The Ghost Army Of World War II

World War Two is one of history’s darkest times. Many countries were hiding information from other countries and even their own people, including America. America had many secrets during World War Two that were very recently made public.

The sheer military power of the United States, and their appearance in the war, both had a major impact on the outcome of the war, striking fear into the opposing military forces. America was and has always been a very wealthy and large economy with an abundant supply of resources. This gave America the ability to mass-produce war machines such as planes and tanks to give them a large advantage over the Axis Powers. The US had an over-supply of war vehicles, which were later shared with Britain and France, providing a huge advantage over the Axis Powers. According to Historynotes, over “10 million American soldiers were ready to be deployed to help fight against the Axis Powers”. This statement clearly proves just how much military power America had over their opponents put together. German and Italian spies were reporting back to their country about the dramatic

On June 6th 1944, the U.S. and allied forces executed an amphibious assault named Operation Neptune, commonly known as D-Day, along the north-western coastline region of France. The operation covered in this paper will discuss a key battle during the Invasion of Normandy. The Invasion of Normandy was a successful operation focused towards German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. This paper will also cover a brief history and key points of The Battle of Omaha Beach. Critical reasoning and battle analysis will be expressed through what intelligence assets were applied, utilized and available during the time era. The analysis outcome will lead to an expressed alternative ending on The Battle of Omaha Beach. A detailed explanation of how intelligence assets could have been used to change the course of the battle will defend the explained alternative ending discussed. The main points of discussion will include Adolf Hitler’s decision to move most of his tank divisions and infantry units 150 miles north to Calais, the significance of the highly effective group known as the French Resistance and a famous illusionist Jasper Maskelyne.

Art in World War I was observed in many forms, from photography to art movements on the home fronts of many countries. What many people did not realize is that art was also used in the war for battle. Propaganda and camouflage were crucial to the success on the battlefield and they were used and produced in ways not normally seen in history before. Propaganda had existed before WWI but was used heavily in this war and was often negatively themed, to promote involvement in a war against the evil enemy. Complex camouflage of machinery, ships, and uniforms also arose during the Great War, and this

“Four-Forty-Second Infantry / We're the boys of Hawai'i nei / We'll fight for you / And the Red, White and Blue, And go to the front. / And back to Honolulu-lulu. / Fighting for dear old Uncle Sam / Go for broke! / HOOH! / We don't give a damn! / We'll round up the Huns / At the point of our guns, / And vict'ry will be ours! / GO FOR BROKE! / FOUR-FOUR-TWO! / GO FOR BROKE! / FOUR-FOUR-TWO! And vict'ry will be ours!” (442nd Unit Fight Song). Just as many historical songs are wont to be subjected to select refinements, the 422nd Unit Fight Song is no exception. Primitively the song had the phrases “One-Puka-Puka” in place of what is currently “Four-Forty-Second” suggesting the song was originally written for the

The United States entered World War Two in late 1941, and right away they were thrown into a conflict that involved making important decisions that would affect generations of people, in the United States and elsewhere, for years to come. A most notable decision by the Allies, namely the United States and Great Britain, was the combining of the American and British military chiefs of staff. This joint collaboration was appropriately titled the “Combined Chiefs of Staff”. They worked together as one body, and made war planning decisions and strategized together. This type of alliance was an innovation in war planning for the time, and the decisions made collaboratively by the two powers contributed greatly to the Allied victory in 1945. The relationships involved and the disputes that came up are worth noting, specifically the question of the Allies opening up a second front in the west, particularly titled “Operation Sledgehammer”. The relationship between President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, as well as General George Marshall of the United States and General Sir Alan Brooke of Great Britain were the main actors involved in this undertaking, and they will be the main individuals discussed and analyzed for the purposes of this paper. Ultimately Operation Sledgehammer was delayed and no action was taken upon it. Even though it caused rifts between the USSR, for reasons that will be explained, and the Allies far into the future, in retrospect they may have been

During World War II propaganda posters where used to influence many peoples value, beliefs and behavior. The use of propaganda had a huge impact on the allied and axis power during this time. Both enemy’s used posters to get support from there government and families back home. Creating these posters encouraged people to save their materials so that most of the weapons could be used during the war. Propaganda it was a smart way to get people to degrade the enemy. Furthermore it was a great financial investment for America and its allies during the war. The poster I will address are what I found to be the most interesting and significant during this time.

“Operation Fortitude is a go,” Commander Patton said. Many people wonder what type of tactical tricks did the unit use and how they knew about it. Actually, the U.S. army got these ideas of the plan of deception from The first President of the United States: George Washington. Washington practiced deception as an art rather than a science. Now the Ghost army was using this “Art” to fool the Germans (“Ghost Soldier magazine”). The art of tactical deception was their best skill. They wanted to mislead the enemy forces that were going to fall for the tanks and the fake attacks that they were presenting. The commander of the unit had to assign the recruits positions so that each designer and artist would know what to operate: the speakers manipulating gunshot sounds and explosions or the inflatable tank balloons meant to deceive the enemy into thinking a real unit was closeby. The commander created a group called the “Effect group,” and they would be operating the important equipment in the operation (“Ghost Army Tricked Hitler”). What exactly, though, did the Ghost Army do on the battlefield? One soldier, Jack Massey, commented, "We were told we were going to be using inflatable equipment to try and fool the Germans into thinking that we were a real army, when we were in effect, I suppose, a rubber army” (www.npr.org). They are all set and ready to go into action, they start their journey through the woods and into a field. Now the army is now setting up their fake tanks off of a ranch in Germany and waiting for the action to begin. The unit finally finished with their plan and successfully tricked the Germans with their fake

After the deaths of 37,508,686 soldiers by the end of World War I, Europe was a mess. Countries had been dissolved and rearranged, governments had fallen and been replaced, and economies were thriving then crashing, all as a result from World War I. One of the main goals at the end of World War I was to prevent another tragedy like World War I from happening again. Clearly that did not happen, as World War II still happened, causing over 50 million deaths. The repercussions of World War I caused World War II due to radical ideology, bad economic conditions, and nationalism to the point of extremity.

While the Bonus Army of WWI veterans and their families came marching to Washington DC, Eleanor went to meet them. She defused the tension between the administrations and the veterans, paving the way for a permanent solution. During her tenure as the First Lady between 1933-1945, she traveled widely, appeared regularly at press conferences and spoke about human rights, women's issues and children's causes. She also appeared regularly at labor meetings, reaching out to the workers during the Great

Most people believe that World War II has been just Japan and their allies versus the U.S any allies we might've had. What people don't know is the U.S had to face Japan being able to interrupt messages sent between U.S forces and decode it to know what we were going to do before we did it. Luckily the U.S had a trick right in their own country.

The development of the allied military strategy in World War II (WWII) presented challenges for the U.S. and Great Britain as they worked together to defeat the Axis powers. First, this paper will review the environment at the time of WWII when Admiral Stark penned the “Plan Dog” memorandum and MAJ Wedemeyer’s War Defense Team put together the “Victory Plan”. Next, it will look at the advantages and disadvantages of coalition operations with supporting examples. Then, a review of two major meetings between U.S. and Great Britain will identify what strategic decisions were made and the effects they have on the war. Finally, this paper will explore the foundations of strategy (Clausewitz and Sun Tzu) by which the allied forces used and

By mid-1942, World War II was looking bleak for the Allied powers. The German Wehrmacht was blitzing through Soviet Russia, the Luftwaffe had laid waste to much of London, Rommel was about to take Africa, and the Japanese nearly had control of the Pacific. Fortunately, as the Axis started running low on materiel, America was increasing the Allied supply dramatically. This enormous production capacity displayed by the U.S. was the product of their new military-industrial complex, as plants across the country geared up production of weapons and combat vehicles and the government began pumping resources into the creation of new military-oriented production facilities. The American

No one anticipated the international chaos that would emerge during the twentieth century, especially the devastation caused by World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. World War II was the most destructive war in human history and changed the history of the world forever, engaging the world’s most influential superpowers in the largest international event of the era. World War II was fought not only by the armed forces, but also by the home fronts of every belligerent nation, exhausting the economy, the industry, and the morale of those living at home, escalating the conflict into a total war that was larger and fought more expansively than any other conflict in history. The use of American propaganda in the World War II war effort

The Second World War was one of the most terrifying events in the world’s history. The U.S.A fights back like never before against Italy, Japan and Germany. Previously the WWII by the 1930’s America was completely poor and lost. By entering in the War, The U.S. becomes a superpower in just four years. The disruption of World War II arouses the mobilization of American industrial and in the military section. The preparation for the battle and the mobilization of the War was a complete success; purpose and determination led the U.S.A to win the WWII.