OwlFancier posted:

Didn't they drop off a dead homeless guy dressed up as a british officer with papers saying "we're definitely going to attack calais" specifically to make him think that?

quote:

Operation FORTITUDE

In January 1944 the Germans told Pujol that they believed that the Allies were preparing for a large-scale invasion of Europe and that they looked to him to keep them informed of developments. This prepared the way for what was to be GARBO's greatest coup.

The German High Command's assessment of the Allies' intentions was correct. Under the codename OVERLORD, British and American plans for an invasion of Occupied Europe were indeed under way. What the Germans did not know, however, was that part of the plan involved a massive piece of deception - in the form of Operation FORTITUDE, in which GARBO was to play a leading role.

Between January 1944 and D-Day over 500 radio messages (four transmissions a day) passed between GARBO and Madrid who in turn re-transmitted them direct to Berlin. The reports, which came from all parts of the GARBO network, disguised the status of the OVERLORD preparations, but also served another important purpose.

During the early invasion planning stages it was decided that if the landings were to be given the best chance of success the German High Command would need to be misled over where precisely they would take place. Once the actual point of attack - the Normandy beaches - was decided upon, the next move was to persuade the Germans that the invasion force would actually land much further to the north, in the area of the Pas de Calais (which Hitler had thought was the most likely arrival point all along).

What is more, the Allied planners believed that this fiction could be maintained even after the landings had taken place. GARBO's agents would report authoritatively that the Normandy landings were no more than a ruse and that the main attack was still to come in the Pas de Calais.

To support this objective the Security Service agents and their case officers were carefully primed to convey information, often in mere snippets, all designed to point in one direction. Like an elaborate jigsaw puzzle, each piece would contribute to a picture, the full significance of which was only confirmed when it was complete.

At the heart of the deception plan was an entire "ghost" army, the First US Army Group (FUSAG). This supposedly comprised 11 non-existent divisions (150,000 men) under the command of General George S. Patton, renowned as one of the Allies' best tank commanders. The FUSAG was seemingly poised in Kent and Essex ready to join the invasion - well away from the real invasion force massing to the west. Other Security Service agents were used to substantiate the deception plan. They were so successful that German Intelligence, and, more importantly, the German High Command believed the false story completely.

To encourage them into believing that the Normandy landings were a mere diversion and that the main thrust was still to come in the Calais area, it was arranged that on 5 June GARBO would warn them to stand by for an urgent message at 03:00 on 6 June (the day of the landings). At this point he would report from an "agent" he had acquired in an assembly camp in Southampton that things were on the move, troops were being issued with embarkation kit, including vomit bags, and all signs were that the invasion force was about to leave for France.

Unaccountably, however, the German radio operator failed to keep the scheduled appointment on air. The full significance of the missed message dawned on German Intelligence the day after the invasion, earning GARBO additional credit for reliability. To rub salt in the wound, GARBO told his German contacts of his disgust at not being heard on air the previous day: "I cannot accept excuses or negligence. Were it not for my ideals I would abandon the work".

On June 9, D-Day +3, GARBO sent perhaps his most important message of all. It was very long and reported a meeting that he had had with his agents that day. GARBO asked that it be conveyed urgently to the German High Command. Pointing out that the First US Army Group under Patton had not yet moved from South East England, GARBO reported authoritatively that the purpose of the "diversionary" Normandy landings was to help ensure the success of the forthcoming assault on the Pas de Calais.

The Germans accepted this claim, the culmination of Operation FORTITUDE, as accurate. It deceived them so completely that throughout July and August, they kept two armoured divisions and 19 infantry divisions in the Pas de Calais in anticipation of an invasion. This gave the Allies precious time to establish their bridgehead.

The German Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, was one of those taken in, even to the extent of overruling a proposal from General Erwin Rommel that his divisions should move from the Pas de Calais to assist the defence in Normandy. As the Official History of British Intelligence in WW2 comments, their "intervention in the Normandy battle really might have tipped the balance".

Ironically, GARBO's reputation among the Germans was enhanced by the whole D-Day affair. On 29 July 1944 he was informed that he had been awarded the Iron Cross by the Führer himself, for his "extraordinary services" to Germany. By return message Pujol and Harris expressed GARBO's "humble thanks" for such an honour, for which he was truly "unworthy".

Fatty Crabcakes posted:

Along with the greatest double-agent ever

Lemniscate Blue posted:

Wrong campaign. Mincemeat was a misdirection away from the invasion of Sicily, and it was absolutely batshit crazy at every step. This book tells the tale in all its mad glory.

SavageMessiah posted:

I picked up that book on a whim from a used book store a year or so ago, it's great. The best part about it is that it mainly works because the body fell into the hands (by design) of a nazi intelligence golden boy who was taken very seriously but was a credulous idiot who would believe pretty much anything. Also the fact that Hitler's favorite analyst was secretly an anti-nazi and had been fudging intelligence for ages (and then was executed in the round up following von Stauffenberg's bomb).

Doc Hawkins posted:

tbf, how long did it take for us to notice Hillary's thoughts on having house slaves in her book?

BrigadierSensible posted:

Forgive me if I am missing a joke here.

But what did she say about house slaves? Coz I would imagine the Republicans using that to attack her instead of "She's a woman! BOO Something something emails! BOO" etc.

Anora posted:

https://twitter.com/TheSun/status/1295144074803126272

Why do I think the thing they're most offended by is the free lawyer?

BrigadierSensible posted:

Forgive me if I am missing a joke here.

But what did she say about house slaves? Coz I would imagine the Republicans using that to attack her instead of "She's a woman! BOO Something something emails! BOO" etc.

ultrafilter posted:

ultrafilter posted:

Inceltown posted:

What did he actually do to get cancelled?

Inceltown posted:

What did he actually do to get cancelled?

Edgar Allen Ho posted:

Misogynist rant about Dolly Parton bc she expressed support for BLM

Skwirl posted:

If you don't have money to pay for it do you not get legal representation in the UK when accused of a serious crime?

Edgar Allen Ho posted:

Misogynist rant about Dolly Parton bc she expressed support for BLM

hawowanlawow posted:

well they did just find him in a bar in Georgia

how did he not know they were making fun of him all these years?

well I guess I answered my own question

ultrafilter posted:

Parakeet vs. Phone posted:

Somebody screencapped the posts. It's not great.

https://twitter.com/brutalcountry/status/1294114031968694277

Parakeet vs. Phone posted:

So, it's weird to me because from what I'd read in the past, he played the Unknown Hinson character for a while before the show. It was basically just Early in a different form, a violent, creepy, misogynist Southern Pride idiot. He did local access shows and did song parodies that I actually thought were kind of catchy and funny, even if at least one didn't age great. They were over the top stupid and misogynistic to poke fun at a really dumb subset of country music and that was supposed to be the joke...or so I thought.

I'm wondering if it was another case of using irony as an outlet for the real thing, or some "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be" poo poo.

Dewgy posted:

Not sure but that article’s about Pennsylvania despite being from the Sun.

ultrafilter posted:

Zesty posted:

edit: Oh sorry, someone already got it. This will save a click into twitter for anyone who skipped it.

This guy.

Zesty posted:

TheMostFrench posted:

Headline: "Working from home might change the way cities work, and how people live."
Most people: "Sounds good"
One guy, with no elaboration: "Agenda 21"

luxury handset posted:

the idea is that the UN is going to ban suburbs or something.

Anora posted:

https://twitter.com/TheSun/status/1295144074803126272

Why do I think the thing they're most offended by is the free lawyer?

IncredibleIgloo posted:

Can someone help me find an older tweet? I don't remember who it was, but it was someone (perhaps D list celebrity/pundit) arguing some weird sexist point thing and they basically say that they have never seen a woman turned on, or have an orgasm, or some other such, that the backlash was so swift because the nature of the tweet would imply that the person tweeting is terrible with women/sex? Sorry for the vague description.