page_title: Operation Bodyguard
section_title: Operation Copperhead
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Bodyguard / Mediterranean theatre / Operation Copperhead
caption_attribution_description: M.E. Clifton James, the double of Feldmarshall Bernard Montgomery
context_page_description: Operation Bodyguard was the code name for a World War II deception plan employed by the Allied states before the 1944 invasion of northwest Europe. The plan was intended to mislead the German high command as to the time and place of the invasion. The plan contained several operations, and culminated in the tactical surprise over the Germans during the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 and delayed German reinforcements to the region for some time afterwards.
  German coastal defences were stretched thin in 1944, as they prepared to defend all of the coast of northwest Europe. The Allies had already employed deception operations against the Germans, aided by the capture of all of the German agents in the United Kingdom and the systematic decryption of German Enigma communications. Once Normandy had been chosen as the site of the invasion, it was decided to attempt to deceive the Germans into thinking it was a diversion and that the true invasion was to be elsewhere.
  Planning for Bodyguard started in 1943 under the auspices of the London Controlling Section.
context_section_description: Copperhead was a small decoy operation within the scope of Bodyguard that was suggested by Clarke and planned by 'A' Force. The deception, undertaken just prior to D-Day, was intended to mislead German intelligence as to the whereabouts of Bernard Montgomery. It was theorised that as a well-known battle commander, if Montgomery were outside England, that would signal to the Germans that an invasion was not imminent.
  The actor M.E. Clifton James, who bore a strong resemblance to the general, made public appearances in Gibraltar and North Africa. The Allies hoped it would indicate a forthcoming invasion via the Mediterranean.
  The operation is not known to have made a significant impact. According to captured enemy generals, German intelligence believed that it was Montgomery but still guessed that it was a feint.
caption: M. E. Clifton James in the guise of Montgomery
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