Page 38 - History of War - Issue 01-14

did not strand, it would be carried out again on
the ebb”. This was less than perfect, but not
discouraging enough to call off the operation.
In any case, Montagu refl ected, the “object” in
question was a man in a life jacket – larger than
the object the hydrographer had been asked
to speculate about – and might be expected
to catch an onshore wind and drift landwards.
He concluded: “The currents on the coast
are unhelpful at any point, but the prevailing
southwest wind will bring the body ashore if
Jewell can ditch it near enough to the coast.”
A swamp of detail
In the last week of March, Montagu drew up a
seven-point progress report for Johnnie Bevan
[the man in overall control of wartime deception].
Bevan had just returned from North Africa,
where he had coordinated plans for Operation
Barclay with Lt Colonel Dudley Clarke. Relations
between Montagu and Bevan remained tense.
“I am not quite clear as to who is in sole charge
of administrative arrangements in connection
with this operation,” Bevan wrote to Montagu
in a note calculated to rile him. “I think we all
agree that there are a number of things that
might go wrong.” Montagu was in no doubt that
he was in sole charge of the operation, even if
Bevan did not see it that way. Privately, Montagu
The corpse of “Major Martin” was Mary Evans accused Bevan of “thinking it couldn’t come off
and disclaiming all responsibility”.
actually Glyndwr Michael, a homeless man Montagu’s report laid out the state of play:
who had died after ingesting rat poison. the body was almost ready, with Major Martin’s
Far right: Major Martin’s fake ID card uniform and accoutrements selected, and the
canister was under construction. There was also
replied that British submarines passed Huelva a deadline. “Mincemeat will be taken out as an
Oxygen, he explained, was the cause of rapid frequently, en route to Malta; indeed, HM Seraph inside passenger in HMS Seraph, leaving the
decomposition. But “if most of the oxygen had was currently in Scotland, preparing to return northwest coast of this country probably on the
previously been excluded” from the tube with dry to the Mediterranean in April. The Seraph was 10th April.” That was just two weeks away.
ice, and if the canister was airtight, and if the commanded by Lieutenant Bill Jewell, a young Montagu and Cholmondeley had sought to
body was carefully packed around with dry ice, captain who had already carried out several arrange everything before obtaining fi nal approval
the corpse would “keep perfectly satisfactorily” secret assignments and who could be relied on for the operation, on the assumption that senior
and remain as cold as it had been inside the for complete discretion. Montagu drew up some offi cers were far less likely to meddle when
morgue. Fraser-Smith’s task, then, was to design draft operational orders for Jewell and arranged presented with a fait very nearly accompli. But
“an enormous Thermos fl ask”, thin enough to fi t to meet the offi cer in London. there was now little time to fi nalise the last, and
down the torpedo hatch. The Ministry of Aircraft The hydrographer at the Admiralty submitted most important, piece of the puzzle. Montagu’s
Production was instructed to build this container his report on the winds and tides off the coast letter to Bevan ended on a note of exasperation:
as fast as possible, without being told what it of Huelva. He was distinctly non-committal, “All the details are now ‘buttoned up,’” he wrote.
was for. On the outside should be stencilled pointing out that “the Spaniards and Portuguese “All that is required are the offi cial documents.”
the words: “HANDLE WITH CARE – OPTICAL publish practically nothing about tides, tidal The debate about what should, or should not,
INSTRUMENTS – FOR SPECIAL FOS SHIPMENT.” streams and currents off their coasts”. Moreover, be contained in Major Martin’s offi cial letters
“the tides in that area run mainly up and down had already taken up more than a month. It is
Reading the tides the coast”. If the object was dropped in the right doubtful whether any documents in the war were
[Naval-intelligence offi cer, Lt-Commander Ewen] place, in the right conditions, “wind between subjected to closer scrutiny, or more revisions.
Montagu, meanwhile, contacted Admiral Sir S[outh] and W[est] might set it towards the Draft after draft was proposed by Montagu and
Claude Barry, the Flag Offi cer in command of head of the bight near P Huelva”. However, if Cholmondeley, revised by more senior offi cers
Submarines (FOS), to fi nd out which submarine the body did wash up on the shore, there was and committees, scrawled over, retyped, sent
might best be used for the mission. Barry no guarantee it would stay there because “if it off for approval, and then modifi ed, amended,

Operation Mincemeat Timeline

5 22 26 4 15 19

SEPTEMBER 1942 JANUARY 1943 JANUARY 1943 FEBRUARY 1943 APRIL 1943 APRIL 1943
An RAF Catalina FP119 seaplane crashes off Following the Allies’ Welsh homeless Charles Cholmondeley Colonel Johnnie Bevan HMS Seraph sets
the coast of Spain. The body of Royal Navy courier successful campaign man Glyndwr Michael and Ewen Montagu informs Churchill of sail for Spain,
Paymaster-Lt James Hadden Turner – equipped in North Africa, Prime is found in an present the rest of the plan at a secret carrying the corpse
with top-secret documents – is retrieved from Minister Winston abandoned warehouse the Twenty Committee war bunker in London. of “Major Martin”.
the Atlantic Ocean by Spanish authorities. Churchill and US in London, apparently with a draft of Operation Mincemeat
The incident inspires British intelligence to President Franklin having ingested rat Operation Mincemeat, is approved.
formulate a deliberate plan along the same lines, D Roosevelt make an poison. He dies in which will involve
with the intention of fooling German forces. agreement to invade hospital two days later. disposing of Michael’s
the island of Sicily. corpse off the
coast of Spain.
38 HISTORY WAR
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