Editing Operation Fortitude (section)

==Background==
Fortitude was one of the major elements of [[Operation Bodyguard]], the overall Allied deception stratagem for the Normandy landings. Bodyguard's main objectives were to ensure that the Germans would not increase troop presence in Normandy and to do so by promoting the appearance that the Allies would attack in other locations. It consisted of a wide range of deceptions ranging across the European front, with Operation Fortitude representing the main effort to misdirect the ''[[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]]'' (German High Command) to believe in specific mainland invasion objectives.

The problem facing the Allies was that France was the most logical choice for an invasion into mainland Europe. Therefore, the Allied high command had only a small geographical area across which to mislead the German defences. Montgomery, commanding the Allied landing forces, knew that the crucial aspect of any invasion was the ability to enlarge a beachhead into a full front. He also had only 37 divisions at his command, compared to around 60 German formations. That meant that any deception would have to convince the German high command that the Allies were not committing their full forces into Normandy, but holding many of those formations in reserve.<ref name="LatimerFortitudeSouth"/> After the landings, there would then need to be some way to delay the movement of German reserves to the Normandy beachhead to prevent a potentially disastrous counterattack.<ref name=Jablonsky>Jablonsky 1991</ref><ref name=BrownPrologue>Brown 1975, pp. 1–10</ref>

Operation Fortitude focused on creating invasion threats from the United Kingdom into various parts of Western Europe. The plan was eventually split into two parts, North and South. Fortitude South focused on creating confusion about the Allied Channel crossing, and Fortitude North, staged out of Scotland, introduced a threat to [[German occupation of Norway|occupied Norway]].<ref name=Jablonsky/> Planning for Bodyguard overall came under the auspices of the [[London Controlling Section]] (LCS), a secret body that was set up to manage Allied deception strategy during the war. However, the execution of individual plans fell to the various [[theater (warfare)|theatre]] commanders. In the case of Fortitude, it was [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force]] (SHAEF), under General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and specifically [[21st Army Group]], the invasion force, under the command of General [[Bernard Montgomery]]. A special section, [[Ops (B)]], was established at SHAEF to handle Fortitude, and Montgomery formed [[R Force]] under his command to handle the tactical elements of deception.<ref group="note">The London Controlling Section retained central responsibility for the use of diplomatic channels and double agents.</ref><ref name=BrownPrologue/>

===Deception techniques===
[[File:Joan_pujol_garcia.jpg|thumb|Juan Pujol Garcia, or agent Garbo, was a key part of the Fortitude deception]]

The idea of creating fake formations as a method of deception had been pioneered in Cairo by [[Dudley Clarke]]'s [[Advanced Headquarters 'A' Force|'A' Force]] earlier in the war. Fortitude made heavy use of Clarke's techniques for inflating the size of an army and used a number of methodologies which had come to be referred to as "special means." They included combinations of physical deception, fake wireless (radio) activity, leaks through diplomatic channels or double agents and the usage of notable officers in fake formations.

One of the main deception channels for the Allies was the use of double agents. B1A, the Counter-Intelligence Division of [[MI5]], had done a good job in intercepting numerous German agents in Britain. Many of them were recruited as double agents under the [[Double Cross System]]. For Fortitude, the intelligence agencies made particular use of three agents:

* [[Juan Pujol García]] (Garbo), a Spanish citizen who volunteered to set himself up as a double agent. Garbo was a key agent for the Fortitude deception. His fictional network of 27 agents across Britain was an excellent way to create the impression of additional formations. He was so trusted he was awarded the [[Iron Cross]] (for his efforts on [[D-Day]], he was awarded an [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]]).
* [[Roman Czerniawski]] (Brutus), a Polish officer who ran an intelligence network for the Allies in occupied France. Captured by the Germans, he was offered a chance to work for them as a spy. On his arrival in Britain, he turned himself in to British intelligence.
* [[Dušan Popov]] (Tricycle), a Yugoslav lawyer, whose flamboyant lifestyle covered his intelligence activities.