IsuravaFuzzy

Accidents don’t happen. They’re caused.

Diagram of the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops by Fred Fox, who wrote the official history of the Ghost Army and served in the unit

“The 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion Special - This was the largest unit in the Ghost Army, with 379 men. These visual deceivers, also known as camoufleurs, used an array of inflatable rubber tanks, trunks, artillery, and jeeps to create deceptive tableaux for enemy aerial reconnaissance or distant observers.  The unit had spent the previous two years doing camouflage work and included in its ranks many artists specially recruited for that job.

The Signal Company Special - Formerly the 244th Signal Company, this group of 296 men carried out radio deception, also called “spoof radio.” Operators created phony traffic nets, impersonating radio operators from real units.  They mastered the art of mimicking an operator’s method of sending Morse code, to prevent the enemy from realizing that the real unit and its radio operator were long gone.

The 3132 Signal Service Company Special - This sonic deception unit was staffed with 145 men. Their mission was to play sound effects from powerful speakers mounted on half-tracks…, to simulate the sounds of units moving and operating at night.  Recently formed, they had been undergoing training at the Army Experimental Station at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum) in upstate New York when the Twenty-Third was assembled and would join them later in England.

The 406th Engineer Combat Company Special - Led by Captain George Rebh, the 168 men of the 406th were trained as fighting soldiers.  They provided perimeter security for the rest of the Ghost Army.  They also executed construction and demolition tasks, including digging tank and artillery positions.  The men of the 406th frequently used their bulldozers to simulate tank tracks as part fo the visual deception.”

Accidents don’t happen. They’re caused.

Shoulder insignia of U.S. Army Combat Divisions [detail], from the WWII-era “Newsmap” publication, Volume 4, Number 23, 9/24/1945. 

Series: Issues of the World War II Era “Newsmap” Publication , ca. 1942 - ca. 1998

Record Group 26: Records of the U.S. Coast Guard, 1785 - 2005

Image description:

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)

"Thanksgiving" (1943)

Shoulder insignia of U.S. Army Combat Divisions [detail], from the WWII-era “Newsmap” publication, Volume 4, Number 23, 9/24/1945. 

Series: Issues of the World War II Era “Newsmap” Publication , ca. 1942 - ca. 1998

Record Group 26: Records of the U.S. Coast Guard, 1785 - 2005

Image description:

“I just want to fight Tories. That’s what I do.”