Date Approved:
7 July 1944.

The Fourteenth Army was not activated during WW II although
a shoulder patch for the Army was adopted and approved.
The exact role that the mystery "Ghost" Army and the "Phantom"
Divisions played in WW II is still not known due to security
classifications in effect when the units were planned. Available
records indicate that during the period between July 1944 and
August 1945, insignia were approved for two corps and 19 divisions
that were never activated. A typical approval letter read
(in part), "Under the authority delegated to the Office of the
Quartermaster General, *** , and in accordance with verbal
concurrence of the Director of Joint Security Control, August 3rd,
1944, the following shoulder insignia for the 6th Airborne
Division is approved."In one instance, a letter was written
requesting 1000 shoulder patches and Airborne tabs be delivered
to the Security Control offices at the Pentagon
(the U.S. Army Headquarters) within 15 days. It was previously
noted that the First Army Group Headquarters was superseded
and proceeded to France after the invasion under a different
designation. As part of Allied deception (Operation Fortitude),
phony camps were set up in the southern part of England, fake
radio messages were transmitted indicating the presence of an
Army commanded by General Patton, and false information was fed
to the German Intelligence network through a number of sources
indicating that the main Allied thrust would be in the
Pas-de-Calais area. This deception was absolutely critical for
the Allies who could muster only 37 divisions against a possible
German force of 60 divisions under the leadership of Field Marshal
von Rundstedt. The deception worked perfectly, and divisions
assigned to the 15th German Army waited for "the main thrust"
of the Allies in the Pas-de-Calais area until late July when the
Allied forces had consolidated their hold on the Brittany
Peninsula and General Patton's Third Army was racing across
France. Even though these units were never officially activated,
shoulder patches were approved and were manufactured for each of
them. These insignia will be illustrated to aid collectors in
identifying them and to commemorate the role that they played
in the Allied victory. The Fourteenth Army shoulder patch was
approved on August 7th, 1944 and is shaped like an acorn to
suggest strength. The "A" represents "Army", and the colors
red and white are the colors of the Army distinguishing flag.