Man Who Never Was: World War II's Boldest Counterintelligence Operation

by Ewen Montagu (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2001

  $9.85

  As plans got under way for the Allied invasion of Sicily in June 1943, British counter-intelligence agent Ewen Montagu masterminded a scheme to mislead the Germans into thinking the next landing would occur in Greece. The innovative plot was so successful that the Germans moved some of their forces away from Sicily, and two weeks into the real invasion still expected an attack in Greece. This extraordinary operation called for a dead body, dressed as a Royal Marine officer and carrying false information about a pending Allied invasion of Greece, to wash up on a Spanish shore near the town of a known Nazi agent.Agent Montagu tells the story as only an insider could, offering fascinating details of the difficulties involved--especially in creating a persona for a man who never was--and of his profession as a spy and the risks involved in mounting such a complex operation. Failure could have had devastating results. Success, however, brought a decided change in the course of the war.

• Used

  Paperback
  1996

  $3.25

  This text provides an insider account of the counter-intelligence operation (Operation Mincemeat) which paved the way for the Allied invasion of Sicily during World War II. It outlines the audacious and innovative plot to outwit the Germans by washing up a dead body on Spanish shores complete with apparently confidential information concealed about its person. Surprising and often amusing difficulties were faced in creating a new life and persona for the man who never was , but as the new introduction to the book shows, the operation was a phenomenal success.