About: Operation Copperhead   Sponge Permalink

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The German high command expected Montgomery, one of the best-known Allied commanders, to play a key role in any cross-channel bridgehead. Clarke and the other deception planners reasoned that a high-profile appearance outside England would suggest that an Allied invasion was not imminent. An appropriate look-alike was found, M. E. Clifton James, who spent a short time with Montgomery to familiarise himself with the general's mannerisms. On 26 May 1944, James flew first to Gibraltar and then to Algiers, making appearances where the Allies knew German intelligence agents would spot him. He then flew secretly to Cairo and remained in hiding until Montgomery's public appearance in Normandy following the invasion.

AttributesValues
rdfs:label
  • Operation Copperhead
rdfs:comment
  • The German high command expected Montgomery, one of the best-known Allied commanders, to play a key role in any cross-channel bridgehead. Clarke and the other deception planners reasoned that a high-profile appearance outside England would suggest that an Allied invasion was not imminent. An appropriate look-alike was found, M. E. Clifton James, who spent a short time with Montgomery to familiarise himself with the general's mannerisms. On 26 May 1944, James flew first to Gibraltar and then to Algiers, making appearances where the Allies knew German intelligence agents would spot him. He then flew secretly to Cairo and remained in hiding until Montgomery's public appearance in Normandy following the invasion.
sameAs
dcterms:subject
dbkwik:military/pr...iPageUsesTemplate
planned
  • 1944(xsd:integer)
Partof
planned by
Date
  • 1944-05-27(xsd:date)
Name
  • Copperhead
Caption
  • M. E. Clifton James in the guise of Montgomery
Scope
Objective
  • To confuse German intelligence as to the timing of D-Day
Location
  • Gibraltar, Algiers
abstract
  • The German high command expected Montgomery, one of the best-known Allied commanders, to play a key role in any cross-channel bridgehead. Clarke and the other deception planners reasoned that a high-profile appearance outside England would suggest that an Allied invasion was not imminent. An appropriate look-alike was found, M. E. Clifton James, who spent a short time with Montgomery to familiarise himself with the general's mannerisms. On 26 May 1944, James flew first to Gibraltar and then to Algiers, making appearances where the Allies knew German intelligence agents would spot him. He then flew secretly to Cairo and remained in hiding until Montgomery's public appearance in Normandy following the invasion. The operation did not appear to have any significant impact on German plans and was not reported high up the chain of command. It was executed some time before D-Day, and in the midst of several other Allied deceptions. German intelligence might have suspected a trick, or not attributed much importance to the visit. Following the war James wrote a book about the operation, I Was Monty's Double. It was later adapted into a film, with James in the lead role.
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