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

by Paul B. Janeczko Narrated by Ron Butler

Overview

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

For those with a mental map of the war, this book will provide delightful details of a very specialized and secret group. Biographical sketches of many of the members of the Twenty-Third Special Troops are included as well as brief sidebars detailing related topics. Plentiful photographs and maps are included throughout...military history lovers will find much to appreciate in this extensive retelling of a skillful deception that helped end World War II.
—School Library Journal

In profiling the 23rd, Janeczko has clearly done prodigious research, and the result is an extraordinarily detailed history that sometimes offers a dramatic account of field operations...for teens who enjoy reading about war, this will be a bountiful gift.
—Booklist Online

Secret Soldiers by Paul B. Janeczko (Double Cross: Deception Techniques in War) brings to light a little-known element of the Allied war effort...Janeczko intersperses his narrative with photographs and mini biographies of the men in the unit. Secret Soldiers is enlightening and intriguing, a must-read for young military buffs.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers

School Library Journal

04/01/2019

Gr 9 Up—The use of spies and intercepting information regarding enemies' movements are key to winning any military campaign. But what if the enemy was actually sending false signals, setting up fake encampments and using sophisticated recording equipment to simulate movement that never really happened? Such was the task of the Twenty-Third Special Troops in the European Theater of World War II. Their actions and techniques were so secret they remained classified for 50 years after the war ended. This title follows their story from the conception and recruitment of the units to their final mission and return home. While the beginning is a bit confusing with lots of detail and a rapidly introduced large cast of characters, a rhythm develops taking readers on a journey of intrigue across Europe. This title is not a good choice for a first-time military history reader, as the military jargon begins on page one and little background of the overall conflict is provided throughout. However, for those with a mental map of the war, this book will provide delightful details of a very specialized and secret group. Biographical sketches of many of the members of the Twenty-Third Special Troops are included as well as brief sidebars detailing related topics. Plentiful photographs and maps are included throughout. VERDICT While some might grow weary of reading details of each specific mission, military history lovers will find much to appreciate in this extensive retelling of a skillful deception that helped end World War II.—Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools

JUNE 2019 - AudioFile

In a smooth narration, Ron Butler tells the story of how the artists, actors, camouflage experts, sound designers, and other specialists of the U.S. Special Troops of WWII worked together to trick the Nazis into thinking they were facing troops, men, and equipment that were a cunning fabrication. Butler’s recounting of outlandish and detailed ruses used to outwit the enemy is presented in calm and precise tones. His measured and occasionally wry delivery allows listeners to enjoy a copious amount of information, including the details behind the men’s deceptions, the battles they influenced, and the stories of individual soldiers. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2019-03-03

During World War II, the U.S. 23rd Headquarters Special Troops was created to launch a series of operations to deceive the Germans.

Artists, actors, telegraphers, set designers, engineers, and sound technicians were recruited for this secret unit—an atypical group of soldiers. By using prerecorded sounds of moving tanks, staging false camps with inflatable tanks and artillery, driving around the countryside wearing fake unit patches, and feeding locals false information, the men of the 23rd may have influenced the course of the war. Although the information presented is accurate and generally interesting, the structure of this effort is unsatisfactory. Numerous pageslong supplemental sections (printed on darkened pages and in a sans-serif type) provide additional information on topics introduced in the narrative, but these sections confusingly interrupt the story, sometimes midsentence, and too often come before the topics are introduced. Other additional sections provide brief biographies of some members of the 23rd, sometimes long before or after they're mentioned in the story. Additionally, each operation performed by the unit is described in repetitive detail, reporting over and over the use of uniform unit patches and unit designations on vehicles. Backmatter, however, is ample and detailed, including extensive source notes, a bibliography, image credits, and an index (the latter two not seen).

Save this one for only the most dedicated of World War II buffs. (Nonfiction. 11-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172639999
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	04/23/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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