Written by Henry ‘Hank’ Gallucci
I am a veteran of World War II and served my country from 1942 to 1945. I was a corporal in the U.S. Army 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion. It was one of three units that formed the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops—‘Special’ in impersonating other U.S. troops, with inflatable rubber guns, tanks and trucks.[private] This was to fool the enemy into thinking other troops were in position when they were not.
We moved in with arm insignia patches of the real troops that were moving out to attack from a different locale. We were known as the Ghost Army; consisting of a Signal Corp Company which blared noises from truck-mounted speakers forward to the enemy, amplified sounds of trucks and tanks rolling, men shouting, sonic movements sounding like an army organizing itself in front of the enemy lines.
This was done at night to fool the Germans into thinking that an entire armored division was on the move. The 603rd was setting up camouflage and dummy equipment – inflatable tanks, trucks, even dummy soldiers. We also set off flash devices to simulate artillery barrages. The Engineer Combat Company was a fighting unit in charge of security protection around the area. The 23rd officers and enlisted men pretended, at one time or another, to be an armored division, an infantry division and many other Army outfits in the hedgerows and forests of northern Europe – all to fool the Germans to enable the real troops we were impersonating to launch a surprise attack and catch the enemy off guard.
One of the situations I experienced was a humorous one. One night in a small French town we had set up dummy M4 tanks. Sometime, in the morning, an inflated tank was discovered to be facing the wrong way. Two French cyclists came close to the area and a sentry stopped them and asked where they were going and why. The two started to reply, then stiffened, and silently their eyes were wide with astonishment. They looked over the sentry’s shoulder and saw four G.I.s walk over to the monstrous tank and with one at each corner, simply pick it up, turn it around and set it down again. They shouted out that the Americans were Super-Super Men come to France!
The 603rd was composed of artistic types from art and design schools. Many achieved fame and success after the war, like Bill Blass, the very famous fashion designer; Art Kane, a well-known photographer; George Diestel, a famous Hollywood set designer; Arthur Shilstone, a distinguished illustrator; and many more who were influential in the creative field.
The most impressive battlefield performance of the Ghost Army was when the U.S. crossed the Rhine, the 9th Army was held up, the 23rd teamed up with two corps with over 400 rubber dummy vehicles to convince the Germans that the crossing would take place up-river. The deception worked and the Rhine River crossing was a success.
The inevitable question from a child of a Ghost Army veteran would be: “What did you do in the war, dad?” The response would be: “I blew up tanks and guns, son.”
Henry ‘Hank’ Gallucci was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1923 to immigrants from Italy. As a boy he experienced the Great Depression. He was very artistic and after high school he enrolled in art school, where he was recruited into what is now known as the “ghost army.” This was a unit that used many methods to deceive the enemy throughout World War 2. This unit was involved in some of the most important battles of the war, but little was known about them as it was a classified unit until recently. After the war he resumed his career as an art director until his retirement. After the 911 attacks he painted a memorial picture in remembrance of the event which is on display at the 911 museum in NYC as well as various Town Memorials throughout the Westchester County, NY area. He recently gave a speech on 9/11 commemorating the event. On September 23, 2016 at the age of 92. he passed away peacefully. His son Bob Gallucci lives in Stephentown.[/private]