Victor Jones ( British Army officer ) Lieutenant Colonel Victor Harry Jones OBE was a British intelligence officer and " visual deception " expert during the Second World War . First serving with the 14th / 20th King ' s Hussars during the North African Campaign , he made a name for himself using dummy tank s ( and other fake vehicles ) to mislead the enemy . In 1941 he was transferred to A Force in Cairo , under Dudley Clarke , to continue deception operations on a larger scale . Toward the end of the war he was invalided home to Broadway , Worcestershire . War career . The first record of Jones is a posting to the 14th / 20th King ' s Hussars , where he initiated several dummy tank operations and became an expert in visual deception techniques . In June 1936 he was promoted to the rank of major . In March or April 1941 , Jones joined Dudley Clarke ' s ' A ' Force , the department overseeing strategic deception in the Mediterranean , Middle East and African theatres . Jones was put in charge of visual deception operations , used to confuse the enemy as to the location and strength of Allied forces . During 1941 he oversaw the creation and deployment of three regiments of dummy vehicles , the designs growing steadily more elaborate under the influence of his ' A ' Force colleagues and the members of the camouflage section . In August he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . Jones briefly commanded ' A ' Force from July 1941 after it was placed under the auspices of a new deception department , GSI ( d ) . Clarke was put in overall charge of this endeavour , leaving Jones nominally the head of ' A ' Force . However , by September the experiment had failed and the deception departments in Cairo reverted to their previous organisation . By August , ' A ' Force was fully operational and running its first major deception . Operation Collect was a cover plan to disguise the real date of Operation Crusader . After seeing Collect started , Clarke left for Lisbon , leaving Jones to manage the operation alongside intelligence commanders Brigadier Shearer and lieutenant colonel Raymund Maunsell . During this period the three collaborated to set up Operation Cheese , the first double agent channel in the Mediterranean . Prior to 1942 , Jones ' decoy tank force was somewhat informal , deployed as needed in deceptions . However , for the Battle of Alam el Halfa , at the end of August 1942 , the decoys became 4th Armoured Brigade ( a recently disbanded formation ) and , mixed with real tanks , were given the task of harrying Rommel ' s flanks . During this time Jones , as commander of the Brigade , was briefly promoted to the rank of Brigadier ( a rank which was removed following completion of the El Alamein campaign ) . In September 1942 Jones was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Army . On 13 January 1944 he received a Mention in Despatches " in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East " . Jones was badly wounded during the war and invalided home to his estate near Broadway , Worcestershire . He became interested in the American " Field Interrogation Detachment " ( FID ) , whose training centre was based at a nearby prisoner of war camp ( the personnel billet ed in the village ) . Jones facilitated a meeting between Lord Ismay and Lieutenant Frank Brandstetter ( who was in charge of the FID ) ; Ismay was later able to obtain permission for the FID to work in other POW camps . Jones retired from the army on 12 August 1948 and was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel . Personal life . Jones is described as a socialite . He had a wide circle of well - connected friends in Cairo , about whom he would talk at length . The American Colonel William H . Baumer , who met Jones in March 1943 , described him as " one of those who spends his every word trying to impress with his acquaintances and lists of names " . Jones was father to the British racehorse trainer , Harry Thomson Jones .