Operation Titanic
Operation Titanic | |
---|---|
Part of Operation Bodyguard | |
Operational scope | Tactical Deception |
Location | English Channel |
Planned | 1944 |
Planned by | London Controlling Section, Ops (B), Allied Expeditionary Air Force |
Target | Nazi Germany |
Date | 5–6 June 1944 |
Executed by | United Kingdom: No. 138 Squadron RAF No. 161 Squadron RAF No. 90 Squadron RAF No. 149 Squadron RAF Special Air Service |
Outcome | Allied success |
Casualties | 2 Short Stirling of No. 149 Squadron and their crews 8 Men Special Air Service killed or executed |
Operation Titanic was a series of
Titanic was undertaken by four squadrons from No. 3 Group RAF (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 intended to confuse the Axis high command as to Allied intentions during the lead-up to the Normandy landings.[1] The most complex portion of Bodyguard involved a wide-ranging strategic deception, organised by the London Controlling Section (LCS), in southern England called Fortitude South.[2] 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 (rather than Normandy, the real target of Operation Overlord).[3]
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 (Taxable and Glimmer) were planned for the eve of the Normandy landings to develop threats against the Pas-de-Calais region.[4] 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) which in turn was a rewrite of a plan from the Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) Ops (B).[5]
The operation made use of several physical and audio deception techniques developed through the early part of the war.
Operation
Titanic was divided into four operations (I to IV), consisting of various combinations of dummy paratroopers, noisemakers, chaff (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.[2][5] 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 Hudsons, as well as No. 90 and No. 149, flying Short Stirlings.
M. R. D. Foot, 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, 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.[8] 2nd SAS provided twelve men under the command of Captain Frederick James Fowles (Chick) and Lieutenant 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.[9] 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.[9]
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
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.[9][12][13]
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
References
Citations
- ^ Latimer 2001, pg. 218–232
- ^ a b Barbier 2007, pg. 41
- ^ Barbier 2007, pg. 62
- ^ Latimer (2001), pp. 232–234
- ^ a b Holt (2004), pp. 577–579
- ^ a b c Holt (2004), pp. 87–88
- ^ Holt (2004), pg. 82
- ^ Levine (2011), pp. 271-273
- ^ a b c d e f Barbier 2007, pg. 112
- ^ a b c d Holt (2004), pg. 578
- ^ a b Ramsey, p.253
- ^ Godson & Wirtz, p.110
- ^ Foot 1994
- ^ a b c Barbier 2007, pg. 113
Bibliography
- Barbier, Mary (2007). D-day deception: Operation Fortitude and the Normandy invasion. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-2759-9479-2.
- Foot, M R D (12 May 1994). "Why we remember that June day". The Independent. London.
- Godson, Roy; Wirtz, James J (2003). Strategic denial and deception: the twenty-first century challenge. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-7658-0898-6.
- Holt, Thaddeus (2004). The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War. New York: ISBN 0-7432-5042-7.
- ISBN 978-1-58567-381-0.
- Levine, Joshua (2011). Operation Fortitude : the true story of the key spy operation of WWII that saved D-Day. London: Collins. ISBN 9780007313532.
- Ramsey, Winston G (1995). D-Day then and now, Volume 1. Battle of Britain Prints International. ISBN 0-900913-84-3.
External links
- "D Day Timeline". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.