Operation Mincemeat (on compact disc)

Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory
by Ben Macintyre [Compact Disc 940.548 Mac]

How does one fool German intelligence? This was the question that British intelligence officers mulled. Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu and Squadron Leader Charles Cholmondeley dreamed up the idea of allowing the Germans to find the body of a courier carrying false invasion plans. This is the story of how this pair found a body that had appeared to have drowned and created an identity for him. The identity that the Germans would see could only come from the clothes he wore, the items in his pockets and the letters in his possession. They chose the body of Glyndwr Michael, the son of a poor Welsh coal miner to play the role of William Martin, a major in the British Marines. Montagu and Cholmondeley gave a lot of thought to the personal letters in his possession. With the letters they painted a picture of Martin as the impulsive son of a well-to-do family. Martin was not careful with his money as evidenced by a letter from his banker telling him that he had overdrawn his bank account. A scolding letter from his father, John, saying that he will cover the overdraft but that William must be more responsible in the future. And loving letters from his fiancé, Pam, a woman that he knew only a short time before he proposed. Much discussion went into the creation of the documents locked in Martin's briefcase. The Germans had to believe that Sardinia, not Sicily, would be the target of the allied invasion. And how would the Germans find the body? Montagu and Cholmondeley decided that Martin would be released from a submarine just off the coast of Spain since Spain was a German ally. The Spaniards would turn the documents over to the Germans and both groups were to believe that Martin was carrying these secret plans when his plane crashed in the sea and he drowned with the briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. (The British had spies in Spain to make sure that the fake plans fell into German hands.) Ben Macintyre wrote this fascinating account based on papers that Ewen Montagu left after his death. Montagu's family saved all these documents in a wooden chest. When Macintyre opened the box he found official records, memos, letters, photographs and a 200-page memoir that Montagu wrote, all pertaining to Operation Mincemeat. Macintyre is not the first author to write about Operation Mincemeat. Montagu published his own novel based on this scheme in 1953. It was titled The Man Who Never Was and an instant best seller. This book was made into a popular movie in 1956 starring Clifton Webb. -- recommended by Donna G. - Virtual Services Department

[Also available in Print and downloadable E-book formats.]

[ Wikipedia page for Operation Mincemeat ] | [ Publisher's official Ben Macintyre web page ]

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