302:
146:, based on intelligence recovered the previous December. An Italian officer's journal had somehow been acquired, in it the officer expressed fear of an airborne assault. It would be two years before Allied paratroopers were deployed to North Africa, but Clarke planned to enhance these fears by creating a fictional "Special Air Service Brigade". Major Jones created a fleet of dummy gliders and Clarke organised fake radio traffic and information leaks. He even dressed two soldiers in "1 SAS" uniforms and set them to wander around Cairo, Port Said and Alexandria hinting at missions in
240:
232:'A' Force was officially an organisation under Middle Eastern Command (Cairo). As well as overseeing deception within the North African theatre it also represented MI9 (escape and evasion) in the region, as a cover role, which accounted for a good portion of its staff. The organisation expanded quickly from its founding, and by the end of the war had quite a large staff, some of the key individuals included;
283:
87:. As part of the operation he tried to deceive the enemy about the strength of British forces; via disinformation and visual deception. Compass, executed on 9 December, was a tactical success; something Wavell attributed to the accompanying deception. On 13 December he informed Allied high command of his intention to form a department to manage deception, and requested
165:). His work interviewing locals about the Greek island could not be associated with the 6th so he adopted the guise of 'A' Force. The name was intentionally vague, designed to add to the mythology of his fictional airborne unit. Although at first only a cover name, the department would soon become real and take control of all deception in the region. On
206:
previously invested effort in keeping deception low profile). Over the next few months, however, Bagnold's department began to take control of most of the theatre's deception planning, leaving 'A' Force responsible for training and advisory capacity (although Jones retained a lot of control over physical deception).
94:
Clarke arrived in Egypt on 18 December and at first worked alone and in secret, under the official title "Intelligence
Officer (special duties) to the Commander in Chief". He had neither staff nor official mandate, and worked from a "converted bathroom" at the British Army headquarters, Cairo. His
193:
With 'A' Force well established Clarke felt able to leave Cairo and pursue contacts outside of Egypt. He travelled to Turkey with the dual aim of establishing an MI9 presence in the country, and developing routes for 'A' Force to pass deceptive information to the enemy. Whilst abroad 'A' Force
205:
was appointed "Chief
Deception Officer" for the region. Bagnold and his staff took over tactical deception, leaving 'A' Force to handle strategic planning. Upon his return to Cairo, Clarke was annoyed both at the perceived power grab and the publicity around Bagnold's promotion (Clarke having
314:
A well-known stage magician. Clarke deliberately portrayed
Maskelyne as the mastermind behind many of the 'A' Force's dummy machines and other physical deceptions. This lent credibility to the inventions within the chain of command, and helped distract attention from many of the department
224:'A' Force was an important step forward for Allied deception. Clarke's report in September 1941 was directly responsible for the creation of the London Controlling Section, Ops. (B) and the new focus on deceptive warfare through till the end of the war.
99:, the somewhat less secret organisation tasked with helping Allied servicemen in escape and evasion tactics. Far from being a token cover, Clarke ran MI9's Middle East department, in tandem with his deception work, until
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Recruited for his knowledge of visual deception, particularly dummy tanks. Jones managed physical deception for Clarke, and was even the de facto head of 'A' Force for a short period in late 1941.
650:
1290:
760:
264:
Recruited in 1942 as head of the
Operations section, and Clarke's deputy. Wild was known for his stubbornness. Transferred to England in 1943 to head his own deception outfit (
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643:
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181:– and in April received official mandate for his department. "Advanced Headquarters 'A' Force" moved into their new offices on
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A forger who produced all of the department's fake passports and other documents. He was also tasked with opening the
712:
61:
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547:
501:
42:, in December 1940. After the success of Compass, Wavell sent for Clarke, with whom he had earlier worked in
38:, the commander of forces in North Africa at the outbreak of war, initiated the use of deception as part of
76:, fought a defensive war against Italian forces until Autumn, when it initiated more offensive manoeuvres.
902:
315:
activities. In fact
Maskelyne worked on evasion devices and gave lectures for the MI9 side of 'A' Force.
116:
301:
704:
566:
781:
282:
662:
46:. Clarke was charged with forming the first deception department, in secret with limited resources.
745:
331:
of neutral nations so that Clarke could read their contents, before sealing them back up again.
1143:
768:
659:
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By March, Clarke had another scheme in the works; a deception cover for
Operation Cordite (the
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By 1941, Clarke began to work with others, specialists in specific deception arts. Major
69:
43:
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22:, generally referred to as 'A' Force, was the name of a deception department during the
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1036:
822:
666:
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In Clarke's absence, what he later regarded as a power struggle emerged at
128:
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23:
827:
817:
139:
865:
842:
120:
964:
740:
556:
516:
131:, Clarke recruited him to help with the spreading of disinformation.
870:
924:
732:
561:
British
Intelligence in the Second World War: Strategic Deception
265:
178:
1291:
The
Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War
608:
Churchill's
Wizards: The British Genius for Deception, 1914–1945
538:
The
Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War
239:
586:
Master of deception: tangled webs in London and the Middle East
162:
658:
269:
252:
Founded 'A' Force and was its head until the end of the war.
151:
147:
27:
480:
557:
Howard, Michael; Hinsley, Francis Harry (26 October 1990).
201:. In October, a recently promoted and rising-star Colonel
96:
343:
Helped with the information warfare and MI9 cover work.
95:
cover role was to establish a regional department for
138:
Clarke began fabricating the existence of a British
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who had organised several tactical deceptions using
558:
535:
510:
194:nominally fell under the control of Victor Jones.
1304:
602:
396:
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533:
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16:Allied WWII military deception planning group
1283:British Intelligence in the Second World War
422:
420:
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583:
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410:
408:
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26:. It was set up in March 1941 and based in
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79:In November Wavell planned an offensive,
441:
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403:
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300:
281:
238:
511:Handel, Michael I. (12 November 2012).
185:and Clarke began to recruit his staff.
1318:Military deception during World War II
1305:
805:Middle East Cmd Camouflage Directorate
462:
453:
632:
429:
13:
14:
1329:
490:MI9 Escape and Evasion 1939–1945
474:
72:, based in Egypt under General
20:Advanced Headquarters 'A' Force
1:
513:War Strategy and Intelligence
349:
49:
188:
106:
83:, against Italian troops at
7:
10:
1334:
705:London Controlling Section
567:Cambridge University Press
450:Handel (2012), pg. 379–380
414:Rankin (2008), pg. 279–280
370:Rankin (2008), pg. 274–277
214:
91:be sent to Cairo to help.
53:
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1187:
1129:
1122:
1096:
999:
987:
978:
957:
941:
923:
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884:
841:
803:
794:
782:Soviet military deception
777:
759:
731:
703:
680:
673:
219:
171:No. 6 Sharia Kasr-el-Nill
115:was an engineer with the
400:Howard (1990), pg. 33-34
361:Howard (1990), pg. 31-33
142:regiment in the region,
117:14th/20th King's Hussars
746:Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh
534:Holt, Thaddeus (2004).
228:Structure and personnel
1313:North African campaign
1144:D-Day naval deceptions
438:Holt (2004), pg. 47–50
426:Holt (2004), pg. 26–30
388:Foot (1979), pg. 87–89
379:Holt (2004), pg. 17–20
305:
286:
243:
210:El Alamein and Cascade
56:North African Campaign
751:List of Ops (B) staff
304:
285:
242:
169:Clarke requisitioned
159:6th Infantry Division
127:was a Captain in the
993:John Cecil Masterman
584:Mure, David (1980).
64:declared war on the
1067:Werner von Janowski
980:Double-Cross System
876:George Vander Sluis
851:Louis Dalton Porter
274:Operation Bodyguard
199:Middle East Command
173:, Cairo – opposite
70:Middle East Command
1055:Nathalie Sergueiew
674:Deception planning
663:military deception
606:(1 October 2008).
468:Mure (1980) pg. 96
459:Mure (1980) pg. 95
339:Mark Ogilvie-Grant
306:
287:
244:
125:Mark Ogilvie-Grant
1300:
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1276:Bodyguard of Lies
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1019:Roman Czerniawski
1013:Juan Pujol García
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933:David Strangeways
917:Operational units
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911:
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81:Operation Compass
60:On 10 June 1940,
40:Operation Compass
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988:Twenty Committee
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897:Jasper Maskelyne
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272:) and help plan
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74:Archibald Wavell
36:Archibald Wavell
30:under Brigadier
24:Second World War
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813:Geoffrey Barkas
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488:(24 May 1979).
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526:978-0714633114
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486:Langley, J. M.
482:Foot, M. R. D.
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167:March 28, 1941
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68:. The British
66:Allied nations
54:Main article:
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1000:Double agents
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769:Peter Fleming
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690:Dudley Clarke
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588:. W. Kimber.
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203:Ralph Bagnold
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47:
45:
41:
37:
33:
32:Dudley Clarke
29:
25:
21:
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1282:
1274:
1079:Josef Jakobs
1049:Wulf Schmidt
1043:Gösta Caroli
1037:Arthur Owens
901:
833:Steven Sykes
695:Victor Jones
681:
667:World War II
607:
585:
560:
542:. Scribner.
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512:
489:
475:Bibliography
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338:
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309:
291:Victor Jones
290:
259:
247:
231:
223:
196:
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183:8 April 1941
177:and below a
161:invasion of
156:
136:January 1941
133:
129:Scots Guards
113:Victor Jones
110:
93:
85:Sidi Barrani
78:
59:
19:
18:
1195:Accumulator
1174:Quicksilver
1061:Dušan Popov
828:Peter Proud
818:Tony Ayrton
140:paratrooper
121:dummy tanks
101:August 1944
1307:Categories
1235:Hardboiled
1220:Chettyford
1139:Copperhead
1123:Operations
1069:(Watchdog)
1063:(Tricycle)
1057:(Treasure)
866:Bill Blass
843:Ghost Army
796:Camouflage
761:D Division
713:John Bevan
595:0718302575
576:0521401453
549:0743250427
503:0370300866
350:References
50:Background
34:. General
1250:Scherhorn
1240:Mincemeat
1154:Fortitude
1149:Ferdinand
1131:Bodyguard
1075:(Zig-Zag)
1033:(Rainbow)
965:Paradummy
823:Hugh Cott
741:Noel Wild
682:'A' Force
517:Routledge
260:Noel Wild
189:Struggles
107:'A' Force
44:Palestine
1285:(Vol. 5)
1210:Boardman
1179:Zeppelin
1164:Ironside
1159:Graffham
1109:American
1045:(Summer)
1021:(Brutus)
1009:(Artist)
871:Art Kane
1225:Cockade
1215:Cascade
1205:Bertram
1200:Barclay
1169:Titanic
1114:British
1015:(Garbo)
925:R Force
733:Ops (B)
266:Ops (B)
215:Barclay
179:brothel
1245:Pastel
1230:Forfar
1104:Allied
1051:(Tate)
1039:(Snow)
1027:(Fido)
958:Decoys
660:Allied
618:
592:
573:
546:
523:
500:
268:under
220:Legacy
163:Rhodes
1268:Books
1188:Other
942:Other
885:Other
270:SHAEF
152:Libya
148:Crete
62:Italy
28:Cairo
1255:Span
903:more
616:ISBN
590:ISBN
571:ISBN
544:ISBN
521:ISBN
498:ISBN
665:in
150:or
134:In
97:MI9
1309::
614:.
610:.
569:.
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519:.
515:.
496:.
492:.
484:;
443:^
431:^
419:^
405:^
393:^
276:.
154:.
123:.
103:.
652:e
645:t
638:v
624:.
598:.
579:.
552:.
529:.
506:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
