AETNUK.All Rights Reserved. Michael/Martin was but a prop in Operation Mincemeat, brainchild of Ian Fleming, and put into action by Cholmondeley and Montagu, Churchill's "corkscrew thinkers" in the War Office. Adolf Clauss and Karl-Erich Khlenthal could not believe the stroke of luck that had come their way. It was an extraordinary operation in extraordinary times. Mincemeat would be the most ambitious, and successful, scheme of the lot. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating rat poison, dressed him as an officer of the Royal Marines and placed That was also true in real life, as revealed by historian Ben Macintyre. But the dead marine, called Major William Martin, and the documents he held were entirely fabricated. WebJune 20, 2022 Top image:Major Martins personal items. David Benedict, in his review of the Southwark Playhouse production of the show for Variety, wrote, "this is the musical you didnt know you needed until you see the expert cast of five embracing and racing through a clutch of preposterous yet endearing characters and musical styles, telling a story with delicious precision". That night, Montagu and Charles arrive in Scotland to load "Bills" corpse onto the submarine HMS Seraph; its crew are told that the sealed canister contains meteorological equipment ("Sail On, Boys"). The author of the Trout Memo, outlining the 54 possible opportunities for deception, was penned by none other than Ian Flemming - the creator of James Bond. Mincemeat would be the most ambitious, and successful, scheme of the lot. It had been discovered, on 30 April 1943, among the possessions of a dead Royal Marine floating off the coast; the victim of a plane crash who must have been in the water for some time until a local fisherman spotted his remains. However, as it was the obvious next target, the operation's aim was to convince the Germans the real Allied target was Greece, with diversionary attacks into Sardinia and Corsica. Moments later, they learn Bill has also been recovered, and they instruct Haselden to make sure the briefcase they placed the misleading documents in is seized by the Spanish government, amidst news that the authorities are indeed suspicious and have ordered an autopsy. WebHistorydraft beta History of Operation Mincemeat Friday Apr 16, 1943 to Thursday Apr 29, 1943 Spain Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. If you enjoy reading our stories, please take a moment tovote for us. Jonny Wilkes is a former staff writer for BBC History Revealed, and he continues to write for both the magazine and HistoryExtra. "I think it's no accident, in a way that some of the greatest novelists of the 20th Century were also spies: Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, John Buchan, John Le Carr," says Macintyre. (concerning Operation Mincemeat), Blue folio (1p) headed 'Postagram or message', addressed to 'N.A.MADRID (personal)' and dated 4.5.43. Charles notices that Montagu occasionally "misplaces" important files, and is suspicious of a brief meeting he witnesses between Montagu and Ivor. An update from Bevan then confirms that a last-minute backup plan - for Haselden to drop hints that the British desperately wanted Bills briefcase back - has worked, and Adolf Hitler himself has ordered the transfer of German troops from Sicily to Sardinia. Whether it was down to the excruciating detail that had gone into transforming Glyndwr Michael into the recently deceased Major Martin or down to the desperation of German intelligence to get a win, the letter was believed to be real and quickly found its way to Hitlers desk. Special Operations Executive (SOE) was created during the Second World War with the instruction to set Europe ablaze - discover the stories of some of the men and women who served. The Abwehr put a copy of the letter on Hitlers desk, and he quickly ordered infantry and panzer divisions, fighter squadrons, artillery and torpedo boats to defend Greece, Sardinia and the Balkans. The deception succeeded, in part, because the naval intelligence officers behind it, Ewen Montagu and Charles Cholmondeley, were so invested in the fiction. WebOperation Mincemeat was a successful deception operation to support the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. As the Allies plotted to invade Sicily in 1943, two British intelligence officers concocted an elaborate deception operation involving a corpse, a submarine, and a briefcase stuffed with documents. The letter hinted at the planned Allied invasion of Greece and Sardinia in the next few months. Save 70% on the shop price when you subscribe today - Get 13 issues for just $49.99 + FREE access to HistoryExtra.com, Operation Mincemeat: how a corpse duped Hitler. Eventually, Jean and Hester catch Charles looking in Montagus briefcase, with all three subsequently discovered by Montagu; despite his protests, they read his files, and learn that he is actually writing a film script about Mincemeat depicting himself as a hero; he was secreting files so that he could archive them for personal use later on, being careful not to let them into the wrong hands, and he was talking to Ivor - a filmmaker - to get his opinion on a rough, censored draft of the script. And if you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. Do it once and do it well was - and is - very much the ethos.". For some reason, though, the Spanish refused to hand anything over to the Germans. Rather sadly the only photo that survives of him is one of his corpse dressed in military uniform. And put in front of Winston Churchill was a telegram: Mincemeat swallowed rod, line and sinker.. private papers of Captain Ewen Montagu RNR, Seven Stories from Special Operations Executive. Cholmondeley and Montagu clearly enjoyed creating this character to fool the Nazis. Graduate with the problem-solving and analytical abilities that will give you the edge in the world of work. Operation Mincemeat was a successful deception operation to support the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Sulking after his rejection, Montagu encounters Air Force officer and "amateur naturalist" Charles Cholmondeley, who has formulated a strategy code-named "Operation Mincemeat", but is convinced of its futility after being bullied out of line by Montagu and his colleagues ("Dead in the Water"). Montagu and his team fired off a telegram to Churchill: "Mincemeat swallowed rod, line and sinker.". WebOperation Mincemeat was a successful British disinformation plan during World War II. It hoodwinked the Nazi espionage chiefs, sent German troops hurtling in the wrong direction, and saved thousands of lives by deploying a secret agent who was different, in one crucial respect, from any spy before or since: he was dead. It was touch and go as to whether German intelligence would take the bait left by Cholmondeley and Montague. Colonel Johnny Bevan informs his subordinates that the British government requires a strategy to convince the Nazis that the Allied Forces are planning to invade Sardinia rather than their actual (and more obvious) target, Sicily; several officers, including Montagu and Ian Fleming, present their ideas, but despite their conviction of their own brilliance ("God Thats Brilliant"), Bevan dismisses them all as uncreative and poorly planned. How - and are such tactics still in use today? "It hits doubly now that everyone's been through something where they might have yearned for a loved one for upwards of two years or lost a loved one and never said goodbye," reflects David Cumming, who plays Cholmondeley, as a sweetly geeky newt-fancier. [16][17][18][19][20] It was nominated for several awards, and listed in the Observer's Top 10 shows of the year when it opened at the New Diorama Theatre in 2019. WebThe British subsequently invade Sicily with little-to-no bloodshed, and Bevan informs an ecstatic Montagu, Charles, Jean and Hester that Operation Mincemeat is officially a Idea number 28 (later named Operation Mincemeat) was inspired by a novel by Basil Thompson. A corpse, that of an unnamed nomad who ingested rat poison, is obtained with the help of Montagus acquaintance, the morally dubious Bernard Spilsbury ("Spilsbury"); the team are concerned about using the corpse without the knowledge and consent of any relatives, let alone knowing his real name, but Montagu is adamant that it is better for the corpse to be a "nobody". Operation Mincemeat was, perhaps surprisingly, an incredibly successful operation. After a nervy few days of back and forth with the Spanish authorities, the agents members of Germanys military intelligence service, the Abwehr had got their hands on a piece of information that could change the course of WW2: a top-secret letter between two British generals. The man who hid in the jungle for 30 years, The bus driver who stole a Goya masterpiece. The body was not Captain (Acting Major) William Martin of the Royal Marines, but a homeless man called Glyndwr Michael; the personal papers, keys, cigarettes, stamps, theatre tickets and loving mementoes from a fiance in his pockets had been fabricated and planted; the fisherman found the body exactly where the British carefully planned it to be so that the Germans would know about it; and the top-secret letter was a hoax. All the better to pitch it right when negotiating - or seeking to deceive. In 1943, at the height of World War Two, British Intelligence agents hatched an elaborate scheme to convince the Germans that the Allied forces were planning to invade Greece rather than Sicily. Pink folio (1p) headed 'Most Secret' and dated 15.4.43, received 1615. | was probably the most successful, and certainly the of the - and perhaps any war. 36524 The film stars Colin Firth, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn and Jason Isaacs. "It's almost like a Valentine to spy stories," she says. Magazines, Digital From Room 13, the first issue that Cholmondeley and Montagu had to solve for Mincemeat was acquiring the right body. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Rat poison does not furnish the desperate with an easy death. ", A new stage musical reinvents the story of the operation with songs inspired by Beyonc and sea shanties, and gender-swapped casting (Credit: Matt Crockett). Operation Mincemeat was, perhaps surprisingly, an incredibly successful operation. This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at htt The play contained a sense of anger that a person could be deemed more valuable after death than when alive. While Spain was neutral, the government cooperated with the Nazis and so Cholmondeley and Montagu knew the letter would reach the Abwehr. They created a convincing backstory for the corpse, a whole new identity: a homeless person named Glyndwr Michael, who had died after ingesting rat poison, was transformed into William Martin, an officer of the Royal Marines. Just as the leaked US diplomatic cables contain unflattering pen portraits of overseas leaders, Britain's declassified WWII intelligence files detail character quirks of key German figures. [16], Reviewing the Riverside Studios production in Gay Times, Chris Selman wrote "the songs are brilliant, the script is smart, the jokes are hilarious; more than that, though, this ingenious production manages to create an entire world and substantial cast on a shoestring budget with a tiny ensemble".[22]. 2023 BBC. The successful invasion was considered a turning point in the war, accelerating Mussolinis downfall later that month and supporting the Allies in their eventual victory in Europe in September 1945. Early on 30 April 1943, the body of Major Martin was launched into the sea from the British submarineHMSSeraphand left to drift just over a mile off the southern Spanish coast. Our quickfire quiz BBC uncovers drugs trade link to top Syrian officials, How one temple feeds 100,000 people a day. What a stupid thing for anyone to do. Its often said the best way to see the future is to understand the past. Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) and Captain Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) decided to plant a dead body disguised as a member of the British royal marines off the coast of Spain. Cholmondeley and Montagu prepared the body and loaded it into a container filled with dry ice for the journey to Scotland (driven by a pre-war motor racing champion, no less) where the submarine HMS Seraph was waiting. Ts letter (1p) dated 16 April 1943 and beginning 'The Prime Minister has approved the proposed plan' (concerning Operation Mincemeat). All Rights Reserved. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to ourFacebookpage or message us onTwitter. And writers abound in the Mincemeat story, something the film plays up. It's a story so fantastic and macabre that it feels like the product of a writer's imagination. "The fact of much of the acting company having had what is now called 'lived experience' [of destitution] added authenticity and power," he adds. Cholmondeley and Montagu had planted an eyelash in the envelope so they would know it had been opened when the Spanish inevitably returned the briefcase. History at Plymouth helps you do just that, while gaining the professional skills needed throughout your career. Covert operations and deception plans aimed to confuse the enemy at every opportunity. A specialist unit MI9 was set up in 1939 and one of its principal roles was to help Allied personnel escape and to debrief them on their return for the purposes of gathering information. "We really loved how much they loved creating the fiction," says SpitLip's Natasha Hodgson, who plays Montagu. Giant map of Sicily in Headquarters Lascaris War Rooms, Valletta, Malta | Image: TheLiftCreativeServices / Shutterstock.com, Operation Mincemeat: Britain's campaign of deception in WWII, Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, Kim Philby: The MI6 double agent who spied for Russia, Operation Paperclip: How Nazi scientists advanced American space travel, Pilots of the Caribbean: The most influential Black RAF pilots from WWII, 3 times Henry VIII almost died without a male heir, 14 fascinating facts about Shakespeare's Globe. Portrait photograph of Montagu, head and shoulders, in uniform and naval cap. "We really wanted to get across the joy of creation and story and narrative because that's what we were doing too." Montagu reads his plan, and despite declaring it "insane", recognises its potential and convinces Charles that they should team up to pitch Mincemeat to Bevan, noting his own natural "flair for presentation" ("Dead in the Water (reprise)"). Detailing how the Allies intended to invade Greece and Sardinia rather than the more advantageous Sicily, if the documents were to fall into the wrong hands, it could spell major disaster for British and Allied forces. Although Lesley knew the two men, theres no evidence that they were vying for her affections. (The naval officer who developed Operation Mincemeat). Details as small as Major Martins underwear to the leaf litter contained in his pockets were considered to create the effect of a whole human who lived a life both in and out of the military. Operation Mincemeat a historical drama chronicling an audacious World War II plot by the British intelligence services to dupe the Nazisdrops on Netflix May 11. Signalpapers outlining the role of submarine HMS Seraph in delivering its secret cargo. They had not - his parents were dead. So included in his effects was a photo of Pam actually an MI5 clerk, Jean Leslie a receipt for an engagement ring, and a couple of beautifully poignant love letters to Bill darling. Prior to Mincemeat, they had created a network of fictitious double agents to feed misinformation to the Nazis. Nothing may have ever come of this, but to deceive the Axis about Sicily required the upmost limits of what Churchill dubbed corkscrew thinking imaginative problem solving beyond the linear approach and Number 28 was resurrected in 1943. ("Why did we meet in the middle of a war? The Germans acted swiftly on the false information by doubling the number of troops sent to Sardinia, while many additional German divisions were also transferred to Greece and the Balkans. In 1950, Duff Cooper, a former cabinet minister, published the novel Operation Heartbreak, a thinly veiled version of events. This would allow the Allied forces to successfully take the island and gain an all-important foothold in the south of Europe. The show, devised by theatre company SpitLip, started life on the London fringe in 2019 and has since played several sell out runs at increasingly larger spaces. Although issued by Britains director of naval intelligence, John Godfrey, the true author may well have been his assistant, Ian Fleming. Masterminded by Charles Cholmondeley and Ewen The genesis of the idea went back to the early days of the war with the 1939 Trout Memo, so named as the document compared deception of the enemy to fly-fishing for trout. , WEB24 "Telling the story entirely from his angle gave us the full pathos and dignity of his life," explains Jackson. Letter from the private papers of Captain Ewen Montagu RNR showing the authorisation of the plan on behalf of PM Winston Churchill. Operation Mincemeat grows legitimately tense on both the personal and professional levels as the team executes the mission and waits anxiously to learn whether it was successful. These had to be written in special ink so as not to run while in the water. Around halfway down, the 28th idea had the enigmatic title A suggestion (not a very nice one). It was a plan first conceived by James Bond writer Ian Fleming in the 1930s: use a dead body to float false plans into enemy territory. It could not have injuries that contradicted the story of a plane crash, and there had to be no chance of family showing up asking questions. As the latest Wikileaks release reveals, the foibles of foreign counterparts is an integral part of intelligence gathering. [3], The musical transferred to the Fortune Theatre in London's West End, beginning previews on 29 March 2023 (with press nights on 9 and 10 May) and running originally until 8 July 2023, extended incrementally to 19 August 2023, 23 September 2023, and 4 November 2023, based on demand for tickets.[4]. To ensure the success of the invasion, two British intelligence officers came up with an elaborate plan to deceive the Nazis and draw their allied armies away from the Italian coast. A large part of Operation Mincemeat centred around finding the right kind of dead body to create the fictional Major Martin. Hester is inspired to tell Jean about the suspicion around Montagus brother, and Jean agrees to swallow her pride and investigate. With the help of a London coroner, Cholmondeley and Montagu chose Michael as he had no known relatives looking for himhis identity wasnt revealed publicly until the 1990s. By Megan Lane. To create Martin, they had to find someone who would not be missed, a body they could treat as a blank slate, as if he had never lived. 3 December 2010 Inside the War Office, Operation Mincemeat was months in the planning By Megan Lane BBC News Magazine During World War II, the Nazis fell Fleming suggested the corpse plot to Godfrey as a clever way to trick the Nazis after reading a similar storyline in a novel. After all, Major Martin had never existed. The uncomfortable truth is that his body was stolen, with his contribution to the war effort only attributed to him in 1997 when a post-script was added to the grave epitaph of Major William Martin - a man who never existed. Strategic deception was, however, only one weapon in the armoury of the Allied intelligence services. This included a note from his bank manager, saying he was overdrawn; receipts and ticket stubs from various theatres and clubs, to demonstrate his appetite for nightlife; and, most poignantly, love letters from his beloved "Pam", with whom he'd had a whirlwind wartime romance. Over a dozen characters are played by the 5 members of cast, often gender-swapped. WebIn this episode, Sean and James discuss the 2021 Netflix film Operation Mincemeat, which tells the story of one of the most successful examples of military deception in history.
Lovejoy Concert Brighton, Articles W