Deathly Deception The Real Story of Operation Mincemeat

by Smyth, Denis

• ISBN13: 9780199605989
• ISBN10: 019960598X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In the pre-dawn darkness of April 30, 1943, a body disguised as a Royal Marine Major washed ashore on the coast of Spain, carrying false documents indicating that the Allies were set to launch an attack on Greece, rather than Sicily. Immortalized in the filmThe Man Who Never Was, Operation Mincemeat is renowned as the most spectacular episode in the annals of deception. In this accurate and in-depth retelling of the story, Denis Smyth draws on a vast collection of previously unavailable documentary sources to provide many key details overlooked in other accounts of Mincemeat. He reveals how the architects of the plan navigated a maze of medical, technical, and logistical issues to deceive the enemy at the highest strategic levels. Before planting the corpse in the Spanish coastal waters via a stealthy submarine operation, the planners not only gave their dead messenger a new military identity, but also a private one--as the fianc#xE9; of an attractive young woman named "Pam." Nazi intelligence was fooled, falling for a ruse which ultimately saved thousands of American lives.

Author Biography

Denis Smyth is Professor of History at the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	p. xvii
List of Abbreviations	p. xix
Prologue	p. 1
Accidental Conception	p. 6
Medical Consultation	p. 22
Grand Stratagem	p. 47
A Sea of Troubles	p. 64
Loud and Clear	p. 786
Tailor-Made	p. 96
Brief Encounter	p. 122
Travel Arrangements	p. 149
Mincemeat Digested	p. 188
Mincemeat Dissected	p. 230
Epilogue	p. 269
Appendix	p. 281
Notes	p. 286
Bibliography	p. 337
Index	p. 353
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.