OPERATION CORNFLAKES: The OSS Plot to Hijack Hitler's Mail and Deliver Propaganda into Nazi Germany (Unknown WW2 Campaigns)
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OPERATION CORNFLAKES The OSS Plot to Hijack Hitler’s Mail and Deliver Propaganda into Nazi Germany What if the Allies could convince Nazi Germany to deliver American propaganda through its own postal service? In the final months of World War II, the Office of Strategic Services—the forerunner of the CIA—developed one of the strangest psychological warfare operations of the conflict. It was called Operation Cornflakes. The plan was audacious. American intelligence specialists studied the German postal system, questioned captured postal workers, collected millions of German names and addresses, forged Hitler postage stamps and postmarks, created counterfeit Reichspost mailbags, and produced propaganda designed to look as if it came from inside Germany. Then came the most extraordinary part. American P-38 Lightning fighters attacked German mail trains. After the trains were damaged, counterfeit mailbags filled with thousands of false letters were dropped near the wreckage. German recovery crews were expected to mistake them for genuine mail. If the deception worked, the German postal service itself would sort, transport, and deliver Allied propaganda directly into German homes. In Operation Cornflakes, military historian Adam Langweiler explores the complete story of this remarkable OSS operation—from the secret forgery workshops in Italy to the fighter pilots risking low-level attacks over enemy territory. Discover how the OSS: • Built a database containing millions of genuine German names and addresses • Counterfeited Hitler-head postage and German postal cancellations • Created the infamous Hitler death-head “Futsches Reich” stamp • Manufactured convincing German mailbags and correspondence • Invented the underground newspaper Das Neue Deutschland • Used P-38 Lightnings and the Fifteenth Air Force to attack mail trains • Dropped thousands of counterfeit letters into the German postal network • Nearly had the operation exposed because of a single spelling mistake The book also examines the surviving stamps, envelopes, propaganda publications, and postal artifacts that have made Operation Cornflakes particularly fascinating to collectors and historians. Was Cornflakes successful? Did German civilians believe the mysterious propaganda arriving through their own mailboxes? And could a few pieces of paper really weaken the confidence of a dictatorship already approaching collapse? Operation Cornflakes is the story of a secret war fought not with bombs alone, but with stamps, envelopes, rumors, deception—and the enemy’s own postmen. Perfect for readers interested in World War II history, the OSS, CIA history, psychological warfare, military deception, espionage, propaganda, aviation history, and WWII collectibles. 7 Amazon Keywords
