## D-Day and the Omaha Beach Platoon
The 23rd crossed to England in the spring of 1944, in the period of intense final preparation for the invasion of France. The strategic deception Operation Fortitude — designed to persuade the Germans that the main invasion would come at Pas-de-Calais — was a separate operation managed at a higher level, using the fictional First United States Army Group nominally commanded by Patton, controlled double agents, and large-scale fake radio traffic. The 23rd work was distinct: tactical, moving with front-line forces, designed to influence local German commanders rather than Hitler and OKW.
## The Visual Deception Equipment Up Close
The D-Day landings on June 6, 1944 involved four 23rd members participating directly. Eight days later, on June 14, an advance platoon of seventeen men from the unit landed at Omaha Beach carrying dummy artillery pieces, among the first deception equipment deployed in the European theater. The main body followed and began learning its trade in the chaotic post-Normandy environment.
## The Sonic Deception System
The M4 Sherman replica was made from neoprene-coated fabric — a rubber compound applied to woven cloth creating a flexible, durable material. The deflated vehicle weighed approximately 93 pounds and could be inflated to full scale in under twenty minutes using a gasoline-powered compressor. Positioning required care: the dummies were placed under imperfect camouflage, visible enough to be found by German aerial reconnaissance, but convincingly placed to suggest a real unit had tried to conceal itself with limited success. The 406th used bulldozers to create tank track marks, since inflatable vehicles left no tracks of their own. Without the tracks, a careful photographic analyst would notice an absence that should not be there.