After the European war ended, the 3133rd was deployed to Yugoslavia and then Greece as part of postwar stabilization operations, before being disbanded in 1946.
Both the 23rd and the 3133rd were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal when Congress eventually recognized their contributions.
## Normandy and the First Missions
The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops crossed to England in the spring of 1944, preparing for the invasion of Europe. Four of its members participated in the actual D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. Eight days later, on June 14, a 17-man advance platoon landed at Omaha Beach with dummy artillery pieces — some of the first deception equipment to arrive in the European theater.
The unit’s early operations in France were learning experiences that established the patterns its later missions would follow, while also revealing the limits and complications of tactical deception in a fast-moving campaign.
Operation Brittany, in the summer of 1944, was an early major effort. The 23rd deployed approximately 50 dummy tanks near Brest to mislead the Germans about the direction and force of General George Patton’s Third Army drive across France. The operation was part of the broader challenge of managing German perceptions of where Patton was going and how strong his forces were.
Operation Bettembourg, in September 1944, placed the unit along a thinly held stretch of Patton’s line on the Moselle River as his forces pushed toward Germany. The operation lasted about eight days. The 23rd impersonated a larger formation, filling a gap that the real Third Army temporarily couldn’t cover while holding the front with dummies, sonic effects, and radio traffic.