Operation Mincemeat

Jobless and Homeless alcoholic, 34 year old Glyndwr Michael ingested phosphorus on January 24th 1943 and died.

Major William Martin of the Royal Marines body was found drifting on 30 April, 1943 off the coast of Spain. Both men bore an uncanny resemblance to one another because they were in fact one and the same person.

Glyndwr Michael’s body was discovered in an old warehouse at Kings Cross in London. His body was placed in the refrigeration unit at Hackney Mortuary. During his time in the mortuary two intelligence officers, Ewan Montagu and Charles Cholmondeley oversaw what was to become an elaborate makeover of Michael’s cadaver with the purpose of creating the fictitious major. No detail was spared in creating Martin’s persona. They placed an Identity Card in his pockets along with tickets stubs and even a few keepsakes from a fictitious fiancee.

The most vital part of the majors personal luggage was a leather brief case containing top secret documents that detailed plans of the Allied invasion of German occupied Greece.The allies were in fact intending to invade Sicily.

Spain was chosen as a target because although neutral it was considered to be infiltrated by a good many Nazi Spies. One such Spy being “Adolf Class” a very well connected Nazi infiltrator operating in Spain at the time. And so it was that on 30th of April the fake military courier was placed into the sea close to the Spanish Port of Huelva.

The Spanish Authorities recovered his body and assumed he was the victim of a light air craft accident. They placed his possessions under lock and key and gave the homeless vagrant a military funeral with a head stone bearing the name of the fabricated Major Martin.

The plan itself was code named “Operation Mincemeat”. It was a simple plan intended to feed false invasion plans to the German high command and therefore encourage them to concentrate their activity and resources in an area that was well away from where the real invasion was to take place.The plan was devised by one of Churchill’s leading intelligence officers, Ian Fleming. The same Ian Fleming who went on to become the author of the “James Bond” novels.

An Obituary mention appeared in British Newspapers to further strengthen the credibility of this man who never was.

Image via Wikipedia

It took the German’s several efforts and over a week to get their hands on the briefcase’s contents, but at length the fake documents did find their way to Hitler. Hitler took the bait and moved a Panzer division and 90,000 troops to Greece.

In effect, the course of the Second World War was altered by the body of a vagrant from Wales.