During World War 2, British officers were able to pull off one of the most stunning and successful tricks in the history of espionage

 During World War 2, British officers were able to pull off one of the most stunning and successful tricks in the history of espionage. This operation is known as Operation Mincemeat.

In April 1943, sardine fishermen off the coast of Spain found the decomposing body of a British officer. Personal documents revealed the dead officer to be William Martin.

 The Nazis took hold of the documents found on the body and it revealed letters from a British officer in London to a British officer in Tunisia stating that there was an impending allied invasion through the Mediterranean Sea of Nazi held Greece and Sardinia.

 The intelligence gathered by the Nazi spy network was then transferred to Hitler himself who ordered massive amounts of troops to be deployed to Greece in preparation for the impending invasion.

The body of William Martin that was found and pulled from Spanish waters

There was only one problem… it was all a ruse. British officer “William Martin” never existed. The drowned body’s real identity was a Welsh tramp who’s body was picked up from a London morgue.

 The masterminds behind this were British intelligence officers Charles Cholmondeley and Ewen Montagu. They created an elaborate backstory for “William Martin”. To make it look credible, false identity cards, faked personal letters, receipts, bills, photographs, “wallet litter” were all used.

 They even gave the dead man a father and a fiancée. Most importantly they chained to his wrist a briefcase containing official looking documents detailing the impending invasion was not in Sicily.

 The web of deceit was so elaborate that even Churchill’s own spies were beginning to believe the story. It was so well planned that the documents were eventually presented to Hitler himself.

One of the many forged documents showing the man was truly William Martin

For the British, it was a grand success. The Germans fell completely for the ruse. German troops were deployed to the wrong place leaving Sicily wide open for invasion. This saved the lives of thousands of British, Canadian and American troops. 

It also hastened the end of the war as Mussolini was shortly deposed of power. One of the most successful and mind-blowing tricks in history utilized a secret agent that was very different in a sense compared to normal spies as the agent was dead from the start.