Trojan Horses: Deception Operations in the Second World War

by Martin Young, Robbie Stamp

Set in their historical context, this book is based on the reminiscences of the men and women who conspired to deceive and confound the enemy in the World War II. From dummy tanks in the deserts of North Africa to sophisticated disinformation tactics, the psychological infiltration is relived.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 1989

Reviews

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rubber tanks, lorries, jeeps, wooden soldiers and aircraft, fake airfields or pipelines. These things are only a small part of the large efforts made by the Allies to deceive the Germans, and Japanese, during World War Two.

This book tells the story of these efforts through the eyes of the people that were part of it. Or at least, the ones that were still around at the time of writing. (and willing to talk) What really stands out is that they did perform their duties, some of them really weird, without asking too many questions. There was a war going on and talk could cost lives. So you did what you were told, and could always try to find out yourself what this all was about. In one case it took years before partners suddenly realised that they were both part of the same effort, deceiving the German high command!

Some of the memories are quite funny, yet insightful, showing how far imagination and experimentation helped the Allied effort. Exploding rats, explosive camel dung, you name it and it has come up for further experimentation. One railway man saw himself confronted with a train load of tanks that would have been reckless to start moving around with the engine he had available for the trip. But hey, there's a war going on, so lets give it a try. The tanks turned out to be made of wood...

The stories range from the people that worked out the plans and ideas to the people that had to do the labor to get the inflatable parts together in order to add another dummy rubber tank to a fake army threatening the Pas de Calais. It is this range of experiences that make this book a very good read.

There are also some 'real' spy stories in these pages, adding to the overall view on the deception operations.

Obviously more details have come to light since this book was written, but I still think this is a good starting point to further explore the topic.

[COL(ret.) Frank J. Stech, PhD · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the more interesting histories of World War II deception operations. Young and Stamp interviewed surviving WWII British deception operators, from painters and plasterers who created fake weapons and installations, to the planners and operators who conducted the amazing ruses that fooled the German High Command. The devil is in the details, in deception operations, as in so many things, and these deception professionals were devilishly effective in fooling their opponent. The accounts are very readable, and Young and Stamp do a fine job setting the stage and providing the context that links these tales together. A clever publisher would do well to re-issue this book. It deserves to be a classic and should be on the shelves of all deception experts and scholars.