In 1939, British Naval Intelligence was brainstorming ways to fool the Axis powers. One officer, the future James Bond creator Ian Fleming, helped write a document comparing military deception to fly fishing. It was called the 'Trout Memo.' Among its 54 outlandish ideas was a particularly dark one, number 28, inspired by a detective novel: plant fake plans on a dead body. The idea was to have a corpse, dressed as an airman, dropped on the coast with secret papers in its pockets to simulate a crash. At the time, it was just a strange concept on a long list of possibilities. But as World War II raged on, British intelligence would need a truly audacious plan, and they would remember the man with the false papers.
Operation Mincemeat
How a corpse carrying fake secrets tricked Hitler into diverting troops and clearing the way for the invasion of Sicily.
Chapter 1
The Trout Memo
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Frequently Asked Questions
What was Operation Mincemeat?
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation during World War II. It used a corpse disguised as an officer to plant false documents on the enemy, convincing them the Allies would invade Greece and Sardinia instead of the real target, Sicily.
Was 'Major William Martin' a real person?
No, 'Major William Martin' was a completely fictional identity created by British intelligence. The body used was that of Glyndwr Michael, a homeless Welshman who had died in London. His identity was kept secret for decades.
Did Operation Mincemeat actually work?
Yes, it was incredibly successful. Adolf Hitler was completely fooled and diverted significant forces to Greece and Sardinia instead of Sicily. This led to far fewer Allied casualties during the actual invasion of Sicily and contributed to the fall of Mussolini in Italy.
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