Ghost Army of World War II

by Jack Kneece

Excellent Book

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Audiobook, Military Fiction

280 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2001

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I looked forward to this book with great eagerness, and then it popped up as a Daily Deal on Audible.com yesterday. I listened to it today on a long road trip. I loved it! I will probably purchase a hard copy because I think the photos are important to the narrative, but it was a great listen and a remarkable story of pulling some very impressive, sophisticated wool over the Nazi's eyes--and thereby winning the war.

March 2019: Just reread this as I wanted to share it with my husband. We were on a road trip and listened together. Very engaging for him, which was gratifying for me.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost Army, first type of deception warfare for the second world war that I've come across, I'm intrigued was interesting in parts, a funny part some soldiers ducking for cover from an air raid under inflated rubber tanks and coming to the knowledge its absolutely a complete waste of time and having a good old laugh afterwards. To a sad part where a miscommunication with their own troops about ghost army pretending to be a massive armored division, Germans build up that part of the front in anticipation of an attack, and the an advancing american unit new to the area attacking down a road and getting smashed to pieces. Was so interesting very good story, very good liked it.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An account of the 23 Headquarters Special troops that were trained in military deception. Most people associate them with the deceptive "First Army Group" and Gen. George S. Patton in the United Kingdom at the time of the D-Day invasion, a story sown by the Allies to lead German military leaders into believing that the real invasion target was the Pas de Calais -- and not the Normandy beaches.

The troops of the 23rd would arrive on the continent to do dozens of deceptions or "problems", as the troops themselves would describe them. Often it was to take the position of an established division as the redeployed for attack elsewhere, as in the encirclement of Brest.

Kneece's account relies on the photos and journals of a half-dozen soldiers from the unit, which included designer Bill Blass and many former art students from Pratt Institute in New York City. The official documents used in this account are scarce and somewhat ambiguous because of the deceptive nature of the unit. Many documents were kept secret for decades after the war and the secrecy surrounding it kept the 1,100 soldiers involved from receiving medals, including the Purple Heart.

Kneece's account suffers from the secrecy and raises more questions than it answers:
* how were the officers of the unit chosen and why?
* who was the driving force behind the resources that flowed to the 23rd?
* how was the materiale used by the unit designed and manufactured?

It also limits somewhat the stories surrounding the impact of the unit. However, Kneece and members of the unit consider its greatest deception the job that they did in the crossing of the Rhine River north of Wesel, which was called Operation Viersen. Writes Kneece, "There were just 32 casualties in the real crossing. It had been estimated that, had the Germans been ready as they were just opposite the Ghost Army demonstration, casualties would have been in the 12,000 to 17,000 range (for the Allies alone)."

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the bombing of Pearl Harbour are several German accounts of a so-called "Phantom Armies" that seemed to appear and disappear out of nowhere causing chaos for the German soldiers and essentially aiding the Allied victory. However, none of these musing were ever taken seriously, particularly because the United States government never announced that any sort of special "distraction" forces ever fought in World War II. Then, in 1996, top secret information was declassified that the sole purpose of the Twenty-third Headquarters Special Troops of the United States Army was indeed acts of deception intended to mislead and deceive the German Military. These men were aptly nicknamed the "Ghost Army".

For over fifty years, the over one thousand men who served with the Ghost Army as virtual set designers, actors, and radio control misinformation officers were sworn to complete secrecy. The families of these individuals weren't even allowed to know where their loved ones were stationed. Few memoirs, diaries, and detailed records even exist as no one wanted knowledge of these special forces to be discovered by the Germans.

Ghost Army of World War II has wrangled together what little knowledge is known about these men and their 21-55 different operations. This book contains all sorts of declassified information, photographs, memoirs, and interviews with those veterans still alive. It is such a shame that so many brave, extremely creative individuals never really got recognised for their important contribution to the war effort.

[Keith Richey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghost army was a secret army used as a way of deception. It was used during the crossing of the Rhine river in Germany. The Ghost army consisted of fake tanks and vehicles. The United States covered it up with fake radio messages. This cowled the German Soldiers into thinking that there was a large tank force that was over the Rhine

The Ghost army had been thought of before but was only used during this battle. Fake radio messages were used during both world war but not an entire fake army was used during the wars. The American General Patton was the leader of the armored forces and he advised the plan.

The Ghost army was filled with look alike a of the Sherman tank and also vehicles. The Americans played speakers to make it sound like the tanks were moving and running. The Germans relished this problem and were frightened by the fact of how outnumbered they were. So this tactic worked well for the Americans.

The Book was a good bit of fun for me to read because it had a lot of history I already knew in it. The Ghost army was used as intimidation. So I highly enjoyed this book

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many people may have heard about the inflatable tanks, trucks and fake sounds around the invasion of Normandy, what I didn't realize was how much of a role this group played in many of the other important battles. Really interesting.

[Myra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating story about an Army unit whose main job during WW2 was deception! Their work saved thousands of lives.

[Ron Vick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. It went at a good pace. It had a good balance of facts and stories. I was unaware of this aspect of WWII.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This left me wanting to know more.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! I was only saddened that the men in this platoon have not been officially recognized and given any medals or other honor due to them.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1996 secret documents were opened to the public that told the story of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops in WWII. This division of soldiers blasted audio recordings of tank and army movements, inflatable tanks and fake radio signals to fool the Germans and their spies in France that there was something big going on in that area. This forced the Germans to focus on the Ghost Army rather where the real action was taking place.
It was hard for all these soldiers to keep the secret. Bill Blass, before he became a mega fashion designer, joined the army and used his talents to deceive the Germans about troop movements and locations.
The story is really amazing. Just this March, 2024, The Ghost army received the Congressional Gold Medal.
I am not sure this is the best book to tell this fascinating story but it was good. My true score would be 3.75 stars. There were times where I lost my train of thought and got bogged down in details. I do like the fact that Jack used original documents and interviews to tell this remarkable story.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the field of deception, the actions taken that are described in Ghost Army of World War II by Jack Kneece have got to be right near the top of the list. Using inflatable tanks and trucks, playing sound recordings of the movement of heavy equipment, and using simulated radio transmissions to give the impression of a large military presence to fool the enemy is a fascinating true story. I recently watched a documentary that covers this same topic that seemed to bring this book to life.

[Michael Delaware · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and well researched book into a hidden history of WWII. It is not only interesting, but somewhat shocking at times, and it will change the way you look at the allied successes at D-Day and the Battle of the Buldge, among many other campaigns. It is thought provoking to consider that so many WWII veterens died without knowing this was happening in the European theatre where many served, because this information was marked classified until very recently.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really cursory overview of the deception units of WW2, and some of the employments of this force. There really wasn't much analysis or research or really anything other than a few accounts; I was hoping to learn more about the methodology and theories developed, and those were pretty much absent. It's a short book, though, and there wasn't a lot written anywhere about these units.

[Doug Caldwell]

The Ghosts prevent a lot of casualties during the war by fooling the Germans. Rubber dummies, change of vehicle markings and patches on uniforms. Also fake radio traffic to make it seem there were either different or larger forces facing the Germans. Surprise it was kept so secret for such a long time.

[Kristin Rentschler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kneece’s book is fine and informative, but I’m not a fan of how he tells the story. He cycles through the lives of different members of the Ghost Army and thus repeats parts of the overall story a few times. It feels redundant. There were times where I felt like he literally said the exact same sentence in a previous chapter. But overall, I did learn from this book.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this audiobook but it seems like there could be more information about the Ghost Army and what they did. I thought it was still interesting though & likes that they included what they did after the war.

[Jeff Koslowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains a lot of primary sources but there is no analysis. You have to be a serious WWII buff to truly grasp it all. Otherwise, it just feels like another WWII book with the occasional reference to what the subjects were actually doing.

[Elynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little slow in sections, but provided some very interesting facts about the war (like why we call them "tanks"), and brought to light a fascinating aspect of WWII that had been kept top secret of many years.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea this took place. A very interesting read of how they filled the Nazi army into thinking who was where when. Amazing story.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something most people never knew. Really an amazing effort with grand results. Starting to skim it now. Very factual writing.
It was almost hard to believe that this type of warfare was so very successful in saving so many lives.Hitler was just so certain of himself that he was entirely fooled by the work of this division. The only sad piece is that they were never fully recognized for their contributions.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

We listened to this book on a road trip. Very interesting information on an aspect of WWII that I wasn't aware of.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great story of the ghost army. Well written.

[Scott Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's heavy reliance on first person accounts gives the overall book a dated feel. But if you can look past the narrative being of its time, it's an interesting read.

Three Stars. No notes.

[Armin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating bit of history, but undermined by too much diary reading

[Beverly Hollandbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story of a WWII army division whose sole purpose was to deceive the opposing forces. Told with intimate details and stunning illustrations, the tale is one that was classified much too long, depriving the soldiers involved of their just rewards. I'd like to say thank you to them.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was interested in this title due to its subject - a secretive unit that played an out-sized role in WWII. Unfortunately, while the subject was interesting, the execution was very poor. The story meandered all around, with foreshadowing, back-tracking, and lack of continuity making the listen a chore. When writing a unit history, the author should provide a framework that covers the formation of the unit, its actions/battles, and summary of contributions to the main effort. Jack Kneece instead opens with an essay on the famous men that were members of the Ghost Army, tosses in a couple of interesting diaries willy-nilly in the middle of the book rather than as appendices and never provides a clear narrative thread. I will have to check other sources to see how well his claims of importance stand up.

[Tessyohnka · Rating 3 out of 5]

After my brother's death last August, I asked my sister-in-law for something he had been reading. We often shared books and offered each other recommendations. This was one he intended to read --still in the to-read pile -- so I decided to read it for him. Unfortunately, books are not offering me the diversion they had before and it's been on my night stand since August.
It's quite fascinating to think that all that time I watched Mission Impossible thinking "this is a crazy amount of trouble to go to -- to fool someone" -- I never knew there was an army doing just that.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating account of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, a top secret unit hand-picked to deceive the German army. The artists, actors, meteorologists, and sound technicians were highly intelligent and masters of their crafts. The information about this unit was classified top secret until 1996. This book is the result of interviews with several of the men, their diaries and letters as well as declassified reports. However, the accounts often repeated the same information so at times it felt repetitive.

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very well written, there is still something compelling about true stories. In this, a bunch of artists make a significant contribution to the war effort and save lives. They create a fictitious army and convince the Germans that they are facing a large force, often when the real force has moved and is about to attack somewhere else.