Ghost Army

"One of the last great stories of WW II."
        -Author and historian John Gawne

In June 1944, a secret U.S. Army unit went into action in Normandy. The weapons they deployed were decidedly unusual: hundreds of inflatable tanks and a one-of-a-kind collection of sound effects records. Their mission was to use bluff, deception, and trickery to save lives.

"It’s amazing, the fakery that we were able to perpetrate upon the enemy."

The army called it the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops; the men called it The Ghost Army.

From Normandy to the Rhine, the Ghost Army staged 20 battlefield deceptions, employing an array of inflatables (tanks, trucks, jeeps, airplanes), sound trucks, phony radio transmissions and even playacting to fool the enemy.

"What they thought they saw was four soldiers picking up a 40-ton Sherman Tank""



They cris-crossed the European Theater to put on a traveling road show of deception, two nights here, a week there, with the German Army as their audience.

"To be in the middle of this incredible adventure. I had to put it down."

The U.S. Army recruited people from the art world to handle the visual deception. So the unit became an incubator for young artists who literally sketched and painted their way through Europe. More than 60 years later their artworks, and the stories behind them, offer a unique and rare personal perspective on one of the most crucial chapters of American history: the 1944-45 invasion of Europe.


Some of the soldier-artists included fashion designer Bill Blass, sculptor and painter Ellsworth Kelly, and photographer Art Kane.

"The Ghost Army's story  needs to be told."
         -National World War II Museum

The surviving veterans of the 23rd are now in their 80s and 90s, but their recollections remain vivid.



For the last four years, documentary filmmaker Rick Beyer has been working on a documentary film about the unit. Through more than 20 interviews, rare archive footage, as well as hundreds of sketches, paintings and photographs created by the men themselves, the film will bring to life the extraordinary story of The Ghost Army.

updated 3 months ago