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Part Sixteen
"Maskelyne was used in the D-day landing in Normandy in June 1944 ..." "Perhaps Maskelyne's greatest spectacular was in June 1944 when he helped to convince the Germans that the Allied landings would be at the Pas de Calais ." Charles Fraser-Smith
"...eastern England had become the land of the dummy. The washing hung upon lines slung across landing craft in creeks along the shore fluttered above ingenious constructions of canvass and plywood. The fuel installation in Dover had been made by stage and scene builders recruited from theatres and film studios, working to the plans of professional illusionists such as Major Jasper Maskelyne and film-set designers like Colonel Geoffrey Barkas." J. Haswell
"I can say for certain that at the time of the invasion he (my father) was still located in Italy." Alistair Maskelyne
Arguably the greatest and most successful deception plan implemented by the British and Americans in World War Two was Fortitude South , designed to fool Hitler into thinking the 1944 cross-Channel armada would land not in Normandy but in the Pas de Calais further east. Fortitude South was the main component of Operation Bodyguard, the cleverly orchestrated deception stratagem to ensure the success of Overlord, the codename for the Normandy landings. The aim was to fool Hitler about the timing and the location of the impending attack. Throughout the first half of 1944 the British and Americans instituted a multitude of diversionary deception plans to keep the Germans off-balance. In order to cover all plausible possibilities, the German forces were thinned out and in effect pinned down throughout Europe in areas such as Norway , southern France, Italy, Greece and the Balkans. Fortitude South was so cunningly devised that even when the Allies had landed at Normandy in June 1944, Hitler saw this as a diversionary assault and still believed the main attack would be near the Pas de Calais, approximately two hundred miles to the east. The details of this vast operation are beyond the scope of this article. At the end of this series of articles, a reading list will be provided for those interested in further study In recent years, a greater awareness of the D-Day deception plan has reached the public domain. For example, the Sunday Times D-Day edition (June 5th 1994) included an article by Larry Collins, "Selling the Germans a Dummy", an exciting account of the Fortitude deception. I would agree that a proper understanding of the Normandy landings requires appreciation of the deception strategy. For example, the skilful use of double agents such as GARBO to hoodwink the German command was undeniably impressive. However, there is a tendency in recent popular writing to overemphasise the impact of the deception plan on the final outcome of the battle. As in the battle of El Alamein, brute force factors that favoured the Allies need to be highlighted. In my opinion, too much is made of the physical construction of phantom armies. Collins' assertion that "the ghost army assembled to mislead Hitler was the most brilliant strategic deception in the history of warfare" is journalistic exaggeration. He fails to take into account the more sober assessments by British Intelligence that the phantom army , tanks and landing craft assembled in the south-east of England had little effect on German defensive preparations. Ironically, due to the Allied air supremacy over the United Kingdom, these faked concentrations were not spotted. Had the Luftwaffe reconnaissance penetrated as planned, the dummy formations might well have been exposed as amateurish shams and proven counter-productive. Historian Cruikshank carefully analysed the classified sources, and judged that, for the most part, Fortitude South was a significant success and that Hitler was fooled. Nevertheless, even he felt that "the elaborate visual misdirection measures played a negligible part in the deception. It had been assumed by the planners that aerial reconnaissance of the dummy landing-craft and fake lighting systems on the east coast would help to establish the threat to the Pas de Calais; but the enemy paid virtually no attention to them.." Collins ignored these considerations. Dwelling on the cock-ups and the shortcomings would have damaged the impact of his article which was published in the Sunday Times' anniversary edition. Collins also postulates that "had Fortitude failed there is every reason to believe their (the Allied) assault would have ended in a bloody defeat." This claim would seem questionable when set against the crushing reality of brute force warfare which now overwhelmingly favoured the Allies. The Times editorial (June 6th, 1994), fifty years later, cannot seem to shake off the traditional notion of a narrowly-fought conflict: "The particular importance of D-Day lies in the tiny margins that were known to lie between catastrophe and success." This assertion also seems dubious. Had the margins been that slender, the armada would not have been launched. The massive numerical superiority in the hardware of war — the artillery, tanks, trucks, aircraft, naval vehicles and infantry reserves — combined with Secret Intelligence, was so overwhelming that it is hard to see how the Allies could have been thrown back into the sea in the early summer of 1944. In my opinion, even if Hitler had correctly predicted the landing area, the final outcome would not have been any different. Perhaps greater casualties might have been inflicted on the Allied troops, perhaps the German defeat could have been temporarily delayed, but, based on the available military statistics, by 1944 the German forces were too weakened to withstand the invasion. In essence, Hitler was unable to bring in sufficient reserves to repulse the Normandy invaders not simply as a result of clever deception plans, but because strong well-equipped reserves did not exist ! It is often overlooked that deception plan Fortitude South paradoxically inflated the Allied strength. In normal circumstances this would have been risky and counterproductive because a properly resourced Germany would have then increased its defensive forces in northern France to meet this imaginary army. That Hitler could not substantially increase the number and quality of his defending divisions in France is surely of profound significance. He was tricked into thinking there was a huge Allied task force ready to be launched from across the Channel to the Pas de Calais. Yet he was unable to build up adequate defensive forces to counter this phantom threat. And the main reason for this failure was the deteriorating situation on the Eastern front. The enormous reverses in Russia meant that the war was already being lost. Germany could only muster 60 divisions at best to withstand the Allied invasion in the West. In contrast, 160 German divisions were still fighting in the Eastern front against the Soviet Union. ___________________________________________________________________________ It is also worth noting Michael Howard's assessment that Rommel did bring his available reserves up and responded quickly to the Normandy landings. "...once the scale of the Normandy landings became apparent, virtually the entire strategic reserve, far from being held back to meet the threat to the Pas de Calais, was thrown into the Normandy battle as fast as possible to gain a decision there before the second landing could be made." I am reminded of earlier claims about the effectiveness of the El Alamein deception plan. Tactical surprise was achieved by the attacking force, but Rommel responded as best he could, given the material disadvantages. For our purposes, though, the important question is : did Maskelyne actually participate in the D-Day operations, as the opening quotations claim ? Alistair Maskelyne denies that his father was directly involved. It is plausible that camoufleurs were transferred to the North European theatre as D-Day loomed. For example, Steven Sykes, Maskelyne's camouflage colleague who travelled on the same boat to the Middle East in January 1941, later participated in the D-Day landings. Sykes, a distinguished camoufleur, had been working as an instructor in the training centre at Kabrit near the Suez canal, but he now wanted to get out of the Middle East which had become a backwater. By sacrificing his rank of Major and accepting a demotion, Sykes was given permission to return to England in January 1944. In London, he was treated badly by the Army who failed to make full use of his talents. His recent memoirs document his involvement in the D-Day landings. He participated at the ground level, going ashore on a tank transporter. He was no longer directly involved in camouflage operations . He does not make any mention of Maskelyne being transferred. ___________________________________________________________________________ Could Maskelyne have been involved in creation of the fake Allied army in south east England in 1944? Based on his previous experiences in North Africa, it is tempting to suppose he did play an important role. However, "Magic-Top Secret" does not mention the fake bigbobs or the dummy aeroplanes etc. that were assembled in the south east . Interestingly, as previously mentioned, at least one expert, Cruikshank , thinks the fake landing craft - the 'bigbobs' - were of poor design and ineffective, and might have been counterproductive had the Germans mounted proper aerial reconnaissance. Michael Howard also makes a similar assessment. However, in Chapter Nine of "Trojan Horses", participant Dr. Peter Tooley (who , by the way, makes no mention of Maskelyne) disagrees and claims that the bigbobs, or 'ugly ducklings', were effective. Fraser-Smith, whose wartime career has been covered in earlier articles, claims that Maskelyne was involved in the Normandy operation :"Maskelyne was used in the D-day landing in Normandy in June 1944 ...Following Maskelyne's inspiration, and using my materials, false airfields were laid out filled with masses of dummy planes, dummy lorries, dummy landing craft and dummy military equipment in Kent, opposite the area of the Pas de Calais... I was delighted to work on these projects for my old schoolboy hero, and managed to provide him with a great deal of new material from which he constructed his vast and marvellous camouflages." This quotation would be of great interest if it were true! But I do not think that Fraser-Smith's recollections of Maskelyne are necessarily accurate. His earlier reference to an episode in the desert war where Maskelyne supposedly conjured up images of tanks is highly dubious and was probably taken uncritically from "The War Magician". In re-examining the quotation above, I noted that Fraser-Smith or his ghost writer uses the expression "Following Maskelyne's inspiration". Fraser-Smith's 'confirmation' of Maskelyne's D-Day involvement is not quite as definite or direct as it first reads and may be yet another example of well-intentioned misattribution. Similarly, Haswell's quote, which loosely links Maskelyne and Barkas with the fake oil installation at Dover, appears to be of little use to our enquiry. Most sources credit Basil Spence as the architect of this scheme. The evidence for Maskelyne's involvement in the Normandy deception plan , either at a strategic or tactical level, is far flimsier than that for Alamein I am pessimistic that any usable material can be found. I honestly wish there were confirmatory material on Maskelyne's involvement in the elaborate Normandy deception operation but on the evidence before me I strongly doubt that Jasper Maskelyne had a significant role in this operation. Fisher's "The War Magician", which concludes with the battle of El Alamein in late 1942, makes no mention in its epilogue of any involvement by Maskelyne in the D-Day landings. Does "Magic-Top Secret" provide any valid clues as to Maskelyne's whereabouts in 1944? "Magic-Top Secret" indicates that Jasper Maskelyne was still in India when preparations were begun for Dunkirk and that , like many others , he did not know where the invasion would be launched. For example, there was a rumour it would be via Norway. Although Maskelyne or the ghost writer might not have realised it at the time of writing, this rumour seems to reflect the Allied deception plan code-named Fortitude North — threatening Hitler via Scandinavia — which was deliberately planted by British Intelligence. Maskelyne's group was supposedly asked to develop possible solutions to problems that would face the invasion force , e.g., how to overcome barbed wires on beaches. The impression is given in "Magic-Top Secret" that it was the Mechanical Experimental wing in England that developed the new range of military weapons used in the Normandy landings and that Maskelyne was not directly involved. _____________________________________________________________________ At a special reception in Delhi, Maskelyne allegedly met Mountbatten and was introduced indiscreetly as "This is Jasper Maskelyne ...in charge of all the camouflage and illusion inventions we're using..." This extract from "Magic-Top Secret" is also repeated in the epilogue of Fisher's account. Was this encounter with Mountbatten authentic? (Later on in the campaign "Magic-Top Secret" states that he received a thank-you letter from Mountbatten for the magic shows he arranged for the troops, which is plausible.) Michael Howard's official history of strategic deception states that Mountbatten took command in September 1943. In March 1944 Mountbatten consolidated the deception teams and renamed them 'D' division. They were mainly based in Delhi, but some were transferred to his new HQ in Ceylon. "Magic-Top Secret" mentions that Maskelyne was in Delhi, even put on a magic show there, and enjoyed socialising at a particular officers ' club and mixing with British agents. Again, there are no hard dates, but "Magic-Top Secret" continues with Jasper Maskelyne's involvement in preparations to drive the Japanese out of Burma , Siam, and Malaya. ___________________________________________________________________________ Hoping to disentangle fact from fiction, I asked Alistair Maskelyne the following questions: When was his father posted to India and how long did he stay there? Was the encounter with Mountbatten authentic? Was his father still in India during the build-up to D-Day in the spring and early summer of 1944 ? Did his father remain in the Indian/Burmese region throughout 1944 and even through to 1945 and the end of the war ? Or was Jasper recalled to the European theatre? Does he have any information regarding his father's involvement in D-Day? Does he recall his father's involvement in constructing the dummy army / airforce / landing craft in the south-east of England in the spring of 1944 ? Here then is an edited version of Alistair Maskelyne's response (20th April 1994) : As you may recall from the earlier articles, Jasper Maskelyne's wife, Evelyn and the two children, Alistair and Jasmine, travelled to New Zealand in 1940 and stayed overseas for three years. When Alistair's mother became ill , they returned in 1943 to England and rented a house in Kensington. Evelyn's condition had now been diagnosed as cancer and she was receiving radium treatment at a London hospital. Meantime, Alistair studied for his marine licence which he crammed into one year's study. After qualifying, he was given a position with the New Zealand shipping company. His first voyage, when he was only 17, took him from Liverpool to New York where his ship was supposed to pick up munitions. In fact, it was diverted to Nova Scotia and, instead of collecting munitions , ended up carrying oil and a huge consignment of bacon! Alistair recounted this trip in some detail, as a memory aid to his father's movements. The ship then returned via Scotland. The following are direct quotations from Alistair's letter: "It was in Oban (Scotland) that we first heard of the invasion." "I can say for certain that at the time of the invasion he (my father) was still located in Italy." "Towards the end of 1944 he must have been transferred to India. I am quite sure he also visited Burma and I am sure that the Mountbatten meeting did take place. In such a job and a place, he would definitely have been a curiosity worthy of attention by such a person." "The level of correspondence from my father was certainly maintained after the African campaign, but with no letters extant, plus my own involvement at sea, it is not possible for me to give dates or places with any accuracy. I recall Bari as being a location in Italy figuring largely in letters to my mother. New Delhi was his chief location in India, and he certainly did not go there before "D" day. "His whole time in the far east cannot have occupied more than eleven or twelve months. I think the thankyou letter from Mountbatten is correct: I believe I have seen it, maybe in his albums. To the best of my imprecise memory, he must have gone to India after D Day." (This claim that Jasper was posted to India later in 1944 is quite possible. Michael Howard's official history states : "In October 1944 a special unit was created, 'D' Force, consisting of eight companies equipped with sonic and pyrotechnic apparatus to provide deception in the field." Howard also records that the victories in Burma against the Japanese Army in February and March 1945 involved successful deception operations such as false troop landings and sonic diversions. ) "Despite being in the European theatre during the invasion I am quite certain he had no part in it. As I have related my own part was confined to drinking scottish beer. I am sure he was still in Italy then. There is also some vague recollection I have of his being in some way concerned with the Yugoslav partisans. This , however, was rather hush-hush, and strictly to do with the supply of items such as plastic bombs and radios all of which could well have been managed from Bari." So it appears that Jasper Maskelyne was not directly involved in the deception and camouflage plans for D-Day. Contrary to the quotations that open this month's article, there is no hard evidence at all that he was involved in the creation of the fake Allied forces in south east England in 1944. Surely, if Jasper Maskelyne had been involved , he would have mentioned something to his son, Alistair. It was after all one of the great episodes of the war and people's recollections of that period would still be strong. As for Jasper's whereabouts at the time of D-Day , Alistair believes that his father was still in the Italian theatre but "Magic-Top Secret" places him already in India. As Alistair Maskelyne notes, it would be useful to study the ' diaries' directly. These could help clear up the questions of dates and locations. Finally, let me suggest an alternative possibility : assuming Alistair's chronology is correct, Jasper Maskelyne might well have participated in plan Zeppelin, one of several components of Bodyguard. Its aim was to pin down German forces in the Mediterranean by concocting phantom invasion forces and planning diversionary raids. For example, in Tobruk, fake camps and fake airfields were constructed , and dummy planes and landing craft were assembled to simulate an invasion force that could threaten either occupied Greece or the Balkans. After the D-Day landings, 'A' Force also implemented Operation 'Ferdinand'. American and French forces were to go ashore in southern France in mid-August. To mask this genuine operation, the Allies would pretend to concentrate their activities on the Italian front. Admittedly, there is no firm evidence of Maskelyne's specific involvement , but I think it is worth emphasising that camouflage and deception experts such as Maskelyne were still being usefully employed in the Mediterranean area , even after D-Day.
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