The Man Who Never Was.....

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Devils Advocate
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby Devils Advocate » Sun Dec 05, 2010 11:03 pm

Best hour of TV in a long time. Thanks for the heads up.
Property owner in Andalucia since 2002. How time flies.

BENIDORM
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby BENIDORM » Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:55 pm

I have to agree with the previous poster, I found the programme extremely interesting and entertaining..
I understand not everyone's 'cup of tea', but never-the-less a very important story which should be remembered, no doubt that it affected the outcome of WWII...

But there are so many untold stories still out there, regretably many will never be given the chance to be told...

Regards,
Gordon...

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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby BENIDORM » Mon Dec 06, 2010 2:48 pm

Tartan Bar,
Hello Ian,
First of all I'm sorry to hear of your personal circumstances and health problems, I hope that you make a complete and swift recovery from both..

I was very interested to read the details of your Father's involvement in ''The Wooden Horse Escape'',
and although it wouldn't appear to have any connections with Andalucia, I would be pleased to receive your document, if you would care to send it to me..
I have always been very interested in events of World War II, and in particular human interest stories, certainly good to hear stories from family connections, rather than moviemakers..
I will send you a PM with my e-mail address, etc...

I wish you well for your future,
Kind Regards,
Gordon....

Tartan Bar
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby Tartan Bar » Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:08 pm

Gordon & Devils Advocate

I quite agree that I found it absolutely fascinating and actually remember seeing the film many years ago. The story has always intrigued me

regards

Ian

8002reverse
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby 8002reverse » Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:27 pm

A month ago I visited the grave.

The grave coordinates are:- 37°17'29.74"N 006°55'46.63"W

Copy and paste into Google maps / Google Earth.

http://i.imgur.com/DbhFQ.jpg

Zoom in on:-

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=37%C2%B01 ... =7&vpsrc=6

'Photos from the film:-

http://i.imgur.com/5N6GN.jpg

and

AS MAXIMUM URL'S IS THREE, THIS POST CONTINUES ON THE NEXT POST!

8002reverse
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby 8002reverse » Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:28 pm

AS MAXIMUM URL'S IS THREE, THIS POST CONTINUES ON THIS POST!

http://i.imgur.com/gNbca.jpg

and

http://i.imgur.com/QZncK.jpg

all show show an area that's blank as if to 'expect' something to be added.

How come if the plot fooled the Germans that the stone mason left such an area blank for further information?

http://i.imgur.com/3ciJt.jpg

See here (taken a month ago):-

AS MAXIMUM URL'S IS THREE, THIS POST CONTINUES ON THE NEXT POST!
Last edited by 8002reverse on Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

8002reverse
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby 8002reverse » Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:29 pm

AS MAXIMUM URL'S IS THREE, THIS POST CONTINUES ON THIS POST!

http://i.imgur.com/N6KhB.jpg

Movie information:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049471/

Wikipedia info.:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Never_Was

P.S. Thank you Chris (Moderator) for your help. As I said to Chris, all visitors please take water and cat food as there a few rather undernourished kittens there. (◔◡◔)

BENIDORM
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby BENIDORM » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:01 am

8002reverse,
Thank you for the additions to this interesting story. :thumbup:

As with all of this type of incident there are always unanswered/unexplained questions, many which will never be resolved, however sometimes it is not so difficult to 'read between the lines' at possible answers.
I am at present researching another interesting WWII story which had Spanish involvement, so I will 'write it up' soon, for anyone interested..

Regards,
Gordon.

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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby BENIDORM » Fri May 06, 2022 5:48 pm

I make no apologies for reviving this topic written by me 13 years ago when I was a mere lad...


There have been numerous TV-Radio-Programmes-Films about this subject since I wrote this and I wonder if this is coincidence or does the power of A.Com Forum reach parts that other forums don't.?

Such a lot of twists and turns about this true story which without doubt changed the course of WW2,and a real event created by the backroom boffins , probably true eccentrics, who had wild imaginations, however, it worked.
I mentioned that I'd been lucky to meet a former Royal Naval submariner who was serving on the submarine 'Seraph' when they dropped the brave corpse into the cold water near the Spanish coast.
Although I've heard many stories about the identity of 'The Man Who Never Was', I was told by my contact that the submarine had surfaced to drop their cargo over the side, and whilst carrying out this operation two of the crew members fell over the side.
Just as they were trying to retrieve the two men, one was actually clinging to the corpse for support,the Captain had a report that an enemy aircraft was in the area, so he faced a dilemma, should he dive and leave the 2 men in the water or carry on retrieving them.
What a decision to have to make, he could lose two crewmen, who would probably drown and be washed up with the decoy, which could ruin the whole plot or he could carry on and get his men out of the water and dive quickly, and hope that he would avoid detection by the enemy aircraft.
He chose to save his men and luckily escaped without detection by the enemy aircraft.
My contact also informed me that it was his understanding that the corpse was either an American or Canadian who had drowned during a training operation off the Scottish coast, the original corpse had deteriorated too much to use.
I was really interested in my contacts story, and I've always taken opportunities to talk and listen to interesting people whenever the opportunity arises..
My meeting with the member of the 'Seraphs' ships company was by chance, he was a friend of a friend and seemed a really genuine sort of guy ,so I had no reason to disbelieve him.

And maybe this adds another little twist to this fascinating story ?

Saludos,
Gordon ....At the time I was ships company of HM submarine Alderney..
Last edited by BENIDORM on Sun May 08, 2022 4:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Benal Pirate
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Re: The Man Who Never Was.....

Postby Benal Pirate » Fri May 06, 2022 9:20 pm

I read the book Operation Mincemeat last year. A very good read. The film is currently showing in the UK. Interesting to note in the book was the involvement/mention of Ian Fleming.


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