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Operation Fortitude "Vehicles"


36-tex
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Has anyone ever seen any of these "vehicles" in person?

 

Does anyone own any of these?

 

Just curious as I sit here watching the History Channel.

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They always get it wrong.

 

The only decoy vehicles used in fortitude were the LCTs and some aircraft. The inflatable vehicles were NOT used for fortitude. No, none, didn't happen. They were being saved for tactical deception use later on.

 

Besides, there was no reason to- the Allies have rows and rows of vehicles in their stocks in the UK. Why they always show the same film is beyond me. It has NOTHIGN to do with Fortitude. The whole plan has been published and is easily available, but no one ever reads it.

 

And to answer your question- after a very wide search not one fragment of one was found anywhere. Nor plans. While they were rubber they would not have lasted all that long, but there is some evidence they were eventually used up in various training events, and with opfor units.

 

 

The producer of the Ghost Army has had one made up for display, but its not 100% accurate as it was made based upon educated guesses. So people may think they have seen one, but its that reproduction.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Never thought about it either way, but yeah, it doesn't make sense that they'd need to put fake tanks into a field in the UK, given how much real stuff was just sitting around anyway.

I'll take Jon's word on this any day of the week. He's done a LOT of research into the deception ops.

For years (not for a very long time, though), I kept hearing people saying they knew where one of these inflatable vehicles was, in a crate. I think it's just another form of the '$50 jeep in a crate story' that never actually happened to anyone.

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Some what on the subject, I have seen the WWII cast Alum paradummy. A friend of mine has it, he purchased it at a estate auction and was being used as a garden ornament.

 

Craig

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RustyCanteen

Boo, Hiss.

 

 

You have to admit that rubber tank would have owned when playing 'army' in the backyard!

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