| United States Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Junior (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) Patton was made a prominent figure in the deception scheme Operation Fortitude during the 1st half of 1944. Through the British network of double-agents, the Allies fed German intelligence a steady stream of false reports about troops sightings and that Patton had been named commander of the 1st United States Army Group (FUSAG), all designed to convince the Germans that Patton was preparing this massive command for an invasion at Pas de Calais. FUSAG was in reality an intricately constructed fictitious army of decoys, props, and fake radio signal traffic based around Dover to mislead German reconnaissance planes and to make Axis leaders believe that a large force was massing there. This helped to mask the real location of the invasion in Normandy. Patton was ordered to keep a low profile to deceive the Germans into thinking that he was in Dover throughout early 1944, when he was actually training the 3rd Army. As a result of Operation Fortitude, the German 15th Army remained at the Pas de Calais to defend against Patton’s supposed attack. So strong was their conviction that this was the main landing area that the German army held its position there even after the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, believing it to be a diversionary force. Patton flew to France a month later, and then returned to combat command. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1785.jpg |
| Image Size | 144.33 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 945 x 1200 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 22, 1944 |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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