The Man Who Never Was: World War II's Boldest Counter-Intelligence Operation (Bluejacket Books) [Paperback]

Ewen Montagu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2001 | Series: Bluejacket Books

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a splendid read about the most curious scheme of World War II." --Nautical Magazine, February 2004

About the Author

Ewen Montagu ran the counterespionage sub-branch of the naval intelligence division at the British Admiralty. He later became judge advocate of the fleet and died in 1985.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: United States Naval Inst. (March 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557504482
• ISBN-13: 978-1557504487
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #490,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars First hand account of a brilliant espionage campaign July 19, 2002

By A. Woodley

Format:Paperback

Modern novellists would never have thought of this simple yet highly complicated plan to deceive the Germans during World War II. This book is written by Ewen Montagu who actually undertook the whole operation. Due to the fact of its high secrecy it could not first be revealed until the Mid-1950's when the first edition came out. Even then the full story could not be told for one of the other great secrets of WWII (the fact that the British had cracked the German code 'Engima') meant that the progress of the deception was monitored throughout its progress.

The deception was simple - dump a body with highly secret documents in a place where the Germans will be party to the find. Make it so convincing that they will take the bait. This was to mislead the Germans over the true place where the allies wanted to land (Sicily) so getting them to fortify another part of South Eastern Europe instead - the Dodecanese and Sardinia. It was a plan to save lives - as many allied lives as possible by reducing German resistance. And it worked - beautifully.

This book by Montagu gives us the absolute inside story with all the twists and turns to how the idea was conceived and how it was implemented. And for such a simple idea it was of course relatively complicated to implement. How to find an appropriately dead body to dump - where to dump it - how to make sure the Germans would find it without being suspicious of the material and so on. All very fascinating stuff and makes for a good, quick and easy read - it is very well-written and if nothing else is such an amazing story it is hard to put down.

This story is well publicised now - it has been the subject of at least one film and one documentary in the "Secrets of World War II" series, however it is nothing like information straight from the horses mouth to make you appreciate what it was all about.

My conclusion - Relatively short book but highly readable and very well worthwhile picking up even if your interest isn't in the arena of either War or World War II.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The British deception before the Sicily landing in WWII. June 23, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

The book tells the story how British Intelligence decided to mislead the Nazis in 1943 about where the next landing in the Mediterranean would occur. The original story was that they waited until a young man died of pneumonia, so he would have fluid in the lungs as cause of death. In fact, he was an unclaimed homeless man who died from eating rat poison. A submarine slipped his body into the sea off Spain, making it look like he was a Royal Marine officer and courier, and a victim of an offshore airplane crash. This was done near a town with a known active Nazi agent. The brief case he was carrying falsely showed that the Allies would invade Greece, not Sicily. The Nazi agent was allowed to see his papers which showed a coming landing in Greece. The movie has King George himself meet with the family to convince them to give over the body, missing burial with his family. In reality, the man eventually was buried with military honors in Spain. Since the original book was published, a new edition has appeared (Oxford University Press, 1996). We have learned that the first edition would never have been written had not a novel appeared in 1950 with substantially the same plot. The new (1996) edition reveals approval by the Twenty Committee in charge of these projects (Twenty = XX = double cross). The new introduction also reveals the British monitored the progress of the deception using Ultra. In the original edition, the one who conceived the operation was "George." Now it can be revealed that it was created by a lowly Flight-Lieutenant, Charles Cholmondeley, and carried out by the author, who later became chief judicial officer of the Royal Navy. The deception was a success. The Nazis did move some forces away from Sicily. Even two weeks into the invasion of Sicily, the Germans were still believing the main attack would be in Greece. It is a great read on how long it takes to put together a successful deception, and the great risks as wel! l. If it had failed, the Nazis would have known for sure the invasion would be in Sicily. The benefit was Nazi forces sat in Greece waiting for an invasion that never came.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good as far as it goes August 5, 2010

By Maxwell Stern

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The story of the man who never was is told in this book by one of the men involved in the scheme. It does not go as far as the latest book on the subject, "Operation Mincemeat", but that is because there were restrictions on release of information and documents in the 1950's when Montagu wrote his early version. Nevertheless, it is of interest because it is in the words of one on the "inside" of the scheme - a scheme which, unbelievably, actually succeeded in befuddling the German high command, and contributed to the successful allied invasion of Europe in 1944.