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Operation Titanic was a series of
military deception Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ac ...
s carried out by the
Allied Nations The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Ita ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. They formed part of tactical element of
Operation Bodyguard Operation Bodyguard was the code name for a World War II deception strategy employed by the Allied states before the 1944 invasion of northwest Europe. Bodyguard set out an overall stratagem for misleading the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht as to ...
, the cover plan for the
Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. Titanic was carried out on 5–6 June 1944 (the night of the invasion) by the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
and the
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...
. Its objective was to drop hundreds of
dummy parachutists A paradummy is a military deception device first used in World War II, intended to imitate a drop of paratroop attackers. This can cause the enemy to shift forces or fires unnecessarily, or lure enemy troops into staged ambushes. The dolls ...
, noisemakers and small numbers of special forces troops in locations away from the real Normandy
drop zone A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes. In ...
s. It hoped to deceive the German defenders into believing that a large force had landed, drawing troops away from the beachheads and other strategic sites. Titanic was undertaken by four squadrons from
No. 3 Group RAF No. 3 Group (3 Gp) of the Royal Air Force was an RAF group first active in 1918, again in 1923–26, part of RAF Bomber Command from 1936 to 1967, and part of RAF Strike Command from 2000 until it disbanded on 1 April 2006. No. 3 Group was first ...
(the special duties squadrons) alongside detachments from the 2nd SAS Regiment. It accompanied other tactical deceptions including Operations Glimmer and Taxable and wide ranging radar deception. Overall the results of Titanic were broadly achieved. Intercepts of German communications indicate that at least some of the landings were believed to be real and they sowed some confusion during the early part of the Normandy invasion.


Background

Operation Titanic formed part of Operation Bodyguard, a broad strategic
military deception Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ac ...
intended to confuse the Axis high command as to Allied intentions during the lead-up to the
Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. The most complex portion of Bodyguard involved a wide-ranging strategic deception, organised by the
London Controlling Section The London Controlling Section (LCS) was a British secret department established in September 1941, under Oliver Stanley, with a mandate to coordinate Allied strategic military deception during World War II. The LCS was formed within the Joint ...
(LCS), in southern England called Fortitude South. Through decoy hardware, radio transmissions and double agents, Operation Fortitude South attempted to inflate the size of the Allied force in England and develop a threat against the
Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, "strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of ...
(rather than Normandy, the real target of
Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
). As D-Day approached, Allied planners moved on to tactical deceptions (roughly under the umbrella of Fortitude) to help cover the progress of the real invasion forces. The
D-Day naval deceptions Operations Taxable, Glimmer and Big Drum were tactical military deceptions conducted on 6 June 1944 in support of the Allied landings in Normandy. The operations formed the naval component of Operation Bodyguard, a wider series of tactical an ...
(Taxable and Glimmer) were planned for the eve of the Normandy landings to develop threats against the Pas-de-Calais region. Titanic was intended as an accompaniment to these deceptions, as well as to create general confusion for the defending forces on the morning of D-Day. The idea originated from a plan submitted by David Strangeways (head of the tactical deception unit of
21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...
) which in turn was a rewrite of a plan from the Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) Ops (B). The operation made use of several physical and audio deception techniques developed through the early part of the war. The main physical deception were parachute dummies codenamed Paragons or Saints. These were essentially stuffed
burlap Hessian (, ), burlap in the United States and Canada, or crocus in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, is a woven fabric usually made from skin of the jute plant or sisal fibres, which may be combined with other vegetable fibres to make rope, nets, ...
sacks in the shape of a human with a simple parachute. These were effective in the air in low or no light, but on the ground would be easy to determine as a feint. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. introduced the idea of dummies that self-destructed to try and keep the deception going longer. Peter Fleming, brother to Bond author Ian Fleming, who ran deception operations in Asia, added the innovation of "Pintails". These were designed to land upright on the ground and fire off flares to simulate the actions of commanding officers. In addition to the dummies, Titanic relied on various sonic deceptions to persist the deception on the ground. The Allies had developed several systems for electronic noise generation including the British "Poplin" and American "Heater". These technologies, which used either audio recorded onto
film reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...
or magnetic wire, had been used first during the North Africa campaign. For Titanic recordings of troops and weaponry were attached to the dummies along with an American loudspeaker system nicknamed "Bunsen Burner". Alongside these more advanced technologies the decievers also made use of simpler physical audio generation. Strips of fire crackers and noise bombs were included to simulate realistic gunfire. Altogether this could create the effect of troops engaged in a firefight for up to six hours, with each plane able to drop material sufficient to simulate a platoon-sized group.


Operation

Titanic was divided into four operations (I to IV), consisting of various combinations of dummy paratroopers, noisemakers,
chaff Chaff (; ) is the dry, scaly protective casing of the seeds of cereal grains or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material (such as scaly parts of flowers or finely chopped straw). Chaff is indigestible by humans, but livestock can eat it. In agri ...
(codenamed Window) and SAS personnel. The noisemakers, codenamed Pintails, were attached to each dummy to simulate rifle fire. They also carried a small explosive timed to destroy the dummy and give the appearance of a paratrooper burning his parachute. Four squadrons from No. 3 Group RAF (the special duties squadrons) carried out the drops. No. 138 and No. 161, flying Handley Page Halifaxes and
Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and p ...
s, as well as No. 90 and No. 149, flying
Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...
s.
M. R. D. Foot Michael Richard Daniell Foot, (14 December 1919 – 18 February 2012) was a British political and military historian, and former British Army intelligence officer with the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War. Biography The ...
, intelligence officer for the SAS brigade, was ordered to arrange the special forces contingent. He first approached the head of 1st SAS Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel
Paddy Mayne Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne, (11 January 1915 – 14 December 1955) was a British Army officer from Newtownards, capped for Ireland and the British Lions at rugby union, lawyer, amateur boxer, and a founding member of the Spe ...
, who refused to take part in an intelligence operation, having had a bad experience implementing deception plans while in north Africa. However, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Franks of the 2nd SAS Regiment was convinced to take part in the operation. 2nd SAS provided twelve men under the command of
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Frederick James Fowles (Chick) and
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Norman Harry Poole. After landing these teams were to locate and open fire on the German forces, allowing some to escape in the hope they would report the parachute drops. To deceive the Germans into thinking there was a large parachute landing in progress, the SAS teams played 30 minute pre-recorded sounds of men shouting and weapons fire including
mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a villag ...
. In total, around four hundred dummies were planned to be dropped as part of the operation. Titanic I simulated the drop of an airborne division north of the
Seine river ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributaries ...
near
Yvetot Yvetot () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. It is the capital of the Caux region. History The name Yvetot comes from the Germanic ''Yvo'' and the Old Norse ''-topt''. Therefore, Yvetot mean ...
,
Yerville Yerville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A small farming and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some northwest of Rouen at the junction of the D929 with th ...
,
Doudeville Doudeville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography Called the flax capital, the town is situated at the centre of the Pays de Caux, the chalk plateau in High Normandy and one widely ...
in the
Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...
region and
Fauville Fauville () is a commune in the Eure department in the Normandy region in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure department The following is a list of the 585 communes of the Eure department of France. The commune ...
in the
Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Dives River to draw German reserves onto that side of the river and away from the actual D-Day landings. However, this segment of the operation was cancelled just before 6 June on the basis of there being too much air traffic to fit it in. A further fifty dummies were dropped, as Titanic III, in the
Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...
region near
Maltot Maltot () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 528 communes An intentional community is a vol ...
and the woods to the north of
Baron-sur-Odon Baron-sur-Odon () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Baronnais'' or ''Baronnaises''. The commune has been awarded one flower by the ''National Cou ...
to draw German reserves away to the west of
Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Marigny in the
Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Saint-Lô. This group commanded by Captain Fowles and Lieutenant Poole landed at 00:20 on 6 June 1944, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. The mission went according to plan. The only aircraft lost were two Short Stirlings and their crews from No. 149 Squadron taking part in Titanic III. Eight men from the SAS failed to return; they were all either killed in action or executed by the Germans in
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentra ...
.Godson & Wirtz, p.110


Impact

It seems that most of the aims of Titanic were achieved. At 02:00 on 6 June 1944, German units reported the landing of parachutists east of Caen and in the
Coutances Coutances () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History Capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town was given the name of ''Constantia'' in 298 during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius Chloru ...
,
Valognes Valognes () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. Geography Valognes is situated in the Cotentin Peninsula, southeast of Cherbourg. Valognes station has rail connections to Caen, Paris and Cherbourg. Histo ...
and Saint-Lô areas and hearing ships' engines out at sea. In response commanders ordered the 7th Army to increase the level of their preparedness and to expect an invasion, but General Hans Speidel decreased the level of alert when it was reported only dummy parachutists had been found. However, ''Generalfeldmarshall''
Gerd von Rundstedt Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (12 December 1875 – 24 February 1953) was a German field marshal in the '' Heer'' (Army) of Nazi Germany during World War II. Born into a Prussian family with a long military tradition, Rundstedt entered th ...
ordered the 12th SS ''Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend'' to deal with a supposed parachute landing on the coast near
Lisieux Lisieux () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. Name The name of the town derives from the ...
which was found to consist solely of dummies from Titanic III. The dummies and SAS teams of Titanic IV diverted a ''
Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germ ...
'' from the 915th Grenadier Regiment, the
352nd Infantry Division The 352nd Infantry Division (''352. Infanterie-Division'') was an infantry division of the German Army during World War II. Deployed on the Western Front, the division defended Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. History Formation and stren ...
reserve away from the
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...
and
Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
beaches and the
101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
s drop zones. The regiment, believing an airborne division had landed, were employed searching woods instead of heading to the invasion beaches.
Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...
intercepts from the area of Titanic I revealed that the German commander was reporting a major landing up the coast from
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
(well to the north of the landing beaches) and that he had been cut off by them. The combination of Taxable and Titanic I appears to have been interpreted as intended by the German command with communications indicating they felt it had been defeated and turned back.


References


Citations


Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Titanic, Operation T T T World War II deception operations Operation Fortitude