The year was 1944. After the D-Day invasion, thousands of dead bodies littered the picturesque French coastline. It was said that the sea turned red. D-Day was an American victory—a turning point in World War II that allowed the allies to gain a foothold in Nazi-occupied France.

The horrors of war naturally spooked the nation. Shortly thereafter, German soldiers and Frenchmen observed peculiar, almost otherworldly, things.

WWII illustrations by Ghost Army veterans (The Ghost Army/PBS)

Following the haunting sounds of what appeared to be American soldiers clamoring in the dark forests, Nazi soldiers stumbled upon areas where freshly-made bonfires burned brightly. But not a soul was in sight. Not a single American troop.

And Frenchmen observed what can only be described as impossible—American soldiers—in a group of four—effortlessly carrying a 40 ton tank on their backs.

The Ghost Army

The Germans even had a word for these unexplainable incidents: They called it the “Phantom Army.”

But the Phantom Army wasn’t a hallucination. Nor was it ghosts. It was a ragtag group of American hipsters straight out of a Quentin Tarantino film.

The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops—or the Ghost Army as they were called—was an undercover unit of the American army that remained a top secret until 1996.

Official Ghost Army patch, which was never worn in public (National Archives)

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

The men of the Ghost Army weren’t recruited for their fighting skills or physical prowess. They were not the strongest men of the bunch. They didn’t even use weapons.

Instead, they were handpicked for their creativity. They were artists and actors. Designers and musicians. But why bring such a group of characters into the battlefield?

Their purpose? To trick Hitler’s troops with Hollywood theatrics.

And it worked. Comprised of just a little over 1,000 men, the Ghost Army (which reportedly was the invention of movie star Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) saved thousands of Americans lives with their illusions.

The Rubber Army

Ghost Army loudspeakers (The Ghost Army/PBS)

Their technique was quite literally trolling. Audio engineers would blast the sounds of troops from giant boomboxes, baiting the Germans to investigate the noise.

When the Germans arrived, they found nothing. You can imagine how this can mess with someone’s mind. Meanwhile, the “real” army, would be miles away, undisturbed.

And much like the Trojan Horse, they build life-size inflatable tanks and airplanes.

Inflatable Ghost Army tanks (The Ghost Army/PBS)

“We were told we were going to be using inflatable equipment to try and fool the Germans into thinking that we were a real army, when we were in effect, I suppose, a rubber army,” solider Jack Masey described in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Sometimes the Germans surrendered to what they thought was an army of 30,000 men, according to WWII author Jack Kneece.

Inebriated Soldiers

Part of the job involved Oscar-worthy performances. On official assignment, the soldiers were instructed to hang-out at French pubs and “get loose,” as one soldier described.

It was in the taverns where they would masquerade as the rowdy American drunkard—picking up girls, loudly bragging of “promotions,” and “drinking” their sorrows away until they “got out of control.”

German spies, eagerly listening to their conversations, would hear those American soldiers carelessly reveal vital “military plans.”

Drinking at cafes (The Ghost Army/PBS)

But it was all an act. The plans were fraudulent.

Though this peculiar band of ghostly brothers were kept a secret for many years, their names didn’t disappear from the history books. After the war, many became famed artists in their own right.

Veteran Bill Blass launched a multimillion dollar fashion company. And Art Kane captured some of the most famous photographs of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and the Who.