82 MAY/JUNE 2019Overlord and
Bodyguard
GENERAL PATTON
(LEFT) POSED AS
FUSAG’S CHIEF UNTIL
HE TOOK CHARGE
OF A REAL ARMY IN
FRANCE IN JULY 1944.BODYGUARD DECEPTIONS fed Hitler’s fear
of invasions across much of occupied
Europe, from Norway to Greece. But
as indicated by stout defenses around
Calais and deciphered enemy radio signals,
the Germans viewed an invasion across
the Strait of Dover as the most likely
outcome—an expectation that Allied
intelligence officers helped reinforce.
While planners for Overlord produced de-
tailed maps of the Normandy landing zone for
Montgomery’s 21st Army Group, the masterminds
of Bodyguard concocted a fictional invasion force
called FUSAG (First U.S. Army Group), supposedly
consisting of 50 divisions preparing to cross the Strait
of Dover after Montgomery’s diversionary landing at
Normandy, and led by Gen. George S. Patton. Patton
played the part of FUSAG’s commander by conspicu-
ously reviewing a few real units assigned to him. Props
for the hoax included dummy tanks and warplanes
that would look convincing if German reconnaissance
pilots managed to penetrate British air space over Do-
ver, where Patton’s legions were reportedly massing.
The FUSAG deception was sustained by cunning
double agents like Juan Pujol, who had enlisted as a
German spy with the intention of serving the Allies.
He filed false reports that helped keep German troops
tied down at Calais awaiting the fictitious army group
long after Overlord unfolded.Operation Overlord was shielded from
the Germans by Operation Bodyguard,
inspired by Churchill’s remark that
truth in wartime should always
be “attended by a bodyguard of
lies.” That meant simulating
preparations for landings
elsewhere to keep German
forces dispersed.STRAW MAN
The tactical deceptions underpinning
FUSAG included dropping dummies
by parachute, such as the one above,
to distract Germans from incursions
by real paratroopers.BODYGUARDS
Among the crafty double
agents who sold FUSAG
to German spymasters
were, from top to bottom,
Dusko Popov of Yugoslavia,
Spaniard Juan Pujol,
Russian-born Nathalie
“Lily” Sergueiew, and
Roman Garby-Czerniawski
of Poland.IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUMPHOTOQUEST/GETTY IMAGES
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UKTHE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UKKENNETH W. RENDELL, INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF WORLD WAR II COURTESY GERRY CZERNIAWSKI