This week we celebrate the successful Allied invasion of Europe on the Normandy beaches of northern France. On 6 June (Thursday), it will be the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the beginning of the Allied push into Germany.

I will be giving a one-hour on-line presentation this Thursday for Bonjour Paris (see below). I decided to reprint our 2018 blog on Operation Double Cross that happens to be my presentation topic. Our discussion will expand the story of Operation Double Cross. I hope you can join us on Thursday.

Join Stew Ross for a Discussion on

France Today

“REMEMBERING D-DAY:

Operation Double Cross”

Thursday, 6 June 2024

11:30 – 12:30 (EST)

Click here to watch the trailer for the presentation.

An inflatable “dummy” M4 Sherman tank. Photo by anonymous (c. 1943). PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

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Undoubtedly, many of you have heard the story of the fake army which was used to deceive Hitler and his generals into planning for a cross channel invasion (across the Strait of Dover to Pas de Calais). It is true but the story is somewhat more complex and as wartime documents seven decades old are declassified, historians are only now able to fill in missing gaps and answer why Hitler reacted the way he did to the Normandy invasion.

Did You Know?

Did you know that 1st Lt. Paul Chaufty was a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot who was flying an armed reconnaissance mission on 13 August 1944 when he was shot down over the French villages of Ciral and Saint-Ellier-les-Bois? It was the day Allied armies were liberating Ciral. Lt. Chaufty bailed out of the plane, but his parachute never opened, and he fell to his death in a field. A mile away, the plane crashed.

Marie Bastien was fourteen at the time and watched the young pilot’s plane come down. The following day, her father found the body and brought Chaufty’s remains back to the farm where he was buried wrapped in his parachute. Four days later, the pilot’s remains were removed and buried in a temporary military cemetery before final relocation to the Fairview Cemetery in Carthage, New York.

Marie never forgot her experience watching Lt. Chaufty fall to his death. She vowed to keep his memory alive and over the years, discussed this with her daughter who eventually reached out to Lt. Chaufty’s family. One week ago, Marie, her daughter, and members of the Chaufty family stood in the village of Saint-Ellier-les-Bois as a plaque honoring Paul Chaufty was unveiled.

Thanks to one woman’s tenacity, a brave American’s legacy will not be forgotten.

Locals erected a makeshift American flag marking the site where Chaufty's plane crashed in near the village of St. Elliers Les Bois, France. (NBC News) — Locals erected a makeshift American flag marking the site where Chaufty’s plane crashed in near the village of St. Elliers Les Bois, France. (NBC News)

Deception strategies were used by the Allies and Germans against one another throughout World War II. However, by 1942, the Americans and British held the upper hand: intelligence was gained through the top secret Ultra program by decrypting German messages using the Nazi military Enigma machine at Bletchley Park. Deception methods created primarily by British intelligence were becoming increasingly complex and successful. As Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin agreed in late 1943 on plans for an invasion of Europe, the Allies came up with the largest deception plan to date to be used against the Nazis.

Bletchley Park. Photo by Magnus Manske (2005). PD-GNU Free Documentation. Wikimedia Commons.

Four rotor German naval Enigma. Photo by Magnus Manske (2005). Bletchley Park. PD-GNU Free Documentation. Wikimedia Commons

Operation Bodyguard and Fortitude

Operation Bodyguard was the American and British-led umbrella deception plan to mislead the Germans into thinking the inevitable invasion of Europe would take place at a location other than the real invasion site. Additionally, the plan was to deceive Hitler about the actual date, time, and size of the assault force. It was formulated in 1943 once the Allies agreed to a 1944 invasion date.

There were many directives under Operation Bodyguard including Operation Cockade, Plan Jael, Operation Quicksilver, and the Torrent Plan. However, the largest and most successful was Operation Fortitude. Read More The Double Cross System

When we usually think about the contributions women made during World War II, it is typically nurses and “Rosie Riveters” who come to mind. While I’ve previously discussed women serving as foreign spies in the occupied countries (read Women Agents of the SOE here), cryptanalysts (read Unit 387 & Hillsdale here), and pilots ferrying planes from manufacturing facilities to domestic air bases (read Killed In The Service Of Her Country here ), there were other jobs equally important (and dangerous) to the war efforts which American women filled. While today we don’t agree with this, there were two fundamental beliefs at that time: women should not be allowed in uniform let alone go into combat and all troops had to be segregated. However, regardless of color and gender, many of the women who stepped up to volunteer for the military (the idea of drafting women was dropped immediately after it was suggested) filled roles which allowed more men to go into combat. Today, you will meet the only unit of all-female soldiers to be deployed overseas during World War II and it was an African-American battalion in the Women’s Army Corps.

Soldiers of the 6888th marching in formation. Photo by anonymous (c. 1945). PD-U.S. Government.

Tag: Spies

The Double Cross System