Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-08-06T21:04:28Z

robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

New page

{{short description|World War II deception operation in support of the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943}}
{{refimprove|date=May 2022}}
{{Campaignbox Invasion of Sicily}}
{{Campaignbox Italy}}

'''Operation Barclay''' was a [[World War II]] [[deception]] by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in support of [[Allied invasion of Sicily|Operation Husky]], the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] in July 1943.

The goal was to deceive the [[Axis powers]] as to the location of the Allies' assault across the [[Mediterranean]] and to divert the Axis military command's attention and resources. Operation Barclay used bogus troop movements, radio traffic, recruitment of Greek interpreters, and acquisition of Greek maps to indicate an invasion through the [[Balkans]].<ref name="DJBacon">{{cite book |last1=Bacon |first1=Donald J. |title=Second World War Deception: Lessons Learned for Today's Joint Planner |url= http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/wright/wf05.pdf |access-date=24 April 2013 |date=December 1998 |publisher=[[Air University Press]] |location=Montgomery, Alabama |pages=3–4 }}</ref>

Operation Barclay created a sham army in the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]]: the [[Twelfth Army (United Kingdom)|Twelfth Army]] consisting of 12 fictitious divisions. [[Adolf Hitler]] suspected that the Allies would invade Europe through the Balkans, and ''Barclay'' served to reinforce this.<ref name="DJBacon"/>

As part of Barclay the British also launched [[Operation Mincemeat]], where faked documents were planted via Spain, and [[Operation Waterfall]], in which a decoy invasion force was assembled in [[Cyrenaica]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Macintyre|first=Ben|title=Operation Mincemeat|publisher=Crown Publishing Group|year=2010|pages=271–281}}</ref> To reinforce the impression that an Allied invasion was imminent the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE), in co-operation with the Greek [[andartes]], mounted [[Operation Animals]], a series of attacks on rail and road networks.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gerolymatos |first=André |author-link=André Gerolymatos |year=1991 |title=The Development of Guerrilla Warfare and British Policy Toward Greece 1943-1944 |journal=Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora |issue=17 |page=100 |location=New York City |publisher=Pella Publishing Co. |access-date=24 April 2013 |url=http://triceratops.brynmawr.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10066/5569/Gerolymatos_17_2.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The deception was successful. The [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|German High Command]] concluded there was a greater concentration of Allied forces in the eastern Mediterranean than was the case and held to this assessment, making subsequent deceptions more credible. German forces in the Balkans were reinforced from 8 to 18 divisions, and the [[Regia Marina#World War II|Italian fleet]] diverted into the [[Adriatic Sea]]. The Allied invasion of Sicily thus achieved surprise.<ref name="DJBacon"/>

The greatly increased number of German occupying forces in Greece resulted in negative consequences for the [[Greek Resistance#Italian collapse and German takeover|Greek Resistance]]. Wide-ranging [[counterguerrilla]] operations were carried out, culminating in mass reprisals such as the [[Massacre of Kalavryta]] and [[Distomo massacre]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Jon Latimer]], ''Deception in War'', London: John Murray, 2001

{{Allied Military Deception in World War II}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Operation}}
[[Category:Operation Mincemeat]]
[[Category:World War II deception operations]]
[[Category:Allied invasion of Sicily]]
[[Category:Code names]]
[[Category:July 1943 events]]

Operation Barclay - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.