Ben Macintyre writes fabulous books about WWII and Cold War escapades. Operation Mincemeat is up there with the best of those that I’ve read – deception, cunning, and true bravery resulting in a misinformation mission that saved hundreds if not thousands of lives, and fooled Hitler himself.
As the Allies planned for an invasion into southern Europe to swing the momentum of the war, they had choices as to the initial targets. One key factor in the success of any assault would be the prepardness of the enemy – if the defending forces could be misdirected and focussed elsewhere, the landings would have less resistance and Allied lives would be saved.
So a couple of people in the secret service in London cooked up a almost fantastical scheme to acquire a dead body, fabricate a back story of a naval officer, dress up the body with all manner of personal affects and crucially some fake letters between generals discussing landing sites, and then drop this body off the coast of Spain.
Having assessed the wind and tides, and also the local spy networks, they were confident that not only would the body be found but that the supposedly neutral Spanish authorities would hand the documents over to the Nazis.
The story follows the elaborate, detailed, and nerve wracking planning and execution. It’s a thrilling read and very evocative of that period in history. The cast of larger-than-life characters is as equally deep as the research behind the narrative which is as usual amazingly thorough.
A real-life thriller, terrifically paced but also thoughtful and dignified.
