Jasper Maskelyne is no longer a household name but, when Tom Cruise plays him in his forthcoming film, The War Magician, that might change. In 1930s Britain, Maskelyne was a star magician, and, when the Second World War broke out, his sleight of hand techniques came in useful during the campaign to beat the German army in north Africa. The Channel 4 programme, Magic at War, part of the Secret History series, tells the astonishing story of how one magician helped defeat Rommel.
The bombers might have crashed, causing just as much or more damage on the ground in populated areas. A great technique for the desert war or other rural areas.Surely those lights would have blinded the Luftwaffe when they tried to bomb London.
Well, he was working with S.O.E. Maybe that has something to do with the omissions. Was there a chronicle of S.O.E activities in North Africa?>>He received no decoration or honour in recognition of the part he played; official accounts of the war in north Africa made little or no mention of him <<
That sucks. I wonder why though...
Much of this work was the British turning some of Rommel's own stunts against him. He had constructed wooden covers for trucks and small vehicles that made them look tanks. This was dubbed the "Cardboard Divison". Another ruse was having trucks drag tarplins behind them to create dust clouds which would make the British think that on-coming forces were greater in number than they actually were.Interesting man! He wrote a book about some of his wartime duties and exploits. Among them, creating fake ground positions and airfields to deceive enemy flyers
Agreed, indeed rubbish - so much ill-informed conjecture, which hopefully will cease when the details that are locked in the bowels of the Record Office, under the Official Secrets Act, are released in 2020.Richard Stokes wrote: Most of the stuff on Maskelyne regurgitated in the Axis Forum is ridiculous bunkum.
For example, I would challenge anyone out there to give me solid supporting evidence that Maskelyne's war record can't be released til 2045.
Another trick that Rommel used just before the battle of the Gazala position May-June 1942 involved aircraft engines and propellors mounted on Volkswagen chassis. He wanted to create the impression that he was massing his armor in the middle of his line, so he had these vehicles drive towards the line, blowing up huge dustclouds in the day time, while his actual armor was moving at night towards assembly areas on the southern end of the line.White Leopard wrote:Much of this work was the British turning some of Rommel's own stunts against him. He had constructed wooden covers for trucks and small vehicles that made them look tanks. This was dubbed the "Cardboard Divison". Another ruse was having trucks drag tarplins behind them to create dust clouds which would make the British think that on-coming forces were greater in number than they actually were.Interesting man! He wrote a book about some of his wartime duties and exploits. Among them, creating fake ground positions and airfields to deceive enemy flyers
