80th Infantry (Reserve) Division (United Kingdom)

The 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division was a British Army division formed during the Second World War. It was formed from the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division. For a time it was a real division, if a low status one, but in the buildup to Operation Overlord it was converted to a deception formation as part of the Operation Fortitude South deception plan. The plan called for the notional British Fourth Army to threaten an Allied invasion of the Pas de Calais, and was successful, drawing large numbers of German troops away from the D-Day invasion area.