"Operation Mincemeat " Topic

by Ben Macintyre

"Operation Mincemeat was one of the most audacious deception operations of the Second World War. It was also one of the most bizarre, since it relied on the use of a freshly appropriated corpse that would be set adrift from a submarine in order to wash-up on a Spanish beach. Ultimately, it was also hugely successful, fooling the Germans into thinking that the main Allied thrust in the Mediterranean would not, as expected, come through Sicily but rather elsewhere. When the Allied troops, during the subsequent Operation Husky, eventually did storm ashore on the island of Sicily, they faced a much reduced German defensive force; and they had a dead homeless man to thank for their good fortune!

The story of Operation Mincemeat is perhaps best known from the 1956 film ‘The Man Who Never Was', staring Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame and Robert Flemyng, itself based on the book of the same name written by Ewen Montague. Montague himself was the real-life naval intelligence officer behind the deception, who, after the war, fought hard to be granted permission to make public the story of Mincemeat, However, at a time when the Second World War was still fresh in the memory of many, the published story was subject to many restrictions, since a number of characters involved in events continued to work in the shadowy world of secret intelligence.

Macintyre, writing almost seventy-years later, has painstakingly researched the true story of Operation Mincemeat and produced one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the deception. No longer restricted by the need for secrecy, the reader is introduced to the complex planning of the operation and its subsequent execution and aftermath. The reader is also introduced to a cast of remarkable figures involved in the events, such as Montague and his fellow intelligence officer, Charles Cholmondeley. Perhaps most importantly, the star of the story, Glyndwr Michael, who in life accomplished so little but in death can be justly credited in having saved thousands of lives, is given the proper recognition he deserves…"

Full review here
link

Have you read it?

Amicalement
Armand

Yes, very interesting. Having read The Man Who Never Was when I was younger, it was very informative to read a new take on the operation. The original book was written by one of the major players behind Mincemeat at a time when some of his colleagues were still secret service operatives, so it necessarily skates over things that can now be revealed in this new book.

ok

Amicalement
Armand