1
THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1953.
A gentle push...a dead man
THE MAN
WHO
NEVER WAS
CHAPTER14:
THIS is the first inside story of how, in 1943, Britain foxed Hitler into believing the Allies ⚫ would attack NOT Sicily, but Sardinia or Greece. A dead man was dressed in officer's uniform; "doctored" papers in his pockets identified him as "Major Martin, Royal Marines" he carried "Important" letters to mislead the Germans, Now read on....
THE time for the de-
T
parture by sub- inurine of "Major Willium Martin,
Royal Marines" was draw- ing near. Our plans. wore complete.
Final approval for "Operation Mincemeat"—a: it was called-was now sought from Mr Churchill through General Ismay.
Wo had to warn the Prime . Minister of two hazards:
FIRST: If the Germans saw through our deception, Selly would be quite deanitely pin- pointed as the Allied farget.
SECOND: All our efforts might be wasted if the wrong Spaniard found the body and did not pass the documents to the Germans.
M
UNPLEASANT
1 · CHURCHILL, however, gave his consent, making just this comment on our second warning"I don't see that it matters we can always try again."
com-
He directed that General Eisenhower, in supreme mand of the Invasion of Steily. should be informed of was happening.
what us]
Now we got to work on the actual operation.
Two of us, with the late Jock Horsfall, the racing-motorist, an co-driver, set off in a 20 cwt. Ford van from London to fetch the body of "Major Mar.
in" from his cold storage.
Before we put him into his
was on his way to
fight for Britain
THAT
ASTONISHING MOMENT OFF THE COAST
AT DAWN
DRAWING BY OLIPHANT
we set off for Greenock, Because of its weight and until on inch of the calm sea A gentle push and the un- the port of departure.
shape, the six ratings who lapped over the casing. The known warrior was drifting in- dark night with masked lights, about "John
It was a long journey in the manoeuvred it into pince joked mysterious canister was hauled shore with the tide on his last,
Brown's body." aloft. and we could not help worry- And there was many a
wise-
momentous Journey. "Major ing (especially when I drove crack about our new shipmate, below, did Lieutenant
Only then, with all ratings Martin" had gone to the war. Jewell With him went the hopes and straight across roundabout Charlie,"
let his officers into the secret. prayers of millions, For en Today, ten years later, those Lieutenant Jewell told them his safe arrival dopended the fate of the Allled invasion of Europe and maybe the history of the world. -
Island) what would happen if We had on aceltient.
50 ex-members of the Seraph's that the canister at their feet
It was lucky that Lieutenant crew will be shaken to learn contained a corpse. The opera Jewell (now Commander) was how close to the truth they In command of submarine were.
6 ft. canister we had to dress Scraph as he had already made Elm in the uniform of major of the Royal Marines,
and
a success of other
here we found difficulty in our missions.
unpleasant tusk
metal canister contained
It was his submarine ·that secret weather-reporting device the Mediterranean invasion. smuggled General Mark
Clark to be floated experimentally off
a font unless you can bend the 1942 before the Allied landings. Lankle-and "Major Merlin" was
frozen if it was a problem,
bat nt last he was fully dresz- el.
by THE HON.
For
ALL OVER
28
E had ascertained that
Olight of the kind we were
an 1, he said, was part of Allied plari to deceive the They had been told in the enemy into drawing his defen- top-secret briefing for the trip that the sive forees away from the spot selected for the main thrust of
We had not
not realised that it
Phoney invasion plans were W impossible to put a boot on to in and out of North Africa in the coast of Spain. It was ac- to bo "planted" on the enemy simulating would very likely be
tually marked "Handle with through the medium of the Core-cplical instruments for body of this man Special EO.5.
that of be "Major Marilnoring to Catalina flying boat; also, was probable that after a Catalina crach there would ten days Seraph sail an air crash at sea. cd and her crew saw nothing of Huelva had been chosen for be little or no floating wreckage.
Surfacing only
We decided, nt the "plant" because it the sun.
therefore, night, she was off Huelva,
known that the German gen launch, some distance from the
Jewell Lloptonant
should the south-west coast of Spain,
being well fed with body, a rubber dinghy such as undetected and according to military intelligence by local was used in Catalinas, with one schedule, on April 30.
What a story to be sprung on aluminium oor only so as to you suddenly in the middle of simulate some degree of haste,
night
with the Atlantie lap- and that no other wrockago ping round your boots! But if would be needed, The ennister the junior officers were shaken he would sink in deep water. THE spot selected for floating by their commander's dramatic "Major Martin" ashore was and gruesomo revelation they 1,000 yards off the inoulh that the Huelva viv
of did not betray it.
Only reaction was the com-
The canister was filled with dry ice to exclude all air and prevent decomposition - and nftor It had evaporated the. major was put in, wrapped in a blanket, more dry lee pack- round bim' and the lid was screwed down.
DEPARTURE
WE had hardly set off back to
ur curney nearly ended sud- tienly. As we swung into the
In
road we all burst out lock
EWEN
E. S. MONTAGU
Jewell had also taken General Giraud by submarine out of oc- cupled France. for which ho was awarded the MBE.
It seemed to be a good omen, having regard to the cargo, that
1943, HMS Seraph had solled from the Holy Loch.
lu such an extent that
Here is an account I have re- nearly rammed a tram slon- celved of the voyage: dard. There, opposite us, was As the Seraph sild from the clitems queue to see a sun- shadow of her depot ship and rational spy film. The thought down the Clyde, the common- struck by all of what would der-he was only 20 happen if we had stopped and from the conning tower, then told them not to bother about went below.
→
MYSTERIOUS
THE BLIND PROVE BEST
FOR
SPOTTING PLANES
on
to
there was
collaborators.
TENSION
wus
that
Fifteen minutes after surfac- ing the Seraph was outward bound again for Gibraltar and Algiers,