Did this British magician defeat the Nazis with magic?

A famous stage magician, recruited by the British military to use his mastery of illusion to help defeat the Nazis. From illusory harbours to vanishing canals, dummy tanks to an entire fake force, the story of Jasper Maskelyne’s war-time adventures seems to have it all. But was he really a mastermind of military deception, or was it all just smoke and mirrors?

Video by Dan John

Animation by Michal Bialozej