The Man Who Never Was

• One of history's greatest hoaxes
  • Setting: World War II in Europe
  • Time: late 1942 to July 1943
  • Target: German Intelligence (Abwehr)
  • Inventor: Flight Lt. Charles Cholomondley
  • Chief Hoaxer: Lt. Commander Ewen Montagu RN
• Motivation for the Hoax
  • Allies owned north Africa
  • Invasion of Sicily was planned
  • Could Germans be deceived?
• How to do it?
  • Germans were very thorough
  • Scenario must be perfectly believable
  • Plot was called "Operation Mincemeat"
• The Ultimate Scenario (as seen by the Germans)
  • General Sir Archibald Nye writes letter to General Alexander in Africa
  • Letter to be hand-carried to Africa by Major William Martin, Royal Marines
  • The Major's aircraft would avoid land and enemy territory
  • Aircraft crashes at sea off Spain
  • Major Martin's body washes ashore at Huelva, Spain
  • A local finds the body and hands it over to authorities
  • Autopsy is performed in Huelva
  • Major Martin is buried in the cemetery in Huelva
  • German agents get access to the documents
  • Germans learn secret details about Allied plans
  • Two-pronged pincer attack to Greece and sardinia
• Pulling it off
  • First - get a suitable corpse
  • Create the character of Major William Martin
  • Get the Major into the Royal Marines (tricky - he's dead!)
  • Prepare all necessary ID documents
  • Prepare Royal Marine uniform and dress the corpse
  • Get General Nye to write phoney letter
  • Produce fake letter from Lord Mountbatten
  • Arrange for letter from Major Martin's fiancee
  • Arrange for Royal Navy Submarine to deliver the Major
  • Go on with your life
• How Well Did It Work?
  • Could not really be known till after the war
  • Captured German documents told the story
  • Major Martin's documents were indeed copied by German agents
  • They were carefully examined by the Abwehr
  • The letters were accepted as genuine
  • The High Command adjusted defenses for Greece and Sardinia
  • The adjustment seriously weakened defenses on Sicily
  • The Allied invasion of Sicily succeeded quickly
• Net Result: The hoax was wildly successful