User:ErrantX/Sandbox/List of World War II Allied military deception operations

During World War II the Allied nations conducted a number of military deception operations against Axis, it was the first time that deception had been so widely used in modern warfare.

Operation Bodyguard
In June 1944 the Allies conducted a full-scale invasion of occupied France, landing on the beaches of Normandy. During the build up to the invasion they implemented a broad strategic deception, codenamed Bodyguard. The operation was intended to confuse German commanders as to the exact location, scale and timing of any attack. Bodyguard was implemented via a number of constituent plans (many of which were broken down further into small operations) each of which threatened an invasion in different parts of Western Europe and the Mediterranean coast. The largest sub-plan was Fortitude South, which involved promoting the existence of a large fictional Army Group (the First United States Army Group or FUSAG). FUSAG were supposedly staged in South East England, with their objective being the Calais region. Bodyguard is considered to have been successful. It is credited both with helping with the surprise of the Normandy landings, and for detaining crucial German forces in the Calais region several weeks of the campaign.