Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
2022 article about Joe Kilps celebrating his 100th birthday |
Object Name |
Article |
Catalog Number |
2022.FIC.0328 |
People |
Kilps, Joseph M. |
Date |
2022 |
Scope & Content |
An article on the front page of the September 13, 2022 edition of "The Washington Times-Herald" about Joe Kilps of Washington, Indiana celebrating his 100th birthday. During World War II Mr. Kilps served in the U.S. Army as a radio operator. In 1944 while stationed in England, his unit transmitted radio messages about a non-existent U.S. Army group to mislead the Germans as to location of the D-Day landings in northern France. The disinformation campaign was so successful that up to and for several days after the June 6, 1944 Normandy invasion, Hitler and the German high command were convinced the Normandy landings were a feint and the real invasion would be at Calais, France. Thousands of allied lives were saved and the success of the difficult amphibious assault at Normandy was assured. After the allied armies broke out and began advancing, Mr. Kilps' unit was deployed to France and closely followed the U.S. Army across France and into Germany. They continued to transmit bogus radio messages to confuse the Germans as to the movements of the advancing U.S. Army. In the 1990s when the success of the secret World War II campaign was finally revealed, Mr. Kilps' outfit became known as the "Ghost Army." |
Search Terms |
Ghost Army Kilps Family |