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Operation Barclay was aWorld War IIdeception by theAllies in support ofOperation Husky, theAllied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.
The goal was to deceive theAxis powers as to the location of the Allies' assault across theMediterranean and to divert the Axis military command's attention and resources. Operation Barclay used bogus troop movements, radio traffic, recruitment of Greek interpreters, and acquisition of Greek maps to indicate an invasion through theBalkans.[1]
Operation Barclay created a sham army in the easternMediterranean: theTwelfth Army consisting of 12 fictitious divisions.Adolf Hitler suspected that the Allies would invade Europe through the Balkans, andBarclay served to reinforce this.[1]
As part of Barclay the British also launchedOperation Mincemeat, where faked documents were planted via Spain, andOperation Waterfall, in which a decoy invasion force was assembled inCyrenaica.[2] To reinforce the impression that an Allied invasion was imminent theSpecial Operations Executive (SOE), in co-operation with the Greekandartes, mountedOperation Animals, a series of attacks on rail and road networks.[3]
The deception was successful. TheGerman High Command concluded there was a greater concentration of Allied forces in the eastern Mediterranean than was the case and held to this assessment, making subsequent deceptions more credible. German forces in the Balkans were reinforced from 8 to 18 divisions, and theItalian fleet was diverted into theAdriatic Sea. The Allied invasion of Sicily thus achieved total surprise.[1]
The greatly increased number of German occupying forces in Greece resulted in negative consequences for theGreek Resistance. Wide-rangingcounterguerrilla operations were carried out, culminating in mass reprisals such as theMassacre of Kalavryta and theDistomo massacre.