Operation Mincemeat: the story behind the WWII plot to fool Hitler
A dumped body with a forged identity and a fake plot to invade two nations – it’s the WWII deception plot credited for saving thousands of lives. Find out how the secret was revealed
Operation Mincemeat was a deception plot so bizarre it could have easily read straight out of a Hollywood movie script.
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
It was a deception plot* so bizarre it could have easily read straight out of a Hollywood movie script.
Find a dead body, dress it up as a Royal Marine, forge papers about a non-existent plot to invade two nations, place those in a suitcase chained to the marine’s wrist and dump his body off the coast of Spain. Then hope the body is found by German sympathisers* and makes its way to Adolf Hitler*.
And on top of that, call it Operation Mincemeat.
Except it was all true.
And not only did it help change the course of World War II in 1943, with Hitler moving his troops away from Sicily, allowing the Allies to invade and quicken the fall of the fascist* Italian government, it is credited with saving thousands of lives on both sides of the war.
British Intelligence officers* Ewen Montagu and Charles Cholmondeley were the masterminds behind the plan. If Montagu had his way, however, the deception plot would have stayed a secret had it not been for a journalist threatening to expose it a decade later.
Montagu would spend just one weekend writing his memoir The Man Who Never Was in 1953 – a book that revealed the clever plan he had helped hatch with Cholmondeley.
“He was told to write it because they wanted an accurate version put out but that didn’t include any things that were still secret,” Ewen’s daughter Jennifer Montagu said.
“Things like they were able to decrypt* all the German messages … they wanted a version put out there that had all the facts but not the facts they didn’t want known at that point,” the 95-year-old said.
The stranger-than-fiction story became the inspiration for other books and a movie starring Colin Firth, as well as a comedy musical written by Natasha Hodgson, Zoe Roberts, David Cumming and Felix Hagan.
“We wanted to try to make a huge, fantastic musical and we really wanted it to be based on a true story,” said Hodgson of the resulting show, Operation Mincemeat. “We wanted it to be a story that we really believed in, that came from truth and that was a real story.”
“We loved that it was a small gang … we were a small gang, they were a small gang,” Hodgson said.
“I think almost subconsciously* this gang was so strange and they were all different … having these ‘posh Etonian*’ boys, these plucky underdog secretaries, a crazy coroner* who wants to showcase dead bodies, an American pilot jumping in from nowhere … it fizzed for us so instantly.
“But also they were working towards a common goal of something bigger than themselves. It’s the best, most amazing version of what a small team can do. It’s still staggering to us,” she said.
The show contains 86 characters – all played by just five performers, with genders swapped around in many instances.
Troupe member Chloe Hart said she relished the opportunity of playing male roles. In fact, she plays two: the part of Johnny Bevan, who signed off on the deception plan, and that of intelligence officer Ian Fleming (who would go on to write the iconic James Bond series of spy books).
“My favourite thing is when I look up into the audience and sometimes I can see men being really intimidated by a woman playing a really strong man,” Hart said.
“And I love that. I absolutely love it.
“It’s incredibly freeing not having to look glamorous … being able to just put on a suit and go up and be, ‘I don’t have to stand up straight, I don’t have to look all cutesy and glamorous’, I can just be whatever I want to be.
“That feels really freeing,” she said.
Operation Mincemeat will land on Australian stages in September 2027 after debuting on London’s West End in 2023 and hitting Broadway in New York earlier this year.
“I’m very proud and slightly astonished,” Ms Montagu said of the musical honouring her father’s work.
“It’s just crazy. It’s bonkers, really.”
Its Australian run will be even more special for the Montagu family, given Ewen spent time here after his service.
“I think he would just be amazed how it’s spreading around the world,” she said.
POLL
GLOSSARY
- deception plot: a story where false evidence is created for political gain
- Adolf Hitler: leader of the Nazi party and dictator of Germany from 1933 until 1945, Hitler was responsible for starting World War II with the invasion of Poland. He was also responsible for the Holocaust which caused the deaths of six million Jews and millions of others
- sympathisers: those who were politically aligned with the Germans
- fascist: relating to fascism, a far-right, authoritarian and ultranationalist political ideology that puts race or nation above the individual where people are ruled by a single, powerful leader who holds all authority and democracy is not allowed
- Intelligence officers: people employed by the government to collect information and plan operations for national security
- decrypt: convert scrambled code into readable text
- subconsciously: without consciously knowing
- Etonian: having attended the private British school Eton College, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, where male members of the Royal Family and many other high profile English kids and members of the aristocracy go for their secondary education
- coroner: a public official who investigates and determines the cause, time and circumstances of deaths deemed suspicious, sudden or unexpected
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QUICK QUIZ
1. What was the purpose of the WWII operation called Operation Mincemeat?
2. What was it credited with achieving?
3. Why did the British Intelligence officer who helped pull it off decide to write a book about it?
4. How does actor Chloe Hart describe the experience of playing male characters on stage and why does it make her feel this way?
5. Why will the Australian showing of Operation Mincemeat, the musical comedy, have special meaning for the Montagu family?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Write a song
What do you think one of the songs in the musical might be about? Write the words!
Time: Spend at least 20 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History
2. Extension
Did you know that the man whose body was used in Operation Mincemeat has been identified? Design a special memorial to him. Use your research skills to find out about him. Use the information you have found and from the story to help you.
Time: Spend at least 20 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History
VCOP ACTIVITY
BAB it!
Show you have read and understood the article by writing three sentences using the connectives “because’’, “and”, and “but” (BAB). Your sentences can share different facts or opinions, or the same ones but written about in different ways.