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[redelitev6]

Just watched a brilliant programme on BBC 2 telling the true story of the film"the man who never was", a body dumped off the spanish coast having false documents suggesting the allies would invade greece and not sicily in 1943,outstanding plan, germans fell for it totally, saving thousands of lives,incredible stuff 

[PhilRich]

You are either very very young mate or have been somewhere television hasn't reached yet?

[redelitev6]

You are either very very young mate or have been somewhere television hasn't reached yet?

:ysadly not THAT young! i have seen the film loads of times and heard plenty of the story,but it still amazes me that the whole thing worked!!

[PhilRich]

You are either very very young mate or have been somewhere television hasn't reached yet?

:ysadly not THAT young! i have seen the film loads of times and heard plenty of the story,but it still amazes me that the whole thing worked!!

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It was a brilliant game of bluff & double bluff that was well planned & executed. It wouldn't work these days of course, if the Risk Assessment didn't give the game away then Wikileaks would!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

MINCEMEAT was a great British bluff, the first of really two that changed the course of the second world war.

Probably the supreme example was the second British bluff involving the Spanish double agent Juan Pujol, aka GARBO, and the fantastic exercise of absolutely convincing the German High Command that the invasion of Europe by the Allies would take place anywhere between Par De Calais and Norway, not Normandy.  GARBO used 27 imaginary agents to support his reports to the German Abwehr of various non-existant allied forces building in Eastern England. He so convinced the Germans that months after the Normandy OVERLORD invasion they expected the main invasion to still come towards the North of Europe.  GARBO received £20,000 from the Germans to finance his work, and the Iron Cross from Hitler.  He also received the British Kings Medal For Service In The Cause For Freedom after the war.

GARBO is considered by many historians as being the key in the success of D-Day.  A tremendous, unique, achievement and well worth reading about!

Recommended books for those interested:

Seaman, M. GARBO The Spy Who Saved D-DAY The National Achives (2004)

West, N. MI5 British Security Service Operations 1909-1945 Bodley Head (1981)