“You are not mistaken, and this is exactly what I am talking about. I would say that the British Fourth Army exists technically, but not officially. We do have troops on the ground there, but far fewer than what is noted here. To accommodate the plan, each man wears various uniforms representing different forces.”
The fog began to lift. “The enemy will have no idea.”
“Exactly. It will be your task to transmit broadly, albeit in a vein of secrecy, about an increase in bombers around the Scotland area. Thosewill, of course, not exist. You will also whisper about multiple landing craft and ships near Calais, which are not real. I have full confidence that you will convince them, Dot.”
“Of course, sir.” She paused. “They will have surveillance planes, so they will study the areas from above. That means transmitting messages will not be enough. May I ask how this will be handled?”
“It’s quite an impressive operation on that front. First of all, we are in the process of hauling damaged ships to the Calais area. Those have been cosmetically repaired so that they will appear to be in working order. The enemy surveillance planes will report tanks in both Scotland and Calais; however, those are being made of inflatable rubber and papier-mâché. We are currently building a fuel depot at Dover and will purposely leak photos of troops using the base. As with the British Fourth, those photos will be retaken multiple times using the same men wearing different uniforms.” He looked amused. “I will admit, there have been some issues, as there always are. The imitation landing crafts, for example. They are made mostly of wood and canvas materials, which has proven to be too light. In a breeze, some have flipped over entirely. And the tanks at Calais, well, just last week I saw a private photograph of a soldier balancing one over his head. Of course we’ve put a stop to those shenanigans, but it would be amusing if it wasn’t life or death.”
Incredulity filled Dot. “The entire thing is a ruse.”
“Precisely. Operation Fortitude is made up of a multitude of big lies and even more little ones. But it is all based on one truth: therewillbe an Allied invasion.” His finger slid to the south of France. “The invasion is planned for June 5 on the beaches of Normandy, barring any unforeseen obstacles. The event will be called Operation Overlord, and it will be the largest invasion the world has ever seen.”
forty-sixDASH— April 1944 —Southampton, England
The Air Transport Auxiliary was everything Dash had ever dreamed it might be, and more. Their motto was “Anything to Anywhere,” and they meant it. In her first month as an ATA-girl, Dash had flown fifteen different types of aircraft, including Hurricanes, Barracudas, and Wildcats. Eventually, she was promoted to first officer and began flying twin engines, including the big Wellingtons, Tempests, and even a Lancaster bomber. Over the past eight months, she had landed on dozens of airstrips and a couple of open fields when things got tough. At the end of the day, if Dash couldn’t get a flight home, she slept overnight wherever she was, or she climbed aboard a train and chugged back to base.
This morning, Dash had three planes written on her chit. The first, she read, was a Ventura V FN957, which she would ferry from Hamble to High Ercall. From there, she’d fly a Barracuda to the next stop. Then she would take—
At last. “I finally get a Spitfire!”
Dash had been dying to fly a Spitfire ever since she first saw one soar over the airfield, its powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine growlinggloriously. The other girls all raved about them. She could hardly wait to get to that last stop on her chit and see what all the fuss was about.
“Now, remember,” Stella coached, “if you spend the whole trip doing victory rolls, you’ll never get there.”
Dash flew all morning and early afternoon. Her second-to-last flight was an Anson taxi, and she dropped off two passengers at Reading. She gave them her usual forced smile when they told her how surprised they were to have a woman as a pilot, and then to learn that—incredibly!—she actually knew what she was doing.
“Have a nice evening,” she said, waving them away. She glanced around the field, looking for her final flight of the day, then she caught sight of her, shining in the sun across the tarmac. “Oh hey! There you are.”
forty-sevenDOT— Camp X —
The day had finally arrived for Dot to begin playing her role in Operation Fortitude. To the left of her radio, she kept a thick black book with Gerald’s orders for sending misleading information, including transmission dates and times. Those lists included her own translations into German, then the coded versions. Gerald had left the coding itself to Dot and Bill. Between the two of them, they decided to introduce their broadcast with a key Dot had recently come across, and one that any German decoder would recognize: POWER. Using that word as a key, the receiver could decode Dot’s message and feel confident that the transmission had come from a reputable German source.
Now it was all up to Dot.
“All right,” she said, her finger hovering over the tapper. “Let’s see who is listening.”
-- .- -.-. .... - / -... .-. .. - .. ... -.-. .... . / ...- .. . .-. - . / .- .-. -- . . / ...- . .-. ... .- -- -- . .-.. - / ... .. -.-. ....
MACHT BRITISCHE VIERTE ARMEE VERSAMMELT SICH
Power British Fourth Army assembling, she’d transmitted in German, followed by the coordinates for Edinburgh.
Holding her breath, Dot slid the tapper away and put her headphones on. This was her first contribution to Operation Fortitude, her first hook dropped into the water. How long would it take for the enemy to bite, then send a reaction or response? One minute later, she sent it again.
-- .- -.-. .... - / -... .-. .. - .. ... -.-. .... . / ...- .. . .-. - . / .- .-. -- . . / ...- . .-. ... .- -- -- . .-.. - / ... .. -.-. ....
MACHT BRITISCHE VIERTE ARMEE VERSAMMELT SICH
A crackle in her headphones, then:
. .. -. --. . --. .- -. --. . -.
EINGEGANGEN
Received.She squealed with excitement. She’d done it. An hour later, she changed frequencies and reminded them with a slightly different message.
-- .- -.-. .... - / -... .-. .. - .. ... -.-. .... . / ...- .. . .-. - . / .- .-. -- . . / .- ..- ..-. ... - . .-.. .-.. ..- -. --.
