It formed part of Operation Bodyguard, the cover plan for the invasion of Normandy in 1944 and was intended to mislead German intelligence as to the location of General Bernard Montgomery.

On 26 May 1944, James flew first to Gibraltar and then to Algiers, making appearances where the Allies knew German intelligence agents would spot him.

Clarke and 'A' Force were not officially in charge of Bodyguard planning (a role that fell to the London Controlling Section), but because of the location of the deception the Cairo planners organised much of the operation.

[3][4] On a visit to Naples in January 1944 Clarke had seen the movie Five Graves to Cairo, in which actor Miles Mander makes a brief appearance.

Clarke hoped Montgomery's apparent presence in Gibraltar and Africa would lend support to the idea that the Allies might be planning landings in southern France, as part of Operation Vendetta, rather than across the Channel.

Colonel David Niven, a well-known British actor, was asked to contact James and offer him a screen test for future army films.

He had also never flown before, so the London Controlling Section's Dennis Wheatley took James up for a test flight to make sure he did not suffer from air sickness.

[6] Then, on 26 May 1944, James flew overnight from RAF Northolt to Gibraltar, where the Germans maintained an observation post overlooking the airport from across the Spanish border.

Writing in 2011, historian Joshua Levine attributes this to the fact that the deception was carried out ten days before D-Day, arguing that there would be no reason for a flying visit to North Africa to preclude an imminent invasion.

[10] Another factor was that, in early May 1944, an uncontrolled agent based in Spain (who sold fictional intelligence to the Germans) had passed on details of a meeting in Gibraltar between several high-ranking Allied officers.

[10] Although double agents received several urgent requests from the Abwehr about his whereabouts it does not appear that this information was passed on to the German command in France.

[11] The Bodyguard deception had confused the German command as to Allied intentions, and the apparent arrival of Montgomery in Gibraltar added little to the picture.

Following Montgomery's public appearance on the Normandy beachhead, James flew back to England and resumed his role within the Pay Corps and was warned not to discuss the operation.