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=Codes, Ciphers, and Misinformation = Prior to the Second World War, technology had advanced considerably. These advances manifested themselves in many ways, including communications. Not only were people able to communicate over long distances, but machines also helped to encrypt messages with vital information such as troop movements during the war.



The enigma machine is a somewhat well known device used by the Germans during World War II. Click on the picture to learn more.

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Nah, just kidding. It is.
A good example of deception came during [|Operation Overlord], or the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Operation Fortitude was a deception operation to draw Axis forces away from Normandy with the lure of false amphibious invasions elsewhere. An interesting part in this plan was the creation of false units to support the deception. People even went so far as to send pictures to National Geographic for a publication on U.S. forces. The Northern part of Operation Fortitude was an assault on Scandinavia. The fake unit for this was the British Fourth Army. Radio operators even simulated communications traffic for the unit. Fortitude South tried to convince the Germans that an invasion would come to the Pas de Calais, the closest part of France to England and lacking in easily defensible beaches. The main objective was to dissuade the Germans from reinforcing the Normandy battleground in the days after the invasion. The Allies hoped to convince the Germans that the Normandy invasion was a diversion, and that the main invasion was still to come near Calais. The plan was very successful. German leaders were away from the main invasion and they believed the attack was a diversion until mid to late June. An interesting deception tactic during D-Day was the use of "paradummies" to fool the Germans into thinking the attack had landed. These dolls would have firecrackers attached to them in order to make it look like the "soldiers" were shooting. Many double-agents were also used during the war. They would provide false intelligence reports to the Germans.

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