D-Day dummy paratrooper 'Rupert' expected to fetch 1000 pounds in Munich auction

Munich, Oct. 6 (ANI): One three-foot dummy paratrooper out of hundreds, which were dropped behind German lines to invade the Normandy on D-Day, is set to be auctioned and is expected to fetch around 1,000 pounds.

Some 500 of the dummies, nicknamed "Ruperts" after the army slang for an officer, were dropped by Allied Forced to confuse the enemy.

They were designed to burst into flames when they hit the ground, diverting the Germans from the real landings and creating the impression that a fierce battle was raging, Times Online reports.

As part of the 'Operation Titanic' many Ruperts were dropped in four locations over Normandy at the same time thousands of Allied paratroops landed elsewhere on the night of June 5, 1944.

The Ruperts were half the height of a real soldier and made from hessian sacking stuffed with rags, straw and other flammable materials.

A surviving Rupert which didn't ignite on landing and was later recovered by a French local who spent years collecting D-Day-related items before setting up his own museum.

"These are quite rare and this example came from a museum in Normandy in France. Other leftover paradummies are on display in British museums but this one was used, as it has come from France," the report quoted Ernst-Ludwig Wagner, as saying.

"During Operation Titanic hundreds of paradummies were dropped and there are very few left, simply because they were designed to burn on landing," he added. (ANI)