one of the thousand artists committed to this mission.
They modified uniform decorations to match the units that The GHOST Army impersonated. Radio operators would also broadcast false information as a decoy so that the real missions could be operational. It indeed was like putting a show together, and it took great talent to accomplish this tactical design, which began soon after the Normandy landings.
It became strange top notations that as the German observation planes would fly above, these rubber replicas fooled them. There were some casualties. Shells erupted as the Germans thought they were sweeping up US Artillery tanks with soldiers and could harm original equipment.
Army soldiers had changed their uniforms correctly to match the decoration of whatever unit they were impersonating. Many foxholes were filled with these brave men, and The Ghost Army had casualties.
While not the typical World War II story, one can almost hear the noise and visualize the wreckage. Shrapnel made the air escape, contract, and soldiers had to patch and pump up these camouflaged, very real in look, tanks, and machines.
As our world news in 2020 evolves and the brutality on foreign soil continues, the army around the world is immersed in what often appears to be a battle with no end in sight. It is very disheartening for those who live in countries with destruction. Families of those who have served and lost their lives grieve continually. While proudly we serve, the losses are tremendous and quite unfortunate.
