Operation Mincemeat

All year around floral tributes are placed on the grave of William Martin, "the man that never was"  © Michelle Chaplow
All year around floral tributes are placed on the grave of William Martin, "the man that never was"
William Martin, "the man that never was"  © Michelle Chaplow
William Martin, "the man that never was"

Operation Mincemeat - The Man Who Never Was

A grave in the main Huelva cemetery holds the body of a man who changed the course of the Second World War. The strange thing is, his identity is still debated.

On 30 April 1943, a man's corpse was fished out of the sea off Punta Umbria by a Spanish fisherman. Identified as Major William Martin RM (Royal Marines), he was wearing a British officer's uniform (complete with photo of, and letters from, his fiancée), and was carrying in a briefcase top-secret plans for an Allied invasion of German-held Greece and Sardinia. The plans were passed to German intelligence, who then changed their strategy accordingly, reinforcing Greek and Sardinian defences in expectation of an attack by the Allies. Major Martin was buried in Huelva cemetery with full military honours.

But it was all an elaborate hoax by British Naval Intelligence, known as Operation Mincemeat, part of Operation Barclay, designed to disguise the invasion of Italy by Allied troops arriving from North Africa. "Major Martin", who didn't exist, succeeded in fooling the Germans and diverting their attention from the real invasion target: Sicily. Extra time - and the advantage of surprise - helped the Allies to win a crucial battle on the Italian island in July 1943, opening the way for recapturing Italy, thereby changing the course of the war, and leading to eventual victory.

The body was that of a Welsh vagrant with no family, whose cause of death was difficult to detect (although this is still contested by some); he had been pushed into the sea from a British submarine, HMS Seraph, off the Huelva coast. Even after the war, the MOD kept the name of the dead man a secret; then in 1996, a key document was accidentally declassified, which formally identified the 'man who never was' as Glyndwr Michael, a Welshman who died after eating rat poison in a disused warehouse in London. An alternative theory claims the body was a young, physically fit drowning casualty from HMS Dasher by the name of John Melville. Read more on the BBC archived blog and its comments.

Poppy Wreath which reads "In Remembrance for contribution, that changed the course of WWII, you will always be remembered". From the Royal British Legion © Michelle Chaplow
Poppy Wreath which reads "In Remembrance for contribution, that changed the course of WWII, you will always be remembered". From the Royal British Legion © Michelle Chaplow

The exact location of the grave is in the San Marco section of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Cemetery in Huelva is 37°17'29.74"N 006°55'46.63"W

The headstone was originally carved with the father named as as "John Glyndwyr Martin" and mother as "Antonia Martin." After the man's identity was discovered, 60 years later, the headstone had the words added: "Glyndwr Michael served as Major William Martin, RM." 

Two of the intelligence personnel who developed all the background material for "Major Martin"'s fake identity became characters in Ian Fleming's 007 novels: M and Miss Moneypenny. Lt Commander Fleming himself worked as personal assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence, who suggested planting misleading papers on a corpse that would be found by the enemy, in his "Trout memo" of 1939, hence Fleming may have been involved in Operation Mincemeat since its inception.

In 1956 the events were made into a film, The Man Who Never Was (Buy DVD from Amazon.es or Amazon.co.uk), based on the novel (Buy book from Amazon.es or Amazon.co.uk) by RN Intelligence Officer Ewen Montagu, OBE, one of the men who hatched the plan, along with Flight Lt Charles Cholmondeley MBE. Peter Sellers plays the voice of Churchill, who was personally briefed on the plan.

In May 2021 Netflix released the movie Operation Mincemeat staring Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Penelope Wilton, and Kelly Macdonald. It was filmed in 2019, mainly in London, with some scenes shot in Malaga. There is also a stage musical by the same name, which opened in 2021 as well, and is now showing at London's Fortune Theatre.

For more information on the topic, visit the Andalucia.com forum. Register to add your comments.

The municipal Cementery  of Huelva - El cementerio de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Huelva © Michelle Chaplow
The municipal Cementery of Huelva - El cementerio de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad de Huelva
Booking.com

Destinations

Living in Andalucia