ABSTRACT
The Second World War began in force and violence –Blitzkrieg in Poland and France – and ended when massive industrialisation enabled Anglo-American and Russian armies to trample on the Germany which the heavy bombers of the RAF and USAAF had already laid waste. But between the two periods when might alone prevailed there was a long interval during which intelligence and deception were called in aid by the Allies to assist the defensive war on land. To deceive the enemy and lure him to waste his superior strength by vainly beating the air in pursuit of will o’ the wisps is the natural recourse of the weaker party as it seeks to compensate for its lack of material power. Yet, as FORTITUDE showed, and contrary to what is often said, deception is not the province of the weaker party alone; 1 tricks learned for self-protection in adversity can later be used to sharpen a counter-offensive when the balance of power has changed.
