Operation Mincemeat

[Fretters]

I watched the documentary on iplayer last night. Amazing story of deception that I didn't know much about. Basically, the body of a Welsh homeless man was dressed up as a British soldier and dumped in the sea on the coast of Spain. In his pocket and briefcase were fake secret service documents hinting that the allies were going to invade Greece and not Siicily as expected. This led to Hitler moving thousands of troops away from Sicily to Greece, clearing the way for us to make our move.

There was so much to think about. Like, they had to find the corpse of somebody who could not be linked to anyone (ideally no family), had died recently enough to not have begun decomposing and had died in a way that wouldn't show up in any autopsy. Glyndwr Michael had died from rat poisoning which, back then, wouldn't be spotted in an autopsy. It took months for somebody to turn up to the coroner who ticked all these conditions.

Once found, they set about creating an entire life for him so his wallet could include receipts and love letters from his fake girlfriend. They even made him a passport but struggled to photograph the corpse's face in a lifelike way so, again, they had to wait weeks while London was quietly searched for a lookalike.

The whole idea was dreamt up by Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond! I'd recommend giving it a watch.

[Burnley1989]

I like the sound of that! Thanks for the heads up

[TheFamilyCat]

I watched it too and was aware of the story but not the level of detail they had to go to in creating his back story. The whole thing was just utterly bonkers but brilliant.

I loved that the two blokes responsible seemed to be having a right laugh.

[Hipper]

There's a film - The Man Who Never Was - which is pretty good.

Another true WW2 deception is in the film 'I was Monty's Double' and the fellow who was Montgomery's double, an actor, plays his part.

[Fretters]

I watched it too and was aware of the story but not the level of detail they had to go to in creating his back story. The whole thing was just utterly bonkers but brilliant.

I loved that the two blokes responsible seemed to be having a right laugh.

They really did. An RAF officer who didn't go near a plane and a Navy officer who didn't go near a boat. The closest they came to death in service was when the racing driver almost killed them driving the corpse up to Scotland

[TheFamilyCat]

There's a film - The Man Who Never Was - which is pretty good.

Another true WW2 deception is in the film 'I was Monty's Double' and the fellow who was Montgomery's double, an actor, plays his part.

I think it’s being remade, or a new film about the story is being made.

Edit: should have googled it before I posted: https://www.screendaily.com/news/colin- ... 77.article" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Bosscat]

Triple cross a film with Christopher Plummer made in 1966 was a story loosely based on Eddie Chapman... an ex con who becsme s double double agent ... the Nazis thought he worked for them .. but he worked for Mi5 as a double agent....

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Cross_(1966_film" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

[Hipper]

Eddie Chapman worked for himself.

[Claret Toni]

There are other viewpoints about "Mincemeat".

Purportedly the body of a Welsh alcoholic tramp was mistaken for that of Royal Marine Officer. Not sure how anyone makes that mistake.
An alternate theory is that the body used was that of a John Melville a sailor who drowned after HMS Dasher exploded.

Consider also the man running the Mincemeat operation was Ewen Montagu, later a barrister and judge. An intelligent man (Westminster, Trinity College Cambridge & Harvard), he would have wanted to use everything he could to ensure the deception worked. The stakes were high, the invasion of Southern Europe. Given his background I've no doubt he would have been prepared to spirit away the corpse of a more realistic Royal Marine Major to ensure the success of the operation.

Just another thought, but how and why on earth were the Abwehr taken in by this, when it's pretty obvious to all that Sicily, not Greece, is the place to invade. Admiral Canaris was head of the Abwehr organisation which seems to have been pretty easily taken in by the deception. Canaris himself was executed following the Valkyrie plot. I don't think Canaris was a double agent, more a German who despaired of Hitler and the Nazis.

[rob63]

There's a film - The Man Who Never Was - which is pretty good.

Another true WW2 deception is in the film 'I was Monty's Double' and the fellow who was Montgomery's double, an actor, plays his part.

It was on last weekend I think, if you can get it on catch up, not sure of channel, sorry, could be c4 or c5?

[Clarets4me]

I flew back from Bordeaux last weekend, where Mrs Clarets4me and I, my sister and Niece and the Gents who live with certain learning disabilities who we care for, spent an enjoyable and extremely hot week. We went up to St Georges, just south of Royan on the mouth of the Gironde estuary, where I took the opportunity to visit the memorial to the 12 " Cockleshell Heroes ", who took part in " Operation Frankton ". These men were the immediate forerunners of the SBS, and the details of their actions are here ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Frankton

I took some photo's for one of my oldest friends ( ex SBS - RSM ), it was a humbling experience ...

[FactualFrank]

I thought this was going to be about my horrific attempt of making a Shepherd's pie..

I'll record it though and let you know what I think.

[Billy Balfour]

I watched this last week along with the Eddie Chapman documentary. I already knew quite a bit about Mincemeat, but hardly anything about Eddie Chapman. Eddie Chapman - a British subject who was awarded the Iron Cross. It's fascinating stuff, isn't it.

[Stevie2112]

A really great watch,thanks.