Editing George S. Patton (section)

=== Ghost Army ===
{{See also|Ghost Army}}

[[File:Lt. Gen. Patton with Maj. Gen. Walter Robertson, April 1944.jpg|thumb|left|Major General [[Walter M. Robertson]] (back seat), commanding the [[2nd Infantry Division (United States)|2nd Infantry Division]], with Lieutenant General Patton pass in review of elements of Patton's Third Army in April 1944, prior to the Normandy invasion in June]]

The [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|German High Command]] had more respect for Patton than for any other [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] commander and considered him to be central to any plan to invade Europe from England.{{sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=127}} Because of this, Patton was made a prominent figure in the deception scheme [[Operation Fortitude]] during the first half of 1944.{{sfn|Blumenson|1974|p=409}} Through the British [[Double-Cross System|network of double-agents]], the Allies fed German intelligence a steady stream of false reports about troop sightings and that Patton had been named commander of the [[First United States Army Group]] (FUSAG), all designed to convince the Germans that Patton was preparing this massive command for an invasion at [[Pas de Calais]]. FUSAG was in reality an intricately constructed fictitious army of decoys, props, and fake [[radio signal]] traffic based around [[Dover]] to mislead German [[reconnaissance plane]]s and to make Axis leaders believe that a large force was massing there. This helped to mask the real location of the invasion in [[Normandy]]. Patton was ordered to keep a low profile to deceive the Germans into thinking that he was in Dover throughout early 1944, when he was actually training the Third Army.{{sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=127}} As a result of Operation Fortitude, the [[15th Army (Wehrmacht)|German 15th Army]] remained at the Pas de Calais to defend against Patton's supposed attack.{{sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=128}} So strong was their conviction that this was the main landing area that the German army held its position there even after the [[invasion of Normandy]] on 6 June 1944, believing it to be a diversionary force. Patton flew to France a month later, and then returned to combat command.{{sfn|Axelrod|2006|p=132}}