Secret Soldiers: How the U.S. Twenty-Third Special Troops Fooled the Nazis

Paul B. Janeczko's 'Secret Soldiers' unveils the fascinating, little-known history of the U.S. Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops, also called the 'Ghost Army,' during World War II. This 304-page chapter book details how a unique unit comprised of artists, camouflage experts, sound engineers, and set designers used their creative talents to stage elaborate deceptions. They employed inflatable tanks, sonic effects, and pyrotechnics to mimic larger fighting forces, fooling the Nazi army in over twenty operations across Europe, from Normandy to the Rhine. It's a compelling narrative for middle-grade readers interested in military history, strategy, and the unexpected ways creativity can impact major world events.

What do set design, sound effects, and showmanship have to do with winning World War II? Meet the Ghost Army that played a surprising role in helping to deceive — and defeat — the Nazis. In his third book about deception during war, Paul B. Janeczko focuses his lens on World War II and the operations carried out by the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops, aka the Ghost Army. This remarkable unit included actors, camouflage experts, sound engineers, painters, and set designers who used their skills to secretly and systematically replace fighting units — fooling the Nazi army into believing what their eyes and ears told them, even though the sights and sounds of tanks and war machines and troops were entirely fabricated. Follow the Twenty-Third into Europe as they play a dangerous game of enticing the German army into making battlefield mistakes by using sonic deceptions, inflatable tanks, pyrotechnics, and camouflage in more than twenty operations. From the Normandy invasion to the crossing of the Rhine River, the men of the Ghost Army — several of whom went on to become famous artists and designers after the war — played an improbable role in the Allied victory.