Operation Zeppelin (deception plan)

Operation Zeppelin
Part of Operation Bodyguard
Zeppelin formed part of Operation Bodyguard, a Europe-wide deception strategy for 1944
Operational scope	Strategic
Planned	1944
Planned by	'A' Force
Objective	German belief in an amphibious invasion of the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern France.
Outcome	May have contributed to German forces remaining in the Mediterranean until mid-1944

Operation Zeppelin (along with its follow up subsidiaries, Vendetta and Turpitude) was a major military deception operation run by the British during the Second World War. It formed part of Operation Bodyguard, the cover plan for the invasion of Normandy in 1944, and was intended to mislead German intelligence as to the Allied invasion plans in the Mediterranean theatre that year. The operation was planned by 'A' Force and implemented by means of visual deception and misinformation.

Zeppelin was executed in five phases between February and July 1944. The story behind each stage developed various invasion threats against Greece, Albania, Croatia, Turkey, Bulgaria and France. The latter portions of the operation received their own codenames. Vendetta referred to a threat toward Southern France close to D-Day while Turpitude was the codename for the final stage of Zeppelin, an overland threat to Greece and Bulgaria.

It is unclear how much impact Zeppelin had on German response in the region, but the aims of the deception were achieved by tying up German defensive forces in the Mediterranean beyond D-Day. Post-war analysis of German intelligence documents indicated that they had overstated Allied forces, as had been intended. However, the German high command did not come to expect a major invasion in the Balkans.