The 'Ghost Army' of WWII

The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops Division , often referred to simply as the Ghost Army , was part of the Allies in the wake of their Normandy campaign in 1944 .

The Ghost Army was at 1100 strong unit which formed part of Allied fighting forces just like any other.

Members of the unit had been recruited from multiple creative professions and art schools, including artists and art students, architects, architects and artists.

The Ghost Army was a highly educated unit and was said to have one of the highest Iqs in the army at an average of 119 Iqs.

The unit made use of inflatable decoys which were expertly designed and which were practically impossible to distinguish from real life military hardware.

Sound effects were blown out on huge speakers weighing up to 220 kilograms each mounted on military half tracks to create a so powerful it could be heard up to 24 kilometres away.

Ghost Army went on to contribute to several landmark Allied successes of the Allied army.

The Ghost Army tricked the Germans into believing that two divisions and 40 2000 men were set to cross the Rhine River .

The 9th U.S. Army then crossed the river unopposed, doing so with only minimal casualties as well as successfully moving into Germany while losing only 36 men.