The Army that Never Was: George S. Patton and the Deception of Operation Fortitude

by Taylor Downing

The full, dramatic story behind Operation Fortitude—the biggest subterfuge of World War II—and the plan to mislead the Germans into thinking that the invasion of Europe would come at Pas-de-Calais.On May 29th, 1944, General George S. Patton gave a speech in the southeast of England to the men of the U.S. Army where he spoke of the American desire to win and of how losing was hateful to Americans. As he rose to his crescendo, he said how much he "pitied those sons of bitches we are going up against—by God, I do.” On that same day, General Omar Bradley gave a calmer speech in Somerset, England, to the men under his command about how much rested on the upcoming invasion of northern France and how vital their role was in achieving victory. Apart from the very different tones of the speeches reflecting the opposite character of the two army commanders, there was another big difference. Bradley was speaking to men who in a little over a week would be splashing ashore on the beaches of Normandy. Patton was addressing an army that didn't exist. The Army That Never Was tells the story of the biggest deception operation of World War the plan to mislead the Germans into thinking that the invasion of Europe would come at Pas-de-Calais instead of Normandy—by inventing an entirely fake army unit during Operation Fortitude. Full of fascinating characters from the American, British, and German forces, this compelling and propulsive narrative explores one of the most remarkable stories of World War II.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, World War II

320 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat dry at times, Taylor Downing's The Army that Never Was is nevertheless an intriguing and more or less exhaustive look at British deception during World War II. Most Second World War history buffs will be familiar with Operation Mincemeat and the many deceptions used before the Allied invasion of France on D-Day, but Downing really shows not only that the Nazis at the highest levels of leadership (with the important exception of General Erwin Rommel) truly believed that Allied forces were much larger than they truly were, but that even after the D-Day landings at Normandy there might be a larger invasion at the Pas-de-Calais. In short, the mostly successful deceptions allowed the Allies to land and prepare themselves before facing the much larger German force that was stationed idly only 200 miles away, expecting an invasion that would never come and that had never even been seriously considered.

The lists of names, organizations, acronyms, and military units can be confusing, but Downing does a fairly good job of fleshing out most of the stories so that they don't read like boring orders of battle that only military historians would truly care about.

The end of the book gives a very thorough summary of the postwar lives--if they survived the war--of most of main named players. Many involved in the deceptions wanted to publish books during their lifetimes, but British law mainly prevented this or the revelation of the extent of the deceptions until the late 1990s and early 2000s. It's still amazing to me how these few larger-than-life individuals were able to live mostly ho-hum lives after succeeding in pulling off probably the greatest military deception in history. Twentieth-century Britain was apparently the polar opposite of the twenty-first-century US of A.

[Kadin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title and subtitle of the book is misleading. The entire book is more about the deception campaign as a whole—Operation Bodyguard—in the lead up to D-Day than just Operation Fortitude itself. In fact, after the introduction "Operation Fortitude" doesn't pop back up again until halfway through the book. Even then, the minutiae of Operation Fortitude and General Patton's role in it only spans two, maybe three chapters. That said, if you dismiss the actual title and read it as a history of Operation Bodyguard and the Allies' deception tactics leading up to and during D-Day and the Normandy invasion, it's an interesting book with a few extra nuggets that you may not get in your typical D-Day/WWII books.

[T SCHROERING · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite interesting. Unfortunately, the title of the book is misleading. Only a small portion is actually about Patton.

[Andy Tuite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing description of the deception and spies and undercover cloak and dagger adventures mostly around d-day. Reading this helps me understand British tv and their bent coppers and secret agents

[Amy Theisen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was aware or the deception campaign around Patton and an invasion at Pas de Calais and had heard some of the basic details, but this went much further in depth into the entirety of the plans. Very readable and an interesting look into the planning and the Allies ability to read German communications and being able to see exactly how the Germans were reacting to their efforts.

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps putting George Patton in the subtitle was a marketing decision. The subject is actually British deception tactics during World War II, notably in preparation for the 1944 D-Day invasion of France. The often highly successful misinformation was crafted by “teams of disparate and eccentric” individuals and included the wild inflation of Allied military strength, double agents and their handlers, and set designers who created visual deceptions, like dummy tanks and fake ammunition depots.

A larger lesson of this lucidly written book may be that authoritarian regimes are less adept at quirky inventiveness of this sort than more democratic political systems, in this case (ironically enough), one dominated by well-educated, well-connected individuals who shared an old-boy network.

I don’t understand why a non-fiction book of this caliber would be published without an index.