Operation Mincemeat
Post categories: History,ÌýTelevision,ÌýWorld War Two
| 14:22 UK time, Friday, 3 December 2010
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News has a fascinating article on how the body of a dead Welsh tramp was shipped to southern Spain as part of an audacious British plot to fool the Nazis during World War Two.
The plot, known as Operation Mincemeat was the brainchild of James Bond creator Ian Flemming.
Welshman Glyndwr Michael was jobless and homeless in the winter of 1943. He ended his life, is an abandoned warehouse in Kings Cross in London by taking rat poison.
The Welshman's body was painstakingly transformed into the corpse of a ficticious Captain William Martin - a character created by intelligence officers.
The tramp's body was then floated near the port of Heulva. In his pockets, an identity card, ticket stubs and momentos from a fiancee. Also chained to his wrists was a briefcase containing a letter marked "PERSONAL AND MOST SECRET", identifying Greece for invasion by Allied Forces.
Read more on the outcome of this extraordinary plot on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TV blog.
You can see the documentary Operation Mincemeat on Sunday 5 December, 9pm on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two.
Comment number 1.
At 11th Dec 2010, Leighton Jones wrote:This magnificent story inspired me to write a song about The Man Who Never Was.
The track was released on The Injuns debut album 'Lionel it's a Complicated World', and will also appear on my first solo album 'The Boy and the Birdcage' due for release in 2011.
Listen at [Broken URL removed by Moderator]
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