Operation Skye
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Operation Skye was a deception plan carried out by the Allies during World War II, in which fake wireless traffic was created in order to give the appearance of units that threatened an invasion of Norway from Britain. It was a subplan of Operation Fortitude, a wider deception plan designed to mask the Allied intention to invade Normandy (Operation Overlord).
Operation Fortitude North created a fictional British Fourth Army in Scotland, with its headquarters in Edinburgh Castle. Skye was the radio deception component of Fortitude North. Radio operators would pass fake radio messages among themselves, simulating the radio traffic that would be created by the real unit, expecting that the enemy would intercept the transmissions. Skye I was Fourth Army headquarters, Skye II was the fictional British II Corps, Skye III was the genuine American XV Corps stationed in Northern Ireland (but with fictional units added to its order of battle), Skye IV was the fictional British VII Corps.
The wireless programme began on 22nd March 1944 and was fully operational by 6th April. The British media cooperated with this effort by broadcasting fake football scores and even wedding announcements for nonexistent troops.
In his book, based on his report of the D-Day deception operations, Roger Hesketh concluded that "No evidence has so far been found to show that wireless deception or visual misdirection made any contribution to Fortitude North"[1]. It is thought that the Germans were not in fact monitoring the radio traffic being simulated.
[edit] Sources
- Roger Hesketh, Fortitude, Muze, ISBN 1-58567-075-8
- ^ Hesketh, p167
