Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory (63 page)

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Authors: Ben Macintyre

Tags: #General, #Psychology, #Europe, #History, #Great Britain, #20th Century, #Political Freedom & Security, #Intelligence, #Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence, #Political Science, #Espionage, #Modern, #World War, #1939-1945, #Military, #Italy, #Naval, #World War II, #Secret service, #Sicily (Italy), #Deception, #Military - World War II, #War, #History - Military, #Military - Naval, #Military - 20th century, #World War; 1939-1945, #Deception - Spain - Atlantic Coast - History - 20th century, #Naval History - World War II, #Ewen, #Military - Intelligence, #World War; 1939-1945 - Secret service - Great Britain, #Sicily (Italy) - History; Military - 20th century, #1939-1945 - Secret service - Great Britain, #Atlantic Coast (Spain), #1939-1945 - Spain - Atlantic Coast, #1939-1945 - Campaigns - Italy - Sicily, #Intelligence Operations, #Deception - Great Britain - History - 20th century, #Atlantic Coast (Spain) - History, #Montagu, #Atlantic Coast (Spain) - History; Military - 20th century, #Sicily (Italy) - History, #World War; 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Italy - Sicily, #Operation Mincemeat, #Montagu; Ewen, #World War; 1939-1945 - Spain - Atlantic Coast

57
“to let the matter drop”: Most Secret Source report, November 5, 1941, TNA, KV2/102.

58
“in the pay of the British Secret Service”: TNA, KV2/102.

59
“refused to take the report seriously”: TNA, KV2/102.

60
“cold and reserved”: TNA, KV2/102.

61
“Appearance: nervous, uncertain”: TNA, KV2/102.

62
“Kühlenthal is trembling to keep”: Statement of Josef Ledebur-Wichelin at Camp 020, November 25, 1944, TNA, KV2/102.

Chapter Thirteen: Mincemeat Sets Sail

1
“national importance”: Basil Leverton, interview with the author, September 8, 2009.

2
“I was not to divulge”: Ivor Leverton, unpublished diary, courtesy of Andrew Leverton.

3
“phone call from St. Pancras”: Ibid.

4
“I was still in fairly good shape”: Ibid.

5
“removal coffins”: Andrew Leverton, interview with the author, January 27, 2009.

6
“must have stood 6′4″ inches tall”: Ivor Leverton, letters to
Daily Telegraph
, August 13, 2002.

7
“left our passenger”: Ivor Leverton, unpublished diary.

8
“a mortuary-keeper on whom”: Ewen Montagu to John Godfrey, September 19, 1964, Montagu Papers.

9
“made it as easy as possible”: TNA, ADM 223/794, p. 450.

10
“I’ve got it”: Robert Jackson,
Coroner: The Biography of Sir Bentley Purchase
(London, 1963), p. 149.

11
“the least pleasant part of our work”: Ewen Montagu,
The Man Who Never Was
(Oxford, 1996), p. 160.

12
“We decided Bill Martin and Pam”: Ibid., p. 162.

13
“Get an army blanket”: Jackson,
Coroner
, p. 149.

14
“lightly tied with tape”: Ibid.

15
“reverently”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 162.

16
“a shirt and tie”: Ian Girling, “The Horsfall Story: A Tribute,”
Aston Martin Magazine
, vol. 33, no. 142, Spring 1999.

17
“went berserk”: Ibid.

18
“potentially lethal pieces of metal”: Ibid.

19
“The scream that Kath gave”: Ibid.

20
“I gave her time to start her piddle”: Ibid.

21
“he claimed to have done 100 mph”: John Otter, letter to
Daily Telegraph
, August 15, 2002.

22
“one of us sitting”: Draft manuscript of
The Man Who Never Was
, IWM 97/45/2.

23
“had supper with a corpse parked”: Ibid.

24
“much better story”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 163.

25
“partially ‘in the know’”: TNA, ADM 223/794, p. 450.

26
“being accepted as merely being”: Ibid.

27
“By this time Major Martin”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 160.

28
“We had come to feel”: Ibid.

29
“news such as can be written”: Ewen Montagu to Iris Montagu, April 24, 1943, Montagu Letters.

30
“I had to go up to Scotland”: Ibid.

31
“I was to see that this package”: David Scott, “The Man That Never Was: Operation Mincemeat,” Reminiscences of Sir David Scott, Churchill Archives, DKNS II, p. 2.

32
“It was a real thrill”: Ewen Montagu, unpublished account, October 7, 1976, Montagu Papers.

33
“Spring was on the way”: Scott, “Man That Never Was,” p. 3.

34
“trim dive”: Ibid.

35
“A final exchange of ‘Good Luck’”: Ibid.

36
“Monotony never really set in”: Ibid.

37
“We were never short of meat”: Ibid.

38
“John Brown’s Body”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 169.

39
“our pal Charlie”: Terence Robertson,
The Ship with Two Captains: The Story of the “Secret Mission Submarine”
(London, 1957), p. 124.

40
“epitome of what a submarine captain”: Scott, “Man That Never Was,” p. 4.

41
“At that time, the chances of returning”: Ibid.

42
“I realised with a bit of a shock”: Ibid.

43
“bashed-in sort of face”: John Parker,
SBS: The Story of the Special Boat Service
(London, 1997), p. 19.

44
“Your American gum”: Robertson,
Ship with Two Captains
, p. 92.

45
“a happy augury for the future”: Terence Robertson,
The Ship with Two Captains: The Story of the “Secret Mission Submarine”
(London, 1957), p. 92.

46
“a two-fisted fighting man”: N. L. A. Jewell, as told to Cecil Carnes,
Secret Mission Submarine: Action Report of the HMS Seraph
(London, 1944), p. 101.

47
“We’ll fight an army on a dare”: Atkinson,
Day of Battle
, p. 82.

48
“always conspicuously”: Citation for Distinguished Service Cross.

49
“I think we can do it”: Robertson,
Ship with Two Captains
, p. 106.

50
“sink on sight any vessel”: Ibid.

51
“Put me ashore, give me a gun”: Ibid., p. 110.

52
“constant strain”: Ibid., p. 112.

53
“one grabbed a large”: Ibid.

54
“broken nose”: Ibid.

55
“a lithe, graceful look”: Ibid., p. 124.

56
“We were told that we were not”: N. L. A. Jewell, Audiotape 12278, 1991, IWM.

57
“unmistakable sounds”: Scott, “Man That Never Was,” p. 5.

58
“We knew that at least”: Ibid.

Chapter Fourteen: Bill’s Farewell

1
“I rushed home”: Jean Gerard Leigh, interview with the author, March 5, 2008.

2
“absurd”: Ewen Montagu,
The Man Who Never Was
(Oxford, 1996), p. 167.

3
Bill Martin’s death: TNA, CAB 154/67.

4
“We were terribly agitated”: Jean Gerard Leigh, interview with the author, March 5, 2008.

5
“as a joke”: Montagu,
The Man Who Never Was
, p. 167.

6
“gathered from every part”: John Fisher,
What a Performance: A Life of Sid Field
(London, 1975), p. 85.

7
“definitely ‘a find’”: Ibid., p. 99.

8
“the loudest laughter we”: Ibid., p. 100.

9
“all his jokes are clean”: Ibid.

10
“I’m going to get pickled”: Ibid., p. 96.

11
“an adequate ration of gin”: Ibid., p. 85.

12
“If an Air Raid Warning”: Ibid.

13
“When you feel unhappy”: Ibid., p. 103.

14
“The laughs came like the waves”: Ibid., p. 88.

15
“The weather was warm at last”: David Scott, “The Man That Never Was: Operation Mincemeat,” Reminiscences of Sir David Scott, Churchill Archives, DKNS II, p. 3.

16
“were such that strangers”: Obituary of Michael Luke,
Independent
, April 19, 2005.

17
“mystery suffused with a tender”: Ibid.

18
“very cheerful evening”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 167.

19
“Considering Bill and Pam are engaged”: Ibid.

20
“It would be different”: Ibid.

21
“They kept looking at their watches”: Jean Gerard Leigh, interview with the author, March 5, 2008.

22
“I had to go and take”: Ewen Montagu to Iris Montagu, April 23, 1943, Montagu Letters.

23
“smitten”: Jean Gerard Leigh, interview with the author, March 5, 2008.

24
“I am glad that Verel”: Ewen Montagu to Iris Montagu, June 29, 1943, Montagu Letters.

25
“We were all very excited”: Pat Davies, interview with the author, October 4, 2009.

26
“One patriotic Greek managed”: Thaddeus Holt,
The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War
(London, 2004), p. 368.

27
“hygiene in the Balkans”: Ibid.

28
“no major operation could be”: Ewen Montagu, unpublished critique of Constantine Fitzgibbon,
Secret Intelligence in the Twentieth Century
(London, 1976), Montagu Papers.

29
“the peak of the Deception effort”: Holt,
Deceivers
, p. 366.

30
“if they should suspect”: Ewen Montagu, memo, March 31, 1943, TNA, W0 106/5921.

31
“I had to take the can”: Ewen Montagu to “Ginger,” July 6, 1943, Montagu Papers.

32
“Intelligence, like food”: John Godfrey, “Afterthoughts,” TNA, ADM 223/619, p. 91.

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