Two German parachute divisions remained in the XIII Corps zone even after the actual Ninth Army crossings began on March 24. This retention of forces in the wrong location was one of the clearest measures of the deception’s operational effect: German commanders were still expecting the main effort in the XIII Corps zone when the XVI Corps was already across the river.
The initial crossing in the XVI Corps zone, where the real 30th and 79th Divisions actually attacked on March 24, cost approximately 30 casualties. The 30th Division’s G-2 — its intelligence section — reported afterward that no German prisoners expected an attack from the west. The surprise was achieved.
Lieutenant General Simpson, commanding the Ninth Army, issued a formal commendation to the 23rd for the quality of its performance in Operation Viersen.
## The Aftermath of Viersen
The Rhine crossing at Viersen was the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops’ last major deception operation. The collapse of organized German resistance in the following weeks made large-scale deception operations largely unnecessary; forces that are retreating rapidly do not present the kind of stable defensive positions that tactical deception is designed to manipulate.
The unit continued to operate in Germany as the war moved toward its conclusion. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945. The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops was returned to the United States and deactivated.
The official assessment of the unit’s contributions was recorded in an Army report that would not become public for decades. A U.S. Army analyst who reviewed the unit’s record later concluded that few groups of men had influenced the outcome of a major campaign as much as the 23rd had. The unit had staged more than 20 deception operations in roughly twenty months of deployment, working from Normandy to the Rhine, and the operational effect of its work — diverting enemy attention, holding positions with inflatable vehicles, covering the movements of real forces — had contributed materially to the Allied advance.