In 1944, during World War II, the Allies prepared for a military landing in Europe. This project was not a secret to the Germans, who reinforced their defenses on the Atlantic Wall. The British and Americans launched Operation Fortitude with the aim of creating extensive misinformation about the landing, including its locations and dates. The goal was to deceive the Germans and make them believe in possible attacks in Norway or France’s Pas-de-Calais region.
Operation Fortitude was accompanied by the use of various means to implement these deceptions: false information delivered through double agents, rumors spread via diplomatic channels, fictitious units created in Scotland and southern England, and intensive bombardments of alleged landing areas… The success of Operation Fortitude and this large-scale deception greatly contributed to the success of the landing in France and the advance of Allied troops in Normandy.
In What Context Was Operation Fortitude Implemented?
Operation Fortitude takes place during World War II (1939–1945). The Germans are highly likely to land American and British forces in northwestern Europe. They have observed a massive concentration of troops in England since the end of 1943. The Allies’ objective was to land in occupied France and challenge the Atlantic Wall, successfully held by the Germans since the beginning of the conflict. Landing on the French beaches was not easy due to the significant number of German troops assigned to coastal defense.
Therefore, it becomes necessary for the Allies to engage in deception. A comprehensive plan is devised to deceive the Germans, particularly regarding the landing location of Anglo-American troops. This plan is Operation Fortitude, consisting of various distinct operations: concealing the landing location, deploying decoys, and making the Germans believe that the Normandy landing is just a diversion. Colonel John Henry Bevan of the London Controlling Section plans all these missions.
What Was the Purpose of Operation Fortitude?
Operation Fortitude is conducted by the Allied high command, the SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force). Colonel John Bevan, who organizes this plan, is a British intelligence officer from a lineage of counts and bankers. Despite his calm and confident appearance, Bevan is actually nervous, cunning, and sometimes ruthless. He decides to rely on simplicity by obscuring the landing location and convincing the Germans that the June 6th landing in Normandy precedes a much larger operation in Pas-de-Calais. While these objectives are clear, the means to deceive the Germans are more complex and involve the use of double agents and the creation of phantom units.
The Germans are the target of Operation Fortitude, a disinformation plan. It is part of a larger set of deception operations, named Bodyguard, aiming to conceal all Allied landings in Europe from the Germans, including those in the Mediterranean. Operation Fortitude creates a diversion for the landing location. The Fortitude North plan aims to make the Germans believe in a landing in Norway, a hypothesis supported by Hitler.
Operation Skye involves the concentration of British forces in Scotland and the establishment of intense radioactivity. Meanwhile, Operation Fortitude South, or Operation Quicksilver, aims to deceive the Germans into believing in a landing in Pas-de-Calais, an ideal location for quickly crossing the English Channel. They deploy forces as decoys in southeastern England and create a fictitious American unit from scratch.
How Was Operation Fortitude Launched?
To deceive the enemy, all means are utilized. Disinformation involves the use of double agents. German spies are arrested and turned in by the British counter-espionage service, MI5. They successfully transmit false information to the Germans. This strategy employed by the secret services is supported by leaks of diplomatic origin directed towards Sweden. The British requested aerial reconnaissance permission from Sweden, suggesting a possible landing from the north. French resistance fighters, besides providing valuable intelligence, contribute to this disinformation effort with controlled leaks of information.
Another tactic is to create phantom units as part of the Skye and Quicksilver operations. The British utilized a portion of their Fourth Army, supported by fictitious elements, which they based in Scotland. Numerous radio messages contribute to reinforcing the notion of a landing in Norway. On the other hand, a fictitious American group is created in southeastern England, the FUSAG (First United States Army Group). This fictitious troop is commanded by the renowned General George S. Patton.
False infrastructure is built, including inflatable tanks. These decoys deceive German aviators tasked with aerial reconnaissance. Intense radioactivity accompanies the Anglo-American strategy. Intensive bombardments take place in the purported landing zones. Bombs rain down on Pas-de-Calais, destroying the French villages of Portel and Equihen-Plage (resulting in several hundred civilian casualties).
Operation Fortitude: Was It a Success?
Adolf Hitler had long believed that the Allies would land in Norway. Operation Fortitude maintained this false idea. At the time of the Normandy landings, some sources claim that the Führer was in his bedroom, and no one dared to disturb him. Yet, 100,000 soldiers had already landed on the beaches of Normandy. Despite this, convinced that the Americans would attack further north, Hitler refused to move German reserve troops. He had no trust in his generals, which contributed to some confusion surrounding the landing.
On the German army’s side, stationed on the French coasts, there was firm belief in a landing in Pas-de-Calais. Intense bombardments in the area and the information available to the Germans contributed to the credibility of this hypothesis. The British, having successfully decrypted the Enigma machine used to encode German messages, understood that the German high command had fallen into the trap.
Rommel, the prestigious German commander who had managed to rally his troops, was absent on D-Day. He did not imagine that a landing could occur that day and had gone to celebrate his wife’s birthday. His absence contributed to the indecision of the German military during the Normandy landing.
The very bad weather data also misled the Germans, but the weather cleared, allowing the Allied troops to land under favorable meteorological conditions. Until September 1944, the Germans, however, believed that a larger landing would take place in Pas-de-Calais. German troops remained stationed in the region, allowing for the consolidation of Allied positions in Normandy. Operation Fortitude was a real success, between decoys and manipulation of information. It became the greatest deception in history!
What Were the Consequences of Operation Fortitude?
The success of Operation Fortitude allowed for the landing of Allied troops in Normandy, also known as Operation Overlord. Delayed by a day due to the atrocious weather, the Allies eventually set foot on the French beaches. The British experienced a slowdown in their eastward advance. After a bloody battle during the landing, the Americans launched Operation Cobra. This took place at the end of July 1944 and aimed to break through the German defenses in the Cotentin towards the Brittany road. The American army made slow progress in the Norman hedgerows, but the tide turned in their favor with the support of very intense Allied bombardments.
The success of Operation Cobra was followed by the breakthrough at Avranches and then the bypassing of the German lines, which ensured victory for the Americans in Normandy. Operation Fortitude played a major role, contributing to supporting the hypothesis of a more massive landing in Pas-de-Calais. The Germans then kept troops in reserve while the Allies advanced in France during the Battle of Normandy.
