Concluding our popular series on forgotten bits of WW2, we thought we would this week focus on some of the other countries in the world who have made this mistake.

IT'S FRANCE, 14th July 1940. This day marks Bastille Day in France, and this year was no different to the rest and so the French General Maurice Gamelin sent his troops home to celebrate this glorious day.

Unfortunately Gamelin forgot to tell the troops to return to duty the
following day and instead set about gorging himself with French Cheese, French Bread and French Wine (in French: Cheese, Bread and Wine) The war had been forgotten, this was very embarrassing. The French Government, was making every diplomatic effort to appease the patiently waiting Germans with a string of excuses, bribes and supplies but the situation was worsening and becoming untenable. What could they do?

Fortunately Marshall Petain had the foresight to draw up a rather nifty solution to the impending crisis and simply invited the Germans to lunch and said. "So there we are, you have won". He actually convinced the Germans into believing that they had already reached the border with Spain. A fact very well hidden by meticulous renaming of all towns and streets to sound more "spanishy" and forcing the local population to put on a mock Spanish accent. This great subterfuge carried on until 1944.

On hearing of the US invasion of France the deception was over when Staff Officers checked maps and realised that France was bigger than they had been fooled into thinking. An enraged Hitler immediately burned his pile of Satre books and stopped wearing the trademark Beret and Pipe - There is only believed to be one document by the Francophile Hitler that wasn't destroyed in his furious rage.