Part 3/10:
Inspired by the British's Operation Fortitude, Major Ralph Ingersoll recognized the potential for a similar undertaking under an American lens. Assisted by Colonel Billy Harris, Ingersoll pitched an audacious idea: a mobile team that could project the illusion of multiple divisions using ruses designed to mislead German forces.
Thus, on January 20, 1944, the United States Army's 23rd Headquarters Special Troops was activated at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. This eclectic group consisted of 1,023 enlisted men and 82 officers drawn together from various arts, theater, and advertising backgrounds. The aim was to craft illusions that could deceive and confuse the enemy—effectively executing a modern-day variation of the Trojan Horse.