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19th March 2024 - Roy Johnstone The The man Who Never Was.
Biggar Probus Club met on 19 March 2024 to hear Roy Johnstone speak about “The
Man Who Never Was”.
Roy first came to speak to us in 2021
about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, and his latest talk described one of the
most audacious acts of deception carried out by British Intelligence during the
Second World War.
Allied Intelligence had a general ambition throughout the war to devise
strategies to reduce military and civilian casualties. In the preparation for
the invasion of Europe from North Africa in 1942, a diversion was needed to
persuade Hitler that the seaborne invasion of Sicily was only a ruse, and the
real invasion was to take place in Greece and Sardinia.
This became Operation Mincemeat, and it involved the planting of faked letters
on the body of a naval officer whose plane had crashed in the Mediterranean off
southern Spain. The body was dropped by submarine having been conveyed to
Spanish coast from Greenock after
detailed efforts were made to disguise it. The body was found by Spanish
fishermen and conveyed to Madrid where it was examined and eventually declared
to be genuine.
With the assistance of the British Military Attaché in Madrid the letters found
their way to German Intelligence
where after some doubts their veracity were accepted, and troops were diverted
to defend Greece. When the invasion of Sicily came in April 1942 it was met with
limited resistance and the Allied armies managed to reach mainland Italy and
move northwards.
Diversionary tactics were also used in preparation for the Normandy Landings two
years later.
Roy Johnstone spoke only from brief notes and gave as a fascinating and
memorable account of this remarkable deception.
The vote of thanks was given by the President, Neil Ingram. The next meeting is on Tuesday 2 April in Biggar Municipal Hall at 10.00, when we will hold our Annual General Meeting, to which all club members are invited. |