The phantom army of Alamein
Subtitle: how operation Bertram and the camouflage unit hoodwinked Rommel
By: Rick Stroud
Edition: Large print edition.
Publisher: Windsor; Paragon
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9781471321986; 9781471321993
Subjects: Camouflage (Military science); Deception; World War, 1939-1945; Large type books; El Alamein, Battle of, Egypt, 1942; Camouflage
Description: Initially formed to hide British towns, factories and airfields from enemy bombers, the Camouflage Unit, led by Major Geoffrey Barkas, joined the war in the Western Desert in 1940. At Tobruk they used their skills to weave intricate webs of deception to deceive the enemy. In August 1942 the Unit was ordered to to hide the preparations for the Battle of Alamein. In six weeks two divisions, with armour, field guns and supporting vehicles, were conjured from the sand, while real tanks and lethal twenty-five pound field guns vanished from sight. Then, on the eve of the battle, the unit performed the biggest conjuring trick in military history, making 600 tanks disappear and reappear fifty miles away disguised as lorries. Rommel had been bamboozled by an army made of nothing but string and straw and bits of wood.
Notes: Standard print edition originally published: London : Bloomsbury, 2012.

Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1. The Art of War; title: 2. Hitler, Smoke and Mirrors; title: 3.A Matter of Life and Death; title: 4. GHQ Cairo and Operation Compass; title: 5. Tobruk: the Camouflage Unit's Lucky Break; title: 6. Operation Crusader; title: 7. The No. 1 Deception Unit; title: 8. Retreat: The Gazala Stakes; title: 9. Monty; title: 10. Bertram Steals the Show; title: 11. The Battle of El Alamein; title: 12. After the Battle.