| An audacious deception plan that changed the course of history. | On a morning in April 1943, a Spanish fisherman discovered a body floating in the water off the coast of Huelva in southern Spain. The corpse wore a British military uniform and had a briefcase attached to its wrist.
Believing the body to be a casualty of war, the fisherman hauled it onboard his boat. Little did he know he had set in motion an elaborate and daring deception that had been months in the planning.
Operation Mincemeat was a bold plan to convince the Germans that the Allies were planning to invade Greece, when in fact the target was Sicily. The idea was first raised by a young intelligence officer named Ian Fleming. Fleming would later go on to create the literary world’s most famous spy, James Bond.
Included at number 28 on a list of schemes to deceive the enemy, Fleming’s idea was headed ‘A Suggestion (not a very nice one)’. The plan involved procuring a corpse, which would then be laden with false documents and floated into the hands of the Germans.
A naval intelligence officer, Ewen Montagu, and an RAF pilot seconded to MI5, Charles Cholmondeley, headed up the plan. Both were meticulous and had an aptitude for deception. They were ideal candidates for the job.
With only three months before the planned invasion, Montagu and Cholmondeley set to work. The first step was to obtain a suitable corpse. They needed one that could give the appearance of having died at sea after an air crash.
(continues below) |
|
|
 | | | | OPERATION MINCEMEAT PRIZE DRAW | Buy a ticket to Churchill War Rooms before midnight on 5 April to be entered into our exciting prize draw.
The winner will receive two tickets to the UK premiere of the Warner Bros. film Operation Mincemeat, starring Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen. The event will take place in central London on 12 April. | |
|
|
| |
| | |
| | |
|
| With the help of Sir Bentley Purchase, the coroner of St Pancras, they settled on the body of Glyndwr Michael. Hailing from a deprived Welsh mining community, Michael had drifted to London after the death of his parents.
Homeless and friendless, he was found in an abandoned warehouse near Kings Cross in January 1943, having ingested rat poison. He was 34 years old.
To deceive the enemy, the body needed a new and entirely convincing identity. The Germans would need to believe every aspect of the dead man’s story.
Glyndwr Michael’s existence was effectively erased from history. In his place, Montagu and Cholmondeley concocted the character of Major William Martin of the Royal Marines.
Major Martin was given a uniform and an identity card, using a picture taken after an extensive search for a lookalike. He was also given bills, bus tickets and even a letter from the manager of Lloyds Bank detailing his outstanding overdraft. In espionage circles this is known as ‘pocket litter’.
Perhaps most audaciously of all, he was given a sweetheart, named Pam. A photograph of Jean Leslie, a secretary at MI5, was chosen from among a selection submitted by the female staff of British Intelligence.
Jean’s photograph would be placed on the body along with fake love letters from Pam. These letters were actually written by Hester Leggett, the head secretary of MI5. A receipt for an engagement ring from Phillips jewellers on Bond Street was also placed on Major Martin’s person.
Central to the plan was a fake official letter to the British commander in North Africa from General Sir Archibald Nye. The letter would contain a strong hint that the Allies intended to launch an invasion of Greece, with Sicily being nothing more than a cover.
Countless drafts were written until, for the sake of authenticity, the General was asked to write it himself. A single eyelash was placed inside. If the letter came back with the eyelash missing, it would indicate that the contents had been read.
(continues below) |
|
|
| | | | IWM FAMILY MEMBERSHIP | There's plenty for families to explore and discover across IWM branches.
With IWM family membership, you'll get unlimited free entry to Churchill War Rooms, HMS Belfast and IWM Duxford alongside events discounts, priority booking and much more. | |
|
|
| |
| | |
| | |
|
| With the letter in place, everything was ready. On 19 April, the body was extracted from the refrigerator at Hackney Mortuary, placed in a canister and transported 500 miles to Scotland. There, a submarine was waiting to take it to Spain.
The driver, St John ‘Jock’ Horsfall, was a champion racing driver employed by the secret service. With Montagu, Cholmondeley, and Major Martin in the back, Horsfall drove at frightening speeds through the night. At one point, he almost killed his two living passengers when he drove straight over a roundabout.
Having arrived safely in Scotland, the canister was loaded in through the torpedo hatch of HMS Seraph. Only the captain had any knowledge about what was inside.
At first light on 30 April, the body was slid over the side and into the water off the coast of southern Spain. As it floated towards the shore, the captain recited a Psalm.
Upon its discovery by a fisherman named Antonio Rey Maria, the body was taken ashore and brought to the cemetery at Huelva. The autopsy was performed by two Spanish doctors and witnessed by the British consul, who was aware of the plot.
Afraid that the pathologists would discover the truth, the British consul suggested that the autopsy be cut short due to the heat and the stench. The doctors readily agreed. The cause of death was recorded as drowning. The briefcase was handed to the Spanish navy.
Huelva had been chosen by Montagu as it was the home of Adolf Klaus, a Nazi spy. Systematic and unimaginative, he was the perfect target to be duped by Mincemeat.
Stirred up by fake intercepted telegrams, Klaus mobilised his entire network to get his hands on the briefcase. British Intelligence had expected the Spanish to collaborate with the Germans, but they were refusing to play ball.
(continues below) |
|
|
| | |  | | © Paul RG Haley for Soldier Magazine |
| |
|
| FALKLANDS CONFLICT | From 2 April, Imperial War Museums will mark the 40th anniversary of the Falklands Conflict.
New exhibits will include objects from our rich collection, on display at IWM London and IWM North for the very first time.
The story and legacy of the conflict will also be explored through brand-new digital content. | |
|
|
| |
| | |
| | |
|
| The briefcase was sent to Madrid and the job of recovering it went to Hitler’s most trusted operative in Spain, Karl-Erich Kühlenthal. Nine days after the body had been discovered, the fake letter finally fell into German hands.
A German officer with Jewish heritage, Kühlenthal was desperate to please his superiors. Never doubting their authenticity, he handed the fake documents to his superiors in Berlin. After intense scrutiny, they were determined to be genuine. The lie began to make its way up the chain of command.
On 12 May, codebreakers at Bletchley Park intercepted a message from German high command. It was an order to German commanders in the Mediterranean to prepare for an Allied attack on Greece.
When the news reached Montagu that the Germans had taken the bait, he slammed his hand down on the desk in triumph. That evening Winston Churchill received a telegram from MI5 that read ‘Mincemeat swallowed, rod, line and sinker’.
Two months later, the allies invaded Sicily with far fewer casualties than expected. Operation Mincemeat had been a tremendous success.
Finally, in 1998, grave number 1,886 in Huelva Roman Catholic Cemetery was amended. It now commemorates two lives: the heroic but fictional life of Major William Martin, and the fleeting, tragic life of Glyndwr Michael. |
|
|
|
|
|
