User:ErrantX/Sandbox/List of Allied fictional units during World War II

During the Second World War the Allied nations created a number of fictional army units, usually as part of a military deception. Most notable were those used in Operation Cascade (Dudley Clarke's 1943 order of battle deception aimed at inflating the size of Allied forces in North Africa) and in Operation Bodyguard (the strategic cover deception for the 1944 Normandy invasion).^[1]

The created formations ranged in size from battalion to field army and were faked using documents, photographs, double agents, news reportage and physical subterfuge. Some of the units were either based on existing decommissioned formations (usually World War I formations) or created afresh. Many were used multiple times, Clarke in particular believed that reusing units in the long term would help establish their existence in the mind of the enemy.^[1]

US Formations

The most notable fictional US formation was the 1st US Army Group (FUSAG); this field army was originally intended as the main invasion force for the Invasion of Normandy, however that was renamed to the 12th Army Group. FUSAG remained in existence on paper and was used during Fortitude South to divert Axis attention to the Pas de Calais area.^[2]

Field armies and army groups

Formation	Dates	Insignia	Subordinates	Operations	Description
1st US Army Group (FUSAG)	1943 – October 1944		First Canadian Army Third US Army Ninth US Army Fourteenth US Army British Fourth Army First Allied Airborne Army (August 1944–)	Fortitude South	Created for the planning of the invasion of Normandy the FUSAG later became redundant and was used to mislead Axis that the Allies intended a major invasion at Pas de Calais. Later utilised to threaten airborne landings in September 1944.
2nd US Army Group (SUSAG)	1943–1944				Originally intended to take the role of the FUSAG, but when the latter's job was taken over by the 12th Army Group the formation became redundant.
Twelfth Army					Activated as part of SHAEF, never used.
Fourteenth Army	May 1944 – October 1944		XXXIII Corps XXXVII Corps 9th Airborne Division 21st Airborne Division	Fortitude South	A subordinate of FUSAG, supposedly landed in Liverpool and stationed in Little Waltham, Essex. Moved from FUSAG to SHAEF later in the year; double agents reported to the German's that it was largely comprised of US convicts.

Corps

Formation	Dates	Insignia	Subordinates	Operations	Description
IX Amphibious Corps	1944		108th Infantry Division 119th Infantry Division 130th Infantry Division 141st Infantry Division 157th Infantry Division	Wedlock	The notional amphibious component of the Ninth Fleet. Used to convey to the Japanese that the United States planned to attack the Kuriles rather than the Marianas.[2]
XXX Corps				Fortitude South	Activated as part of SHAEF, never used.[2]
XXXI Corps	1944		91st Infantry Division French 1st Armored Division Algerian 7th Infantry Division Algerian 8th Infantry Division British 42nd Infantry Division (Vendetta)	Vendetta Ferdinand
XXXIII Corps	1944		11th Infantry Division 48th Infantry Division 25th Armored Division	Fortitude South
XXXV Airborne Corps	1945		11th Airborne Division 18th Airborne Division	Pastel Two	Notional airborne component to Operation Olympic, was to have been depicted arriving in Okinawa during August and September of 1945 before landing on Kyūshū the day before the invasion.[2][3]
XXXVII Corps	1944		17th Infantry Division 59th Infantry Division	Fortitude South
XXXVIII Corps				Fortitude South	Activated as part of SHAEF, never used.[2]
XXXIX Corps				Fortitude South	Activated as part of SHAEF, never used.[2]

Divisions

Formation	Dates	Insignia	Subordinates	Operations	Description
6th Airborne Division	May - July 1944		517th Regimental Combat Team 460th Field Artillery Battalion 550th Airborne Battalion	Vendetta
9th Airborne Division	June - November 1944		523rd Parachute Infantry Regiment 196th Glider Infantry Regiment 199th Glider Infantry Regiment	Fortitude South
11th Infantry Division	? - October 1944		178th Infantry Regiment 352nd Infantry Regiment 392nd Infantry Regiment	Fortitude South
14th Infantry Division					Activated as part of SHAEF, never used.
17th Infantry Division	June - October 1944		293rd Infantry Regiment 336th Infantry Regiment 375th Infantry Regiment	Fortitude South
18th Airborne Division			566th Parachute Infantry Regiment 567th Gilder Infantry Regiment 570th Gilder Infantry Regiment	Dervish Pastel Two
21st Airborne Division	June - November 1944		521st Parachute Infantry Regiment 277th Glider Infantry Regiment 278th Glider Infantry Regiment	Fortitude South
22nd Infantry Division
48th Infantry Division	June - December 1944		80th Infantry Regiment 95th Infantry Regiment 146th Infantry Regiment	Fortitude South
50th Infantry Division
55th Infantry Division	October 1943 - March 1945		78th Infantry Regiment 83rd Infantry Regiment 96th Infantry Regiment	Fortitude North
59th Infantry Division			94th Infantry Regiment 139th Infantry Regiment 171st Infantry Regiment	Fortitude South
15th Armoured Division					Activated as part of SHAEF, never used.
25th Armored Division			72nd Tank Battalion 73rd Tank Battalion 74th Tank Battalion 498th Armored Infantry Battalion 499th Armored Infantry Battalion 500th Armored Infantry Battalion	Fortitude South
39th Armoured Division					Activated as part of SHAEF, never used.
119th Infantry Division			488th Infantry Regiment 489th Infantry Regiment 491st Infantry Regiment 639th Field Artillery Battalion 640th Field Artillery Battalion 641st Field Artillery Battalion 649th Field Artillery Battalion	Wedlock
130th Infantry Division			492nd Infantry Regiment 493rd Infantry Regiment 494th Infantry Regiment 642nd Field Artillery Battalion 643rd Field Artillery Battalion 644th Field Artillery Battalion 650th Field Artillery Battalion	Wedlock
135th Airborne Division			551st Parachute Infantry Regiment 524th Glider Infantry Regiment 525th Glider Infantry Regiment
141th Infantry Division			495th Infantry Regiment 496th Infantry Regiment 497th Infantry Regiment 645th Field Artillery Battalion 646th Field Artillery Battalion 647th Field Artillery Battalion 651st Field Artillery Battalion	Wedlock
157th Infantry Division			557th Infantry Regiment 558th Infantry Regiment 565th Infantry Regiment 944th Field Artillery Battalion 946th Field Artillery Battalion 952rd Field Artillery Battalion 956th Field Artillery Battalion	Wedlock

Naval formations

Formation	Dates	Operations	Description
Ninth Fleet	1944	Wedlock[4]
Task Force 23	November 1942	Hotstuff	Radio deception formation acting as a deception to cover the real Task Force 34.[4]
Task Force 69	1943	Wadham	Created, under Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk, as a fictional convoy to carry the US VII Corps from the United States to France in 1943.[4]

British formations

British deception formations during the war largely fell into two camps. Firstly as part of Operation Fortitude, and its predecessors, on the Western front. But also those created by Dudley Clarke in the Middle East. In 1943 Clarke instituded a major order of battle deception, Operation Cascade, in which he created a pool of fictional units. The intention was to provide consistency in later deceptions (reusing the same units to convince the Germans of their existence) and to increase the apparent size of Allied forces in the area. It was a successful endeavour, and by the end of the war almost all of Clarke's units were accepted by the Axis as real.

Field armies and army groups

Formation	Dates	Insignia	Subordinates	Operations	Description
Fourth Army	September 1943 – February 1945		British II Corps (Fortitude North & South) British VII Corps XXI Corps (Cockade) United States XV Corps (Fortitude North) British 2nd Airborne Division (Fortitude South)	Cockade & Tindall Fortitude (North & South) Trolleycar	Existed in a number of compositions during the war. First established in Endinburgh for Operation Cockade (a threat to Norway) and later used for the same purpose during Fortitude North. Later formed part of FUSAG; based first in Sussex for Fortitude South II and then in Colchester for later FUSAG deceptions. Finally moved to Yorkshire in December 1944 as a fictional threat to Holland (Operation Trolleycar). Disbanded in February of the following year.[5][6]
Sixth Army	1943–1945		British II Corps (Cockade)[7]		Formed in London in 1943, making out Eastern Command to be a full Field Army. Never really used, but the Axis believed in its existence until the end of the war.[6][7]
Twelfth Army	1943–1945		British III Corps British XIV Corps British XVI Corps Polish III Corps	Cascade Husky Fang	Formed as part of Clarke's 1943 Operation Cascade, to represent a standing army threatening the Balkan region, first around "Force 545" and later Air Defence Headquarters (Egypt). Also took part in Operation Husky. In 1945 it was nominally moved to Burma ready for D-Division's Operation Fang, however a real Twelfth Army was created soon after so it was never used in this way.[6]

Corps

Formation	Dates	Insignia	Subordinates	Operations	Description
II Corps
III Corps	May 1943 - 1945		34th Division 5th Airborne Division	Cascade Boardman Fairlands	Originally a real Corps, evacuated at Dunkirk. It was reactivated in Iran in 1943, as part of the Twelfth Army, and used in various operations to threaten. Became HQ Land Forces in Greece, 1944.[8]
VII Corps	? - January 1945		52nd (Lowland) Division (North) US 55th Division (North) 61st Division (South) 80th Division (South) 5th Armored Division (South)	Fortitude (North & South II)	Activated as part of Fortitude North, based in Dundee, it had previously been a real corps, formed to resist any invasion of Britain in late 1940. As with many other Fortitude North units, the VII Corps were moved to take part in Fortitude South II. Based in Kent with a different contingent of divisions (the 61st was a real formation, but understaffed).[8]
XIV Corps	December 1943 - ?		40th Division 42nd Division 57th Division 5th Airborne (Zeppelin)	Cascade Oakfield Zeppelin	Activated 1943, in support of a deception plan for landings at Anzio, Italy (Operation Oakfield) - under the auspices of Cascade. Moved around the Mediterranean over the next two years. In 1945 was notionally based in Italy, training for mountain warfare in the Alps.[8]
XVI Corps	Novermber 1943 - ?		8th Armored Division 15th Motorised Division 34th Division	Fairlands	Assigned to the Twelfth Army in Egypt, intended to represent a threat to Cephalonia and Zante.[8]
XVIII Corps	1941 - ?			Cyprus Defence Plan	Activated in Cyprus 1941, later became the XXV Corps as part of Cascade.[8]
XIX Corps	Autumn 1944 - December 1944		2nd Airborne Division 6th Airborne Division		Formed in Salisbury, late 1944, as part of the First Allied Airborne Army. Disbanded in December under the story that it had been merely administrative in nature.[8]
XXI Corps				Tindall	A member of the British Fourth Army during Tindall.[8]
XXV Indian Corps			7th Division, later 7th Mixed Division 50th Division (Cyprus Defence Plan) 1st Indian Division (Cascade)	Cyprus Defence Plan Cascade Wantage	Formed in 1941 as part of early deceptions centered on Cyprus. It was later absorbed into the Cascade and Wantage deceptions.[8]
XXVI Airborne Corps

Divisions

Brigades

Formation	Dates	Insignia	Operations	Description
1st SAS Brigade	January 1941 - 1945		Abeam Cascade Zeppelin Barclay	One of the first fictional units created by Dudley Clarke to play on Italian fears of Allied Airborne troops in Northern Africa.[9] Clarke chose the name Advanced Headquarters 'A' Force for his deception department to build the 1st SAS story. The formation became part of Operation Cascade in 1942, and joined the (also fictional) 4th Airborne Division in March 1943.[10][11]
10th Armoured Brigade	1942		Cascade	Based in Cyprus.[11]
27th Armoured Brigade	October 1944		Inclination	Created for Operation Inclination, a 1944 R Force radio deception in Belgium.[11][12]
33rd Armoured Brigade				[11]
42nd Tank Brigade				[11]
7th Air Landing Brigade				[11]
103rd Special Service Brigade				[11]
140th Special Service (Commando) Brigade				[11]

References

1. Holt (2004)
2. Holt (2004), pg. 897–912
3. Huber (1988). p. 7 & 8. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. Holt (2004), pg. 911
5. Hesketh (1999)
6. Holt (2004), pg. 912–913
7. Harris (2000). p. 139. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. Holt (2004), pg. 913–915
9. Holt (2004), pg. 22–23
10. Rankin (2008), pg. 279–280
11. Holt (2004), pg. 924–925
12. Holt (2004), pg. 824

Bibliography

• Hesketh, Roger (1999). Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign. St Ermins Press. ISBN 0-316-85172-8.
• Harris, Tomás (2000). Garbo: The Spy Who Saved D-Day. Public Record Office. ISBN 1-873162-81-2.
• Holt, Thaddeus (2004). The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War. Scribner. ISBN 0-7432-5042-7.
• Huber, Dr Thomas M. (1988). PASTEL: Deception in the Invasion of Japan (PDF). Combat Studies Institute.
• Rankin, Nicholas (1 October 2008). Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception, 1914–1945. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-22195-5.

Category:Fictional units of World War II