Operation Cascade was the codename for an Allied military deception operation during the Western Desert Campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

for North Africa. Operation Cascade was one of the first successful Allied deception operations in World War II, and provided valuable experience for later operations. In 1942, the British forces in the Mediterranean and Middle East were very weak. To deter the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

from attacking, a deception operation was planned. This operation was started by 'A' force under command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Dudley ClarkeHoward, pg 33 in 1941, and in 1942 eventually evolved into ''Operation Cascade''.Howard, pg 43 The goal of the operation was to create a false

order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the arme ...

in order to keep the Axis guessing as to the strength of the Allies in the region, by use of bogus troop formations, radio traffic and

double agents In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organ ...

Implementation

In 1941,

Advanced Headquarters 'A' Force Advanced Headquarters 'A' Force, generally referred to as 'A' Force, was the name of a deception department during the Second World War. It was set up in March 1941 and based in Cairo under Brigadier Dudley Clarke. General Archibald Wavell, the c ...

, the British organization responsible for army deception operations in the Middle East, had already created three bogus formations to deceive the enemy in the Mediterranean Theatre: the 1st SAS Brigade,Howard, pg 34 the

10th Armoured Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

in the Western Desert, and the 7th Division to guard Cyprus. This fictional build-up was expanded into a systematic plan to inflate British strength throughout the Middle East. In March 1942, the real strength stood at 5 Armoured and 10 Infantry divisions. ''Cascade'' intended to increase this strength, for the benefit of enemy intelligence, to 8 Armoured and 21 infantry divisions.Crowdy, pg 168 Bogus units had to be created, and actually shipped from their bases in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. An

had to be drawn up for these units, crests and signs had to be created, and some form of physical presence was needed to convince enemy agents that the units existed. False radio traffic for enemy signals intelligence, and information gathered by civilian informers in Egypt, increased the Axis impression that these units were real and present in the theatre. Most of the civilian agents, however, were

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organ ...

s controlled by 'A' force through a network called Cheese.Latimer, Pg. 155 Enemy documents, captured during and after the battle of El Alamein, showed that ''Cascade'' was a success. An analysis by 'A' force, published on 19 November 1942, showed that enemy intelligence overestimated the armoured strength of the British forces by 40%, and infantry strength by 45%.Howard, pg. 44

Influence

Operation Cascade gave the Allies valuable experience in planning deception operations, which was later used to good effect in the deception operations covering the

invasion of Europe Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

( D-Day landings in Normandy, and the invasion of Southern France). The British forces built up during Operation Cascade were later used in Operation Zeppelin to tie down

Axis forces The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and

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, and deter the Axis from using these forces against the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

, (

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

).Crowdy, pg 281 In 1944, the actual Allied strength in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

totalled about 52 divisions; Axis intelligence accepted a strength of about 70 divisions in the theatre.Howard, pg 137

Implementation

Influence

See also

Notes

Further reading