Difference between revisions of "Operation Mincemeat"
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'''Operation Mincemeat''' was the codename for a plan created and carried out by a small number of British intelligence officers during [[World War II]], with the intent of convincing the [[Third Reich|German]] High Command - through false documents deliberately passed to them - that an Allied invasion into southern Europe through [[Greece]] would take place in mid-1943. Extremely successful, Mincemeat would cause the Germans to remove a significant amount of troops and armor from [[France]], the eastern front against the [[Soviet Union]], and the island of [[Sicily]] to bolster their forces in Greece and the [[Balkans]]; their acceptance of the ruse allowed for complete Allied victory in [[Operation Husky]], in which the real target of invasion was Sicily. The success of Mincemeat was further guaranteed by the macabre element central to the plan: the documents were in a briefcase chained to a dead man - with a false identity - who was set adrift at sea. | '''Operation Mincemeat''' was the codename for a plan created and carried out by a small number of British intelligence officers during [[World War II]], with the intent of convincing the [[Third Reich|German]] High Command - through false documents deliberately passed to them - that an Allied invasion into southern Europe through [[Greece]] would take place in mid-1943. Extremely successful, Mincemeat would cause the Germans to remove a significant amount of troops and armor from [[France]], the eastern front against the [[Soviet Union]], and the island of [[Sicily]] to bolster their forces in Greece and the [[Balkans]]; their acceptance of the ruse allowed for complete Allied victory in [[Operation Husky]], in which the real target of invasion was Sicily. The success of Mincemeat was further guaranteed by the macabre element central to the plan: the documents were in a briefcase chained to a dead man - with a false identity - who was set adrift at sea. | ||
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| + | ==Prelude== | ||
| + | The idea of using a corpse as an agent to deliver false information had its roots in a novel. In 1937, Basil Thompson wrote a book entitled ''The Milliner’s Hat Mystery'' in which a dead man is discovered with a false identity, courtesy of the many forged papers and documents found with him. The tenth in a series of detective novels featuring his Inspector Richardson character, it was not a good seller at the time, but it was picked up and read avidly by a British naval officer who happened to have loved the series, Lieutenant-Commander [[Ian Fleming]]. | ||
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| + | Fleming was responsible for the creation of a top-secret memo shortly after war was declared in September, 1939; the memo listed 51 ideas that could be carried out against the Germans using deception, false information, and so on; number 28, as Fleming wrote it... | ||
| + | :''"A suggestion (not a very nice one). The following suggestion is used in a book by Basil Thomson: a corpse dressed as an airman, with dispatches in his pockets, could be dropped on the coast, supposedly from a parachute that had failed. I understand there is no difficulty in obtaining corpses at the Naval Hospital, but, of course, it would have to be a fresh one." | ||
| + | Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence and Fleming's immediate boss, approved and signed the memo for later action.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6986831.ece</ref><ref>http://www.annoticoreport.com/2010/06/book-operation-mincemeat-hoax-allies.html</ref> | ||
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| + | ===Assembling the plan=== | ||
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| + | ==References== | ||
| + | <small><references/></small> | ||
[[Category:World War II]] | [[Category:World War II]] | ||
Revision as of 02:04, July 19, 2010
Operation Mincemeat was the codename for a plan created and carried out by a small number of British intelligence officers during World War II, with the intent of convincing the German High Command - through false documents deliberately passed to them - that an Allied invasion into southern Europe through Greece would take place in mid-1943. Extremely successful, Mincemeat would cause the Germans to remove a significant amount of troops and armor from France, the eastern front against the Soviet Union, and the island of Sicily to bolster their forces in Greece and the Balkans; their acceptance of the ruse allowed for complete Allied victory in Operation Husky, in which the real target of invasion was Sicily. The success of Mincemeat was further guaranteed by the macabre element central to the plan: the documents were in a briefcase chained to a dead man - with a false identity - who was set adrift at sea.
Prelude
The idea of using a corpse as an agent to deliver false information had its roots in a novel. In 1937, Basil Thompson wrote a book entitled The Milliner’s Hat Mystery in which a dead man is discovered with a false identity, courtesy of the many forged papers and documents found with him. The tenth in a series of detective novels featuring his Inspector Richardson character, it was not a good seller at the time, but it was picked up and read avidly by a British naval officer who happened to have loved the series, Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fleming.
Fleming was responsible for the creation of a top-secret memo shortly after war was declared in September, 1939; the memo listed 51 ideas that could be carried out against the Germans using deception, false information, and so on; number 28, as Fleming wrote it...
- "A suggestion (not a very nice one). The following suggestion is used in a book by Basil Thomson: a corpse dressed as an airman, with dispatches in his pockets, could be dropped on the coast, supposedly from a parachute that had failed. I understand there is no difficulty in obtaining corpses at the Naval Hospital, but, of course, it would have to be a fresh one."
Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence and Fleming's immediate boss, approved and signed the memo for later action.[1][2]