Overview 1943 - 1944 BIGOT BRITISH — MOST SECRET U.S. — SECRET Copy No. _______1 OVERLORD COVER PLAN1 Document BIGOT G-3 1 Document Document 2 Document Document 2 Document overlord cover plan Overview An admirer of strategic deception, convincing him that the real invasion Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston was just a diversion for a larger Churchill established the London imminent invasion. Controlling Section (LCS) in mid-1942. To achieve this, Bodyguard This was a secret bureau that met within proposed a war plan that was just close Churchill’s underground Cabinet War enough to the truth to seem credible to Rooms to plan stratagem against Hitler’s Hitler, but would mislead him completely Nazi regime. As Chief of the LCS in July, about the time, place, and force of the 1943, Colonel John Bevan submitted invasion. Therefore, Bodyguard created “Plan Jael,” the overall deception policy no less than 36 subordinate deception for the Overlord invasion. plans with peculiar names to keep the Plan Jael, named after a woman in Nazi forces spread out and guessing the Old Testament who committed acts of where and when the Allies would invade treachery, contained five main spheres of western Europe. For example, Operation secret activity: offensive intelligence, Ironside presented the threat of an counter-intelligence and security, special assault at Bordeaux, France, while operations, political warfare, and Operation Vendetta threatened the deception. After many revisions and region of Marseilles, France, and names, Jael became “Bodyguard” and Operation Ferdinand kept Nazi troops was presented to General Eisenhower occupied in the Genoa region of Italy. when he reported to duty as the Supreme Operation Fortitude was a major Allied Commander in January, 1944. piece of Bodyguard and it was also The codename “Bodyguard” was divided into two sub-plans, Fortitude chosen due to the following quote said by North and Fortitude South. Winston Churchill to Joseph Stalin in The objective of Fortitude North 1943: “In wartime, truth is so precious was to convince Hitler to keep the 27 that she should always be attended by a divisions he had stationed in Norway, bodyguard of lies.” Denmark, and Finland in place until the Bodyguard was the overall Allies invaded Normandy. This was to be strategy for a number of cover and accomplished through threats of an deception operations intended to mislead Allied invasion from Scotland. the enemy and protect the Overlord S i m i l a r ly, t h e o b j e c t i v e o f invasion. It had two objectives: Fortitude South was to convince Hitler to First, Bodyguard operations would keep his 15th Army at Pas de Calais need to convince Hitler to disperse his before, during, and after the Allies forces so that they would not be invaded at Normandy. This was to be concentrated in the real invasion area, accomplished by presenting Hitler with the beaches of Normandy, France. the threat of an Allied invasion from the Secondly, Hitler’s response to the Dover, England area. invasion needed to be delayed by .