How 'Ghost Army' helped foil the Nazis

One such example was the Ghost Army - a team of 1,100 artists and illustrators whose job was to fool the Nazis into believing U.S. Army units were operating in areas they were not, or to trick them into thinking massive Allied forces were gathering nearby.

To this day, many details of the team's role in the war following D-Day remain classified and are a closely guarded secret.

Handpicked from U.S art schools and advertising agencies, they constructed fake tanks, repainted existing vehicles and broadcast audio in order to mislead German forces.

Tank divisions were displayed often near the front-line, giving the enemy the impression they were operating in areas in which they actually had no presence.

The fake tanks, airplanes and vehicles were usually inflatables which could be erected within several hours and then given rudimentary camouflage to appear as through they had been poorly hidden.

Known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, they also used powerful speakers to broadcast the noise of a large gathering troop and radio equipment to transmit phony messages across the airwaves.

Audible up to 15miles away, the pre-recorded messages could be mixed and matched to create varying illusions.

In fact, many of those who served within the squad went on to forge successfull careers through Europe's art scene.

Notable members included Bill Blass, Ellsworth Kelly, Art Kane and Arthur Singer.

(dailymail.co.uk)