In the Ardennes in 1944, were English-speaking German infiltrators really unmasked by pop culture questions?

Question

I have heard that in the Ardennes Offensive of late 1944, the Germans sent men who could speak good English across the lines in American uniforms to spread doubt and confusion. The story continues that these men were unmasked by being asked questions like "Who is Betty Grable dating?" and "How many home runs did Babe Ruth make in the last season?" Is this true? There were (and are) many Americans who couldn't (and can't) answer such questions. I also know the man who were caught out were immediately shot - the Geneva Convention allows this for men wearing the other side's uniforms.

Answer 1

"Operation Greif

Otto Skorzeny, after Operation Greif he was called "the most dangerous man in Europe"Main article: Operation Greif
Skorzeny successfully infiltrated a small part of his battalion of disguised, English-speaking Germans behind the Allied lines. Although they failed to take the vital bridges over the Meuse, the battalion's presence produced confusion out of all proportion to their military activities, and rumours spread like wildfire. Even General Patton was alarmed and, on December 17, described the situation to General Eisenhower as "Krauts... speaking perfect English... raising hell, cutting wires, turning road signs around, spooking whole divisions, and shoving a bulge into our defenses".

Checkpoints were soon set up all over the Allied rear, greatly slowing the movement of soldiers and equipment. Military policemen drilled servicemen on things which every American was expected to know, such as the identity of Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, baseball scores, or the capital of Illinois. This latter question resulted in the brief detention of General Omar Bradley himself; although he gave the correct answer—Springfield—the GI who questioned him apparently believed that the capital was Chicago.

The tightened security nonetheless made things harder for the German infiltrators, and some of them were captured. Even during interrogation they continued their goal of spreading disinformation; when asked about their mission, some of them claimed they had been told to go to Paris to either kill or capture General Eisenhower. Security around the general was greatly increased, and he was confined to his headquarters. Because these prisoners had been captured in American uniform they were later executed by firing squad; this was the standard practice of every army at the time, although it was left ambivalent under the Geneva Convention, which merely stated that soldiers had to wear uniforms that distinguished them as combatants. In addition, Skorzeny was an expert at international law and knew that such an operation would be well within its boundaries as long as they were wearing their German uniforms when firing. Skorzeny and his men were fully aware of their likely fate, and most wore their German uniforms underneath their Allied ones in case of capture. Skorzeny himself avoided capture, survived the war and may have been involved with the Nazi ODESSA ratline or escape network."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge

Here's a much more detailed document on this event available from the Defense Technical Information Center in Leavenworth, Kansas:
http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA284495
(Click on the link that says Handle / proxy Url : http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA284495)

My best to you

Bill

Answer 2

yes it is true that the germans did this they killed the sentrys that were garding the roads and tried to act like our troops any service man would know these qeustions garbal was the number 1 pin up girl so they knew every thing about her lol as for babe who didn't know how many home runs he hit the year before at that time so no american would have gotten that wrong

Answer 3

American suspicions were aroused when some infiltrators on a jeep asked a passing patrol where to get petrol instead of the usual American term of "gas"

Answer 4

Yes its true, Most americans should have known the question.

You are not protected if you dont wear the uniform of ur military. They counted as spies.

Answer 5

It was also common practice during that offensive when two allied soldiers met one would say: "Walt Disney" the other would respond: "Mickey Mouse" and the first had to reply: "Donald Duck" or "Goofy".

Answer 6

you americans are really something else,do you live in some sort of fantasy there,america this america that ,wake up ands get real ,like the so called true war films just pure fantasy,