Code name CAMILLA.

CAMILLA. Code name for the first major deception operation of World War II in the Middle East conducted in January 1941 by Dudley Clarke. The objective was to divert attention away from Gen. Claude Wavell’s intended offensive in Libya by pretending he was planning an attack in Somaliland. Rumours were circulated in Cairo, dummy wireless traffic was transmitted between Aden, Nairobi, Pretoria, and Delhi, and bogus maps and pamphlets about the area were distributed to the troops. The deception succeeded too well, because the Italian commander-in-chief, the Duke of Aosta, in the face of what he perceived to be overwhelming odds, withdrew his forces in the area and transferred them to Libya.

Dudley Clarke.​

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