The Phantom Army of Alamein
How the Camouflage Unit and Operation Bertram Hoodwinked Rommel
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Narrated by:
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Steve West
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By:
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Rick Stroud
About this listen
In 1940 a group of artists, sculptors, filmmakers, theater designers, and set painters came together to form the Camouflage Unit. Led by Major Geoffrey Barkas and including among their number the internationally renowned stage magician Jasper Maskelyne, the unit's projects became a crucial battlefield weapon. At the siege of Tobruk the unit made a vital desalination plant appear to have been destroyed by enemy bombers; from then on they used their storytelling skills to weave intricate webs of deception, making things appear that weren't actually there, and things that were, disappear, to deceive the enemy. Their stage was the enormous, flat, and almost featureless western desert.
The unit's schemes were so successful that in August 1942 the Unit was ordered by General Montgomery to come up with a way to hide the preparations for the Battle of Alamein, the biggest battle the 8th Army had ever fought. "Operation Bertram" was born. In six short weeks two divisions, with armour, field guns, and supporting vehicles, were conjured from the sand, while real tanks and lethal 25-pound field guns vanished from sight. Then, on the eve of the battle, the unit performed the biggest conjuring trick in military history. Right in front of the German's eyes they made 600 tanks disappear and reappear 50 miles away disguised as lorries. Rommel had been bamboozled by an army made of nothing but string and straw and bits of wood.
The Phantom Army of Alamein tells for the first time the full story of how some of Britain's most creative men put down their brushes, pencils, and cameras to join the rest of the world in the fight against the Nazis and played a vital role in the winning of the war.
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Dunkirk
- By: Joshua Levine
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Leighton Pugh
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The Battle of Dunkirk, in May/June 1940, is remembered as a stunning defeat yet a major victory as well. The Nazis had beaten back the Allies and pushed them across France to the northern port of Dunkirk. In the ultimate race against time, more than 300,000 Allied soldiers were daringly evacuated across the Channel. This moment of German aggression was used by Winston Churchill as a call to Franklin Roosevelt to enter the war.
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I am so pissed
- By SCOTT on 07-04-17
By: Joshua Levine
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Dünkirchen 1940
- The German View of Dunkirk
- By: Robert Kershaw
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Dünkirchen 1940 is the first major history on what went wrong for the Germans at Dunkirk. As supreme military commander, Hitler had seemingly achieved a miracle after the swift capitulation of Holland and Belgium, but with just seven kilometres before the panzers captured Dunkirk – the only port through which the trapped British Expeditionary force might escape – they came to a shuddering stop. Only a detailed interpretation of the German perspective – historically lacking to date – can provide answers as to why.
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Finally, Dunkirk makes sense!
- By MortonC on 06-15-24
By: Robert Kershaw
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Tobruk
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 23 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early days of April 1941, the 14,000 Australian forces garrisoned in the Libyan town of Tobruk were told to expect reinforcements and supplies within eight weeks... Eight months later these heroic, gallant, determined 'Rats of Tobruk' were rescued by the British Navy having held the fort against the might of Rommel's never-before defeated Afrika Corps.
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Fair dinkum
- By J B Tipton on 11-22-08
By: Peter FitzSimons
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Monash's Masterpiece
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The Battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918 was an Allied triumph and strategically very important in the closing stages of WWI. A largely Australian force, commanded by the brilliant Sir John Monash, fought what has been described as the first modern battle - where infantry, tanks, artillery and planes operated together as a coordinated force. Monash planned every detail meticulously, with nothing left to chance. Peter FitzSimons brings this Allied triumph to life and tells this magnificent story as it should be told.
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Excellent history, almost unknown in US
- By Paul Gallagher on 09-28-23
By: Peter FitzSimons
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The Story of World War II
- By: Donald L. Miller, Henry Steele Commager
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 24 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, prizewinning historian Donald L. Miller has written what critics are calling one of the most powerful accounts of warfare ever published. Here are the horror and heroism of World War II in the words of the men who fought it, the journalists who covered it, and the civilians who were caught in its fury. Miller gives us an up-close, deeply personal view of a war that was more savagely fought - and whose outcome was in greater doubt - than one might imagine. This is the war that Americans on the home front would have read about had they had access to previously censored testimony.
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INCREDIBLE! WELL-RESEARCHED, COMPLETE & UNBIASED!
- By The Louligan on 07-15-14
By: Donald L. Miller, and others
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D-Day
- June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of WW II
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jesse Boggs
- Length: 25 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Stephen E. Ambrose draws from hundreds of interviews with US Army veterans and the brave Allied soldiers who fought alongside them to create this exceptional account of the day that shaped the twentieth century. D-Day is above all the epic story of men at the most demanding moment of their existence, when the horrors, complexities and triumphs of life are laid bare and courage and heroism come to the fore.
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What an epic story what great men
- By Michael on 02-12-14
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Panzer Ace
- The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
- By: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, Robert Forczyk
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank). Only 489 of these King Tiger tanks were ever built.
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Not what I expected
- By Gabriel on 01-04-19
By: Richard Freiherr von Rosen, and others
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Forty-Seven Days
- How Pershing's Warriors Came of Age to Defeat the German Army in World War I
- By: Mitchell Yockelson
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Battle of the Meuse-Argonne stands as the deadliest clash in American history: More than a million untested American soldiers went up against a better-trained and more experienced German army, costing more than 26,000 deaths and leaving nearly 100,000 wounded. Yet, in 47 days of intense combat, those Americans pushed back the enemy and forced the Germans to surrender, bringing the First World War to an end - a feat the British and the French had not achieved after more than three years of fighting.
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Comprehensive history of The First Army in WWI
- By Bruce Miller on 03-08-18
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Tragedy at Dieppe
- Operation Jubilee, August 19, 1942
- By: Mark Zuehlke
- Narrated by: John Wray
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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With its trademark "you are there" style, Mark Zuehlke's 10th Canadian Battle Series volume tells the story of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Nicknamed "The Poor Man's Monte Carlo", Dieppe had no strategic importance, but with the Soviet Union thrown on the ropes by German invasion and America having just entered the war, Britain was under intense pressure to launch a major cross-Channel attack against France. Since 1939, Canadian troops had massed in Britain and trained for the inevitable day of the mass invasion of Europe that would finally occur in 1944.
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When To Throw The Book At Someone
- By Nicholas Robinson on 05-12-23
By: Mark Zuehlke
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Citizen Soldiers
- The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: George K. Wilson
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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A masterful biography of the U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, Citizen Soldiers provides a compelling account of the extraordinary stories of ordinary men in their fight for democracy. From the high command on down to the enlisted men, Stephen E. Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews and oral histories from men on both sides who were there.
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Required reading, excellent narration
- By Jeremy on 06-30-11
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If Chaos Reigns
- The Near-Disaster and Ultimate Triumph of the Allied Airborne Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944
- By: Flint Whitlock
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
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So said Brigadier S. James Hill, commanding officer of the British 3rd Parachute Brigade, in an address to his troops shortly before the launching of Operation Overlord - the D-Day invasion of Normandy. No more prophetic words were ever spoken, for chaos indeed reigned on that day, and many more that followed.
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Allied Airborne in Normandy
- By Doc on 07-13-18
By: Flint Whitlock
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Eye of the Storm
- Twenty-Five Years in Action with the SAS
- By: Peter Ratcliffe, Noel Botham, Brian Hitchen
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Peter Ratcliffe served in the SAS for 25 years. Blooded in Oman in the 1970s, he also saw action in Northern Ireland, in the Falklands War, and in the Gulf campaign. From his early days in the Paras to his time as Regimental Sergeant-Major in the Gulf, he has lived and fought by the motto 'who dares wins'. Eye of the Storm is his insider's account of that exceptional career.
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Peter is the real deal
- By LARRY on 10-19-19
By: Peter Ratcliffe, and others
What listeners say about The Phantom Army of Alamein
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- The Louligan
- 01-01-15
NOT AS IN DEPTH AS I EXPECTED
Overall, this book is alright if you know nothing at all about the WWII battles in North Africa. I thought there would be much more about the Camouflage Unit itself. Instead the men and their work is just a "side dish" to Rommel, Montgomery, Churchill, Hitler, Eisenhower, et. al. Even Operation Bertram and the battle at Alamein is relegated to the last 45 minutes of the story. I'm a rabid war buff and had never even heard of this critical and important military unit. So, for that reason, I'm glad that this story was told. But I feel there are so many layers that have yet to be revealed here. Also, Audible really needs to provide listeners with PDFs of photos and/or maps included in the print copies. I don't know if photos of the camouflage work are available in this book but they would go a long way towards helping us really appreciate the misleading tactics used by the Camouflage Unit.
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7 people found this helpful
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- David
- 09-28-15
There is something delightful in these mad schemer
An interesting intimate look at the camouflage work done in North Africa by the British during World War II. The book flows quite well, it's not overwhelmed with personages, and deals with the various schemes quite well. There are speculative parts of the book like suggesting that O'Connor would have defeated Rommel which detract from the work. There is also a section near the end that gets speculative about future applications of technology to the art of camouflage which breaks the narrative flow. Otherwise, quite an interesting and lovely work. It includes a good deal of the how as well as the who and why.
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- Michael
- 09-06-14
A Good History Book
This book tells the story of the British Army Camouflage Unit in the North African Campaign of the Second World War (1940-43). Surprising it is quite a page turner and does have great detail without being bogged down. If you are interested in the Second World War then this is a must, but if your thing is the North African Campaign with the 8th Army, Deutsch Africa Corps and lets not forget the Italians, then you need this book. Everybody gets a mention, South African Engineers, Australian Desert Rats, British HQ in Cairo or Rommel's adjutant. A good book worth the listen too.
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3 people found this helpful