Operation Mincemeat

1
Operation Mincemeat
2
Major Martin
3
On April 30, 1943, the body of Glyndwr Michael,
disguised as Major William Martin of the Royal
Marines, was dropped into the sea off Huelva on
the Spanish coast. In his briefcase were letters,
meticulously faked by British intelligence
officers to give the impression that the Allies
intended to attack Greece, and not Sicily. Within
hours the body was spotted by a young fisherman
and brought to shore. The briefcase was taken
into Spanish custody and Michael was buried under
his assumed name in Huelva cemetery. Would the
Spanish pass the documents to the Germans? And if
they did, would the Germans take the bait?
4
A British submarine planted Martin's body off the
coast of Spain, making it appear that he had died
in a plane crash. Although the Spanish were a
neutral party in the war, they were sympathetic
to the Nazis and shared their discover with them.
The Spanish could not simply hand over the body
to the Germans, however, without fear of
provoking the British. To that end, they
carefully examined the body and opened the
briefcase. They opened the sealed envelopes very
carefully and managed to get the "top secret"
documents out long enough to photograph them
before replacing them. They then passed the
photographs on to Berlin and the body, including
the suitcase, to the British. Major Martin was
buried with full military honors and the
documents were carefully studied by German
intelligence.
5
The Germans realized the probability of an
attempt at deception, but the British had done
such a good job at creating an identity for Major
Martin that they were convinced by the evidence
they saw. Hitler himself ordered extra Panzer
divisions to Greece while neglecting the defense
of the real target, Sicily. As with the attack on
Normandy later, this ruse made the invasion much
easier by insuring that the Nazis were not
prepared for it. If the Germans had known it
would come in Sicily or had not believed that it
would come in Greece, they would have been more
prepared when General Montgomery and General
Patton landed in Sicily.
6
The diversion worked.
7
The identity of Major Martin remains a mystery.
It remained classified for over 50 years after
the war. It was not until the 1990s that the name
Glyndwr Michael was revealed to the public.
Apparently, Martin was really a homeless man from
Wales who had committed suicide by eating some
rat poison. While some scholars have doubts as to
whether Michael was really the corpse used in
Operation Mincemeat and we will likely never know
for sure, it is interesting to think that a
homeless Welsh man helped win World War II for
the Allies!