Foreign Navy, WWII Atlantic

                                     TODAY IN NAVAL HISTORY

                                                  30 APRIL 1943

                                      OPERATION “MINCEMEAT”

When the American 7^th and British 8^th Armies landed on southern Sicily 10 July 1943 they found lighter than anticipated resistance.  It seems the Germans had concentrated their defenses on the northern Sicilian shore opposite Sardinia.  In just 38 days Sicily was secured, the first piece of Europe retaken by the Allies in WWII.  German documents captured after the war revealed the reason.

After the victory in North Africa, Sicily, just 90 miles from Tunisia, was the next obvious target for the Allies.  But this was evident to the Germans as well, and to divert attention the Allies needed a diversionary target.  British Intelligence came up with an ingenious, if not gruesome plan.  A deceased body wearing a Mae West life vest would be released at sea off Huelva, Spain, where the local authorities were known to be cooperative with the Germans.  Appearing to be the victim of an airplane crash at sea, the body would be wearing a uniform of a Royal Marine and carry the identity card of “Acting MAJ William Martin.”  A briefcase would be chained to Martin in a manner a high-level courier might use.  Inside would be several false documents, including a personal letter from GEN Sir Archibald Nye, Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff (British) to GEN Sir Harold Alexander at the British 18^th Army HQ in Tunisia.  Such a sensitive letter would not normally be sent through channels, as it discussed two concurrent (false) operations to be launched against eastern Greece and Sardinia.

Finding a suitable body proved problematic–of one whose death was consistent with exposure at sea, and whose next of kin would consent.  Ultimately the age-appropriate body of a homeless man without known relatives was found in a London morgue.  “William Martin” was given a personal background that any officer might have.  His wallet contained pictures of a fiancée and a fake receipt for an engagement ring, and ticket stubs from a London theater were stuffed in his pocket.  At 0430 this morning the submarine HMS SERAPH pulled to within 1600 yards of the Spanish coast.  After appropriate prayers the body was released.  It was recovered that morning by a Spanish fisherman and Operation “Mincemeat” was underway.

It worked!  Word of the anticipated “invasions” of Greece and Sardinia reached the German High Command in May.  Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Hitler’s most trusted commander, was assigned to an HQ in Tripolis, Greece.  Minefields were laid off Kalamata and Araxos, the projected landing beaches, and patrol boats were re-located from Sicily.  Even the 1^st Panzer Division was shipped by rail from France to Greece.  As late as 23 July Hitler was still convinced the Sicily invasion was only a diversion!

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  5 MAY 23

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

MacIntyre, Ben.  Operation Mincemeat:  How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Assured an Allied Victory.  New York, NY: Harmony Books, 2010.

Montagu, Ewen.  The Man Who Never Was.  Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott, 1954.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  Spanish authorities in Huelva gave “William Martin” a proper burial with full military honors.  Today a marker in the Nuesta Señora de la Soledad Cemetery of that city bears his name.  The true identity of the body was kept secret for years as part of the agreement with the London Coroner’s Office.  Today it is believed he was a 34-year-old homeless Welshman named Glyndwr Michael, whose body was found in the St. Pancras district of London after he ingested poison.  His true identity is remembered with a plaque on the War Memorial in Aberbargoed, Wales, which is inscribed in Welsh, “Y Dyn Na Fu Erioed” (The Man Who Never Was).