1953-03-14 — Page 11

THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1953.

THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS

The war's most fantastic

secret....

disclosed

for the first time

by THE HON.

EWEN E. S.

N the graveyarti of the

Spanish

town

of

Huelva, 130 miles north of Gibraltar on the Atlantic coast, there lies a' British subject. He died alone in the foggy dump of England in the autumn of 1942.

died As he

he little thought that he would lie for ever under the sunny skies. of Spain after, a funeral with full military honours, Or that he would, after death. render a service that saved many thousands British and American of lives.

tione nothing In life he had for his country. 10 denth he did more than most of us have

done by a lifetime of service,,

MONTAGU

THE AUTHOR

and the preparation would be based on that assumption.

The difficuty facing us was summed up by Mr Churchill, when he finally approved our operation, In spite of the

If It went wrong, it would that, inevitably pinpoint Sicily n

1141

er would aspect a "plant" and bur plan might be exposed,

Sir Bernard was encouraging. "It is a fact," he said, "th! when many people who die

an airliner crashes into the sea do netually die from shock and are therefore lifeless when they come to fost in the water. Their lungs are emply.'

So far, so good. But we still Jund to find a suitable body. If the worst came to the worst we might have to "do a Burke and Hare," as a brother officer put it. But we decided that we would have to play the game se lor as we could.

Very tentatively inquiries circles.

1

we opened Service medical

It was a very odd question we had to ask. Could we obtain passession of a body whose cause of death could be confused with shock or drowning or injury?

We encountered deep suspicion,

Here, then, told for the first vur real target, te said: "What but we did not give up hope,

time, is the full and true story of one of the best kept and most fascinating secrets of the

war.

It discloses the details of an exploit more astonishing than any story in war Action, exploit which surveeded yond our wildest

an

be-

in

Ger-

misleading not only the man general and admirats who directed the war but even Hitler, himself.

Take your mind buck to the

Errat autumn of 1942. The Allied invasion of North Afrin was moving forward steadily in victory.

Where next?

does that matter anybody but a damned

foot would in is Sleily."

it

How could we convive the Germans otherwise?

In our work we had assembled

a team which produced Ideas- good, bad, and indifferent-la u constant stremn..

of

some time previously. when new order had been Issued to try to prevent officers travelling by air from carrying secret papers, one member our

team had suggested we might one day drop a dead man with his pockets full of doctored papers which the Germans might arcept as genuine,

That bright iden had been discarded for several reason not least of which was that the planners dead man would be likely were facing the momentous break a limb or suffer other in-

BY November

decision: ufter North

where do we alrike the Mediterranean?

dropped

Africa juries even it

Injury next in

Was it to be Grecce, to the Fast, with its old historic rund through the Balkans into Ger many; Sielly, a stepping stone 10 Italy with il threat to Southern Germany; or Sardinia, board 103 Southern

France?

parachute, and an ceived after death recognisable.

11

10

by

↳ always

Finally

Je report came through about someone who had just died from pneumonia in which form of death there is liquid in the lungs.

And then.

NEVERISHILY We searched

We

through his personal records, His next of kin were alive, and we decided to take a chance on their agreeing to our plan. could not disclose its details, but It could be made clear how vitally important to the nation it was that we should have the body.

After much discussion we obtained the necessary consent, but only on an undertaking that the true identity of the body would always remain secret,

All I need say here is that the dead man, who was in his carly thirties!

from that time forward

**MAJOR became

WILLIAM MARTIN, ROYAL MARINES."

I had now lo consult Sir

clast time. Over a further

Finding a body Bernard for the

I described our ass of sherry

QUDDENLY "the penny drop- "Excellent," he said. "The spring

ped." Why not take ad- death could only be distinguish vantage of the fact that officers ed from drowning by a patholo The decision bad already

being flown glat of my experience, and there were continually nacle tentatively-Sicily. round the const been

aren't any bi Spain.” of Epait to and Roosevelt were North Africa? Churchill shoul to meet at Casablanca lu The

security

Operation of confirm it. The secret code-

Husky was important enough name "Husky" had already been for us to hope to be able to

body lo arrange for the

given to the plan.

be

The first vital security prob- place in the rea by a sub-

was how to conceal From Back

flying boat, or even the enemy where the blow marine,

lem

would full. Not merely to con- ceal the facts but to

warship.

if it floated ashore in Spain mystify was a good bet that any papers dupe him into believing on the that it would be elsewhere turdy wild fall into the

and

Jn

of the Gerinas espionage organisation which we knew had

Wo were, of course, not yet ready to carry out the opera- ton. So It was arranged that the body should be placed in cold storage until required, and I proceeded to get general approval for cur operation.

The first step, as always, was to give it code name. When looked at the list of code names allotted to the Admiralty, and found that the next one for use was "Mincemeat," It seemed a good orth to

of my sense humour, which by now was becoming somewhat mocabre.

Threefold task

TILAPPONI-MNITYkaca više.

WHITEHALLI:

LONDON, B. W. 1.

23rd April

I am taking advantage of mending you n personal letter by hand of one of Hountbatten'a officers, to give you the inside history of nur recent exohenge of cables about editerranean. operations and their estendant ever plane. You may hava folt'our decisions were someslint› srbitrary, bub, I ona ahure you 10-réat tant the C.C.B. Committen gore the most onrefuz considers both to your rebrnendation and.niko to Suraba

This is the start

of the vital

letter from-

SIR ARCHIBALD

NYE to-

GENERAL ALEXANDER

But before that

they had to call in-

SIR BERNARD

SPILSBURY

In Sicily,

If we could do so we would penetrated Spats so completely. fox

him Into withdrawing- But we had to find a body. vitally needed strength from the None of us liked this part defences of Sicily, and scatier of the idea very much. Even in ing it in

distant places where the stress of war one's natural it could not oxert any in-

respect for the sanctity of the fluence upon the battle.

human body remains a power- It all began as the result of ful instinct.

talk between brother

a

And first of all there

were So Operation and myself. We were many practical questions to both concerned with questions naswer-most of them answer, " We soon gained consent to go document (false, of course) from

able only by a pathologist of great experience.

a

officer

of the security of intended operations.

Ours was an interesting job. but a worrying one. Pylmarily we had to prevent leakage of Allied Intentions 'during

the

The obvious mun to consult was Sir Bernard Splisbury.

So I went to his club, the Junior Carlton, where

THE AREA OF THE OPERATION

Huelva

Sir

Mincemeat

it

The German

General Staff would have to have belore it n

became. ahead and found ourselves feced someone who must know what our real plans were, and who

with a threefold task.

FIRST, we had to find means to could not possibly be mistaken.

get the body and its deception

would

And to have a document

Сег

Morals them that he formation that could not bo

I inserted Sicily or being the "cover"target" for the Western Mediterranean. The beauty of that to my mind was that the Germans swallowed 01 deception any real leakage about Sicily that reached them from then on would be regard- ed by them as being part of our deception,

Then the trouble started. As the document went up and down to the Chlofs of Staff and · back again, so everyone among those to whom it was essential that it should be shown, and who felt himself to be an expert, able to understand the German mind, had bright ideas.

Too dangerous

It was too

dangerous, some said, to try for high stakes. The letter should therefore be a low level one, merely putting over a false dute.

We would

never xet the Germans to swallow the story and we would be bound to pin-point Sicily, said others. We must not mention Sardinia as the supposed target because, ff the Germans Επί Through the story, that would plr:- point Sicily.

Perhaps the greatest achieve- ment of the whole operation was that we managed eventually that to persudde our masters this was an opportunity which would never

recur, so that it we were to achieve a real suc-

· cess we must nim high.

Fortunately, after

a while, Nye himself really intrigued; he letter

Unsed in my draft. It was wholly unconvincing.

Sir Archibald became tried

pointed out to him that it was the sort of straightforward letter which could and would go in an official bag and therefore was not at all likely to be given

- to-- an- offer to carry--- in --- bis --

pocket..

ПНАТ

Challenge

was

which Sir

and produced

magnificently.

letter:

a

challenge Archibald rose

will be put down to neutralise the Siclitan airields, we should stick to our plan of making it cover for "Brim- slone indeed we stand very good chance of making Him think

for we will go Sicily-it is an obvious object- tic ive and one about which must be nervous.

On the other hand, they felt there was not much hope

of persunding the Boche that the extensive preparations in the Eastern Mediterrancan were also directed at Sicily, For this

lave told they reason Wilson

cover his

er plan

should

be something nearer the spot, the Dodecanese. Since

C...

our relations with Turkey are so obviously closer the now Italians must be pretty appre- hensive about these islands.

•

IMAGINE you will agree with these arguments. I know you mbre will have your hands than full at the moment, and you haven't much chance of discussing future operations But if by with Elsenhower. any chance you do want to I support Wilson's proposal hope

will let us know you

5000, because we can't delay

much longer.

am very sorry we weren't able to meet

your wishes about of the the new commander Guards Brigade. Your own nominee was down with a bad attack of 'nu, and not likely to be really fit for another few weeks. No doubt, however, you know Forsler personally: weli ho has done extremely

in command of a brigade at home, and, I think, the best fellow available.

@

*

und

You must be about as fed up As we-are--with-the-whole question of wat medals "Purple Hearts." We all agree with you that we don't want offend our Americun friends, but there is a good

to

drat

to.

to

He tried again

the following

[NOTE: I le important to under- That stand in reading this letter "Husky"--the real code name for as

the invasion of Sletly a used the code name for the fictitious Greck operation; the "Brimstone" --a jake code nome de used instead of "Husky" for Stellp.1

My Dear Alex,—

o!

I am taking advantage sending you a personal letter by hand of one of Mouni- batten's officers, to give you the inside history of our re cent exchange of cables about Mediterrancan operations and their attendant cover plans. You

may have felt our deci- Elons were somewhat arbitr- nry, but I can assure you in

fact that the CO.S. (Chiefe of Stag Committee gave the consideration

most

both

and

careful

to your recommendation also to Jumbo's [Field C-

more to 1. than that.

If our troops who happen

be serving in one particu Jar

theatre are

get extra decorations merely because the Americans happen to bc serving there, too, we will be. faced with good deal of dis- content among those troops perhaps fighting elsewhere just a bitterly--or more so.

M

*

own feeling is that we should thank the Americans for their kind offer but say firmly it would cause too many anomalies and we are SOTTY We can't accept. But it ia on the agenda for the next meeting Military Members and I hope you will have a docision very soon. Best of luck,

Yours ever,

Andis buy

Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, Off the record'

in-C., Middle East).

We have had recent in-. formation that the Bache have NS

·TOTHING could have been been reinforcing and strength-better. The letter carried ening their defences in Grecco out the scheme in a way that and Crate and C.LGS. (Chief only someone himself fully In Imperial General Stagy felt the picture of the personal that our forces for the

the assault relationships among high..off- were insufficient. It was agreed

nest cers could have devised

by the Chiefs of Staff

that

to Spain, from which point we from someone whom the felt wo could rely on the local mans koew, and knew to be German organisation to play right in the know. ita part.

So the proposal. I put up was SECOND,

we had to devise that General Sir Archibald Nyc, documents of such a convince Vice-Chief

Imperiti of the mature that the Germart General Staff, should' write a be prepared to bose letter to General Alexander, decisions of vital strategie then commanding 18th Army Holley on thom.

Group. THIRD, we had to provide our

on off-the- This should be tarpse with .s' personally, so record explanation

why

...Quito. by Inference, and so make the Germans General, Alexander asto

Was not believe that he was a

the 5th Civision should be accidentally as to prevent the real getting quite what he wanted with a reet existence, a from the Chiefs of Btoff- a reinforced by one brigade Germans thinking it a "plant," which would make letter giving the sort of in- group for the assault on the It made it clear that there booch south of Cape Araxos would be an Eastern Mediter- with a land- ranean operation. and that a similar reinforce ing in Greece. Jetter from should be carrying documents, put in an official Contala

ment should be made for the Buch

important the C.I.G.S. himself-but that

And it made it clear that wa 50th Division at Kalamata. wanted the Germans to would by Inference carry the

think For of cou

We are earmarking the neces- that the Western Mediterranean court, unless we could conclusion that the target we The target for Operation able in bodies of persons who convince the Germans that were "planting" as a cover was

kary forces and shipping." landing "would be in Sicily (so

A

that that would not be the real Torch, us tho North African died in necklents at sen.

footint in the sea oft: Spain, the real target.*:

been

I submitted a rough draft of TUMBO WILSON had proposed target); landings were code named,

My reasons were these. When was a real person who he'd

I wanted sort of letter killed while going on might have been almost any-

Sicily as cover The letter did all this in an to select lungs all mission, we

a teat the a man drowns, hla

"off

the-record" but we

atmosphere could not expest and took care to "plant" two where in Europe. Therefore the will water. A dead men does them to take decisions which targets as being

our possible target for "Husky

which, together with the very task of trying to

the not breathe and his body would affect the whole future of might suil have given the provent the

have already chosen it objectives; in the hope that wo

cover for operallotia

Brim personal matters y/elowhare, Germans "appreciating our in-

made it natural / that the lotter tentions was one which could placed in the sea the lungs re-

the war on the evidence of Germans something to worry Blane."

that might

4 about even if they saw through Occupied

fur operation, thing semeti to me to be document crystal clear, the carrying the deception must be on a really high level: No mera trullscretion from one brigadier or air-commodore or admiral to another would do,

time of preparation. But It developed into much more than that.

Bernard offered me a sherry, I told him nothing of our purpose, but asked him. about, the signs and physical changes delect-

we faced with some conde

confidence.

nce. main empty.

But once we had

Now we wished to imply our "body" had brasliet we realised we, that North Africa would be faced with a very into the act in an aircraft. It different problem. It seemed to might be possible for the finder, everyone that the German at a post-mortem, "ju • extaðlishi would be bound to appreciate that the "body" why dend then that Sicily was an objective, li entered the water, because the that would have to be taken, lungs would be empty. The find-

oo!

03

to lo conclusion that in

The COS. Committed went should not trifol through an into the whole question oficial channel, exhaustively again

and came NEXT SATURDAY I should uzplain that a “oper”

view of the preparations in How the mal target is a target, you dra. NOT

majord, „WAS Algeria, the amphibious train- guing to attach Schich the unspe

in beter to think we are ADLE AND LIKELY. to attack, and which you with him finally "to believe YOU WILL wathick.

Ing which will be luring place Prepared; How we give the on the Tunisian cost and the man-with-no 'name, u; namu beavy air bombardment which and a definite personality,

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