Three Kings

A master of the art of visual deception and camouflage, Clarke knew that one of the primary tools the enemy might use to glean intelligence was the evidence of their own eyes. Trying to disseminate false information was one thing, but building false information became a special art and craft of Clarke, and he was the undisputed master of deception.

He began by first taking to the air, to look at the marks and tracks that had been left in the desert after the movement of O’Connor’s force in his whirlwind campaign against Graziani. He came to recognize the patterns that tanks and trucks would leave while conducting various operations, the signature of rising columns of dust they would kick up as they moved, and realized that all these things could be mimicked.

The desert, after all, was very much like a great sand sea. In fact, some thought it might have been the exposed remnant of an ancient seabed from eons past. Fighting on this sea of sand was therefore much like a naval battle, where turreted metal tanks stood in for ships and maneuvered in formations like squadrons and flotillas on the sea. And he knew that like ships in an age where radar was still in its infancy, aerial reconnaissance was crucial to obtaining a good overall situational awareness.

Clarke began to develop ways of cleaning up after the movement of tanks and trucks in the desert, a way of minimizing their signature or footprint there. At the same time he would labor to create telltale markings elsewhere, taking a few Bren carriers and trucks and having them run about in a well choreographed series of movements to literally paint a picture in desert sand, as if a brigade had assembled there. Beyond this, he would create elaborate deceptions like the one that had been found and bombed by the Germans south ofAntelat.

Clarke was hard at work as O’Connor prepared to move on Tripoli. He had created false headquarters, observation posts, and dummy supply depots, complete with scarecrow figures standing about to mimic the soldiers that should be seen there, and small details that were given the risky duty of loitering about to add added realism. He had even constructed a fake rail spur leading away from the real railhead, complete with a dummy train that was powered by a slow moving captured Italian truck rigged out to look like a locomotive, with smoke produced by an army kitchen stove!

Yet now he was plying his craft against another magician of sorts, Erwin Rommel. When he received word from the Luftwaffe that they had apparently bombed a cluster of dummy vehicles under those tents, Rommel decided to order a single plane to return and deliver one more bomb-a wooden bomb that fell with a dull thud into the sand, a wry smile to the British to let them know he was on to their game.

Then Rommel had a few games and deceptions of his own to play. Using damaged vehicles that he towed to the scene, he ordered his recon battalion to rig up what looked to be an assembly of armored cars south of the main coastal road, and near enough British positions that it might be discovered by a patrol that night. Befriending the local Arabs, he learned that it had indeed been discovered. Then, knowing his enemy would note it as a fake, he cleverly moved real armored cars to that very spot, and had the dummies towed away. The next British patrol in that sector got a rude surprise, and did not report back that day.

Yet for all their utility, bogus maneuvers would not win wars, Rommel knew, only the real bold strokes on the field of battle aimed at unhinging an enemy position and putting it to rout. In the desert that often meant finding a way to use what was thought of as inhospitable or impassible terrain to go where the enemy did not expect you, and take him by surprise or on the flank. O’Connor had ably demonstrated these tactics against the Italians, and now he learned that he was not alone in his understanding of how to achieve surprise and create shock as an element of his attacks. In this, Erwin Rommel was also a grandmaster.

Two days before his planned offensive, Rommel set up units to create a lot of fake radio traffic, all with the Italians. He also sent bogus messages to Tripoli lamenting the fact that it was taking too long for his division to reach the front, and stating that now he had insufficient forces to stop the British if they moved. The next day he indicated he would be making a reconnaissance in force as a spoiling attack to try and buy time for his division to arrive, and cover his withdrawal to Sirte-all this while the bulk of the 5th Light Division was already there, the units mixed in with those of theAriete Division, and some even re-painted in Italian colors and divisional markings. Two could play the game of deception.

The next night the Italians would begin their attack, while the German units peeled off from their column, swinging out on another axis to begin their envelopment, which was the real attack. The Desert Fox was now on the prowl.