The Man Who Never Was (Bluejacket Books) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This is a fantastic tale whereby the body of a young man was used to deceive the German high command during WW2 into believing a forthcoming Allied offensive would be centred in one European country and not the real target. Given the somewhat inappropriate codename of `Operation Mincemeat, the body of a young man was dressed in the uniform of a major in the Royal Marines and furnished with a complete set of false papers. The minute detail which went into those papers included two used cinema ticket stubs plus a photograph and letters from a fictional girlfriend. Handcuffed to his wrist was a briefcase inside which were copies of a supposed invasion plan. His body was then set adrift so that it would be washed up on the coast of Spain in the certain knowledge that all those papers would be handed over to the German authorities in that country.

Perhaps one might be forgiven for thinking that obtaining a suitable dead body during WW2 would have been relatively easy but not so. The human body could not be kept in storage for too long before assuming a certain state of unnatural decomposition which would have alerted German doctors that all was not as it seemed. It was also imperative that the body was washed ashore in the right place. After all, it could hardly be parachuted into Berlin!!!

Eventually, a man of the right size, condition and age to suit the false persona of Major Martin Royal Marines was found dead in the streets of London and his body used to completely deceive the Germans. The full account of this amazing tale is retold by the person who was placed in charge of the deception. When first published, this book became a best seller.

It was intended for the identity of the deceased to have remained a secret forever. It was not until 1996 (or thereabouts) that the true identity of the person was revealed by an amateur historian who discovered him to have been a down-and-out who survived by begging on the streets of London. Unfortunately, he also suffered from some form of mental illness and was found dead shortly after having been turned down for military service. The cause of death was recorded as having died from ingesting rat poison. In Spain, however, that same man got a very different death certificate before being buried in a local graveyard.

Av truly remarkable, almost fanciful, tale from WW2.

NM

"The Man Who Never Was" is a real page-turner, even though I already knew the basic story. Lots of good information on a well-conceived and -executed intelligence operation that the Germans fell for hook, line and sinker. Makes me wonder how many failed counterintelligence operations we suffered to achieve one success? Writing can be a little stuffy in a couple places but on the whole is good.