423: Bodyguard of Lies

Australian-British actor Clifton James, dressed to look like Bernard Montgomery.

Beginning in late 1943, British intelligence began an elaborate set of deceptions, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, intended to mislead the Germans into thinking the invasion would take place somewhere else.

Among the deceptions were operations intended to make it appear that Norway, the west coast of France, the Paz-de-Calais, and Crete would be targeted. Australian-born British actor Clifton James (above), who bore a close resemblance to Bernard Montgomery, was dressed as Montgomery and sent on a tour of Allied bases in the Mediterranean, to make it appear that something was going on there.

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Transcript.


Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Variations on an Original Theme for Orchestra (“The Enigma Variations”)
Composed in 1899 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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