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
Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory (58 page)
39
“of national importance”: Ibid.
40
“public confidence in coroners”: Ibid.
41
“At what level has this scheme”: Ibid.
42
“The prime minister’s”: Ibid.
43
“well developed sense of comedy”: Ibid., p. 313.
44
“absolute discretion”: Ewen Montagu to John Godfrey, September 19, 1964, Montagu Papers.
45
“A coroner”: Ibid.
46
“remained unidentified”: Jackson,
Coroner
, p. 196.
47
“After one or two possible corpses”: Ibid., p. 148.
48
“the inevitable misery of separation”: Montagu,
Beyond Top Secret Ultra
, p. 65.
49
“I miss you most frightfully”: Ewen Montagu to Iris Montagu, August 11, 1941, Montagu Letters.
50
“The interest and pressure of my work”: Montagu,
Beyond Top Secret Ultra
, p. 61.
51
“It was lovely”: Ewen Montagu to Iris Montagu, June 11, 1941, Montagu Letters.
52
“The greatest fun”: Ewen Montagu Autobiography.
53
“super-secret papers”: Montagu,
Beyond Top Secret Ultra
, p. 68.
54
“as long as I always wore”: Ibid.
55
“one of the best cooks in London”: Ibid., p. 28.
56
“Mother is too awful”: Ewen Montagu to Iris Montagu, August 11, 1941, Montagu Letters.
57
“crossword puzzles”: Montagu,
Beyond Top Secret Ultra
, p. 61.
58
“who had been in the family”: Ewen Montagu Autobiography.
Chapter Five: The Man Who Was
1
“senile decay”: Medical records of Angelton Mental Hospital, Bridgend, December 12, 1924, Glamorgan Record Office.
2
“melancholic”: Ibid., December 12, 1924.
3
“confused and very depressed”: Ibid.
4
“deep mental depression”: Ibid.
5
“Hair is grey and thin”: Ibid.
6
“a hectic temperature”: Ibid., March 28, 1925.
7
“on condition that the scale”:
Hansard Parliamentary Debates
, Commons, 5th series, vol. 197, July 6, 1926.
8
“led men and women to London”: Robert Jackson,
Coroner: The Biography of Sir Bentley Purchase
(London, 1963), p. 196.
9
“It still surprised him”: Ibid.
10
“a common lodging house”: Draft of report on Operation Mincemeat, May 29, 1943, IWM 97/45/1, folder #2.
11
“kept in suitable cold storage”: Ewen Montagu,
The Man Who Never Was
(Oxford, 1996), p. 123.
12
“Lunatic”: Glyndwr Michael death certificate,
After the Battle
, November 11, 2006.
13
“labourer, no fixed abode”: Ibid.
14
“phosphorous poisoning”: Ibid.
15
“removed out of England”: Draft of report on Operation Mincemeat, May 29, 1943, IWM 97/45/1, folder #2.
16
“a minimal dose”: Ewen Montagu to J. Bevan, May 28, 1943, TNA, CAB 154/67.
17
“This dose was not sufficient”: Ibid.
18
“phosphorous is not one of”: Ibid.
19
“except possibly faint”: Draft of report on Operation Mincemeat, May 29, 1943, IWM 97/45/1, folder #2.
20
“a highly skilled medico-criminal”: Ewen Montagu to J. Bevan, May 28, 1943, TNA, CAB 154/67.
21
“bet heavily against anyone”: Ibid.
22
“You have nothing to fear”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 123.
23
“I am a martyr to Spilsburyism”: Andrew Rose,
Lethal Witness: Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the Honorary Pathologist
(London, 2008), p. 139.
24
“died from pneumonia after exposure”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 123.
25
“really worthwhile purpose”: Ibid.
26
“on condition that I should never”: Ibid.
27
“feverish enquiries into his past”: Ibid., p. 3
28
“a ne’er do well, and his relatives”: Ewen Montagu to Billy Bob Crim, December 26, 1981, Montagu Papers.
29
“extra-cold refrigerator”: TNA, ADM 223/794, p. 450.
30
“would have to be used within”: Minutes of XX Committee, February 4, 1943, IWM 97/45/1, folder #2.
31
“They ought not to be given names”: Winston Churchill to General “Pug” Ismay, minute, August 8, 1943.
32
“stupidity”: Montagu,
Beyond Top Secret Ultra
, p. 52.
33
“no deductions could be”: Ibid.
34
“sense of humour”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 125.
35
“good omen”: Ibid.
36
“This Operation is proposed”: Memo to XX Committee, February 4, 1943, IWM 97/45/1, folder #2.
37
“a courier carrying important”: Ibid.
38
“the real target is omitted from”: Ibid.
39
“the Germans will be looking”: Ibid.
40
“The body must be dropped”: Ibid.
41
“find out a suitable position”: Minutes of XX Committee, February 4, 1943, IWM 97/45/1 folder #2.
42
“into the question of providing”: Ibid.
43
“so he will be able to cope”: Ibid.
44
“continue with preparations”: Memo to XX Committee, February 4, 1943, IWM 97/45/1, folder #2.
Chapter Six: A Novel Approach
1
“active and well-distributed team”: J. C. Masterman,
The Double Cross System in the War 1939–1945
(London, 1972), p. 119.
2
“The one man band of Lisbon”: Ibid., p. 146.
3
“for deception, ‘notional’”: Ibid., p. 33.
4
“The Germans could seldom resist”: Ibid., p. 21.
5
“How difficult it was”: Ewen Montagu,
Beyond Top Secret Ultra
(London, 1977), p. 43.
6
“must never step out of character”: Ibid.
7
“To work out the crime”: J. C. Masterman,
The Case of the Four Friends
(London, 1957), p. 23.
8
“The more real he appeared”: Ewen Montagu,
The Man Who Never Was
(Oxford, 1996), p. 149.
9
“Would the ink of the manuscript”: Ewen Montagu, manuscript “Post–script” to
The Man Who Never Was
, p. 4, Montagu Papers.
10
“give the game away”: Ibid.
11
“Many inks on a freshly written”: Ibid., p. 6.
12
“We talked about him until”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 149.
13
“He does not have to look like”: Ibid., p. 123.
14
“complete failure”: Ibid., p. 140.
15
“appearance that would have”: Ibid., p. 141.
16
“rudely staring at anyone”: Ibid.
17
“almost the same build”: Ibid., p. 146.
18
“The difficulty of obtaining”: J. C. Masterman,
The Double Cross System in the War of 1939–1945
(London, 1972), p. 137.
19
“one enormous mausoleum”: Michael Ignatieff,
Isaiah Berlin: A Life
(London, 1998), p. 60.
20
“gift”: J. C. Masterman,
The Double Cross System in the War of 1939–1945
, p. 137.
21
“brilliant”: “Obituary” of William Martin, TNA, CAB 154/67.
22
“Keen for more active and dangerous”: Ibid.
23
“a thoroughly good chap”: Undated note, TNA, CAB 154/67.
24
“could sometimes come from head”: Ewen Montagu to Miss Winton of Lloyds Bank, February 29, 1978, Montagu Papers.
25
“a father of the old school”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 154.
26
“a brilliant tour de force”: Ibid.
27
“… at the last moment”: TNA, Records of the War Office (henceforth WO) 106–5921–15.
28
“effort to find a flaw in”: Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
, p. 149.
29
“We decided that a”: Ibid., p. 150.
Chapter Seven: Pam
1
“What on earth are we going to do”: Jean Gerard Leigh, interview with the author, March 5, 2008.
2
“glaring inconsistencies”: Ibid.
3
“I was frightfully willing”: Ibid.
4
“Don’t run, Miss Leslie!”: Ibid.
5
“In fact, he was trailing me”: Ibid.
6
“charming”: Ewen Montagu,
Man Who Never Was
(Oxford, 1996), p.152.