Operation Mincemeat: short summary

By now you can assume that we know everything about the Second World War. I mean, after all those books that were written, movies shot, series made and classes followed in our lives, how could you think otherwise? But once in a while you stumble upon yet another little piece of world war history. Like the story of the Sylt concentration camp or the one I am going to tell you about in this article: Operation Mincemeat.

Spoiler alert: if you are going to watch the movie about Operation Mincemeat: don’t read further because I will explain how this military operation was planned, how it went down and how it ended.

Mincemeat: what does it mean?

An army operation normally has an impressive codename, like Operation Overlord used for the D-Day battle.. But Operation Mincemeat…that is another thing.

Because literally, mincemeat is a type of pastry made out of a mix of raisins, spices, sugar, apples, candied peel and suet. Not a name that impresses your enemy, is it?

Operation Mincemeat (WW2): meaning & purpose

But what was Operation Mincemeat about? Mincemeat actually was a deception operation, set up by the British army during World War 2.

The purpose of Operation Mincemeat was to hide and disguise an invasion in Sicily by putting the enemy on a wrong track, while actually preparing an invasion at a different location.

The operation was organized in 1943, not that long before the end of the Second World War.

The first part of the plan was the use of the body of a deceased homeless man, named Michael Glyndwr. The British army then dressed the corps as an officer of the British Royal Marines. They also made a fake identity for the corps, making it more believable for enemy spies that this was indeed an important person within the British Navy.

The second part was making the Nazis take the bait. You can not just drop a body with military plans in the city center of Berlin, that would be too obvious. So it was in Spain that the so called navy officer was found. During World War II, Spain was officially a neutral country, but it had strong connections with the German fascist regime.

The British government staged an interest in the found documents in Spain, making it seem that they were important for them. Which of course tricked the Nazis to go after the body and documents of the so called British officer and thus falling for the trap set up by the Allied forces.

Did Operation Mincemeat (WW2) work?

Yes, the plan did work. the German generals believed that an Allied attack in Greece was about to happen, so they transfered a part of their army, which was stationed in France, over to Greece.

The Nazi army did not expect the Allied forces to show up in Sicily, which of course saved several thousands of lives of the Allied forces.

What was the meaning of Operation Mincemeat during World War 2?

Beside potentially saving the lives of many Alled forces, the invasion of Sicily in June 1943 also marked an important turning point for the downfall of Mussolini.

Mussolini was the fascist leader of Italy and partner in crime of Adolf Hitler. So bringing him down and freeing Italy of his fascist regime was not only important for Italy itself, but was a turning point towards the end of the Second World War.

Operation Mincemeat: the movie (on Netflix) & book

Recently, a movie was made about Operation Mincemeat.

The director of the Operation Mincemeat movie is John Madden, also known for his film ‘Shakespeare in love’. The movie is based on the book written by author Ben Macintyre, which tells you everything about this military plan.

The movie was also released on the streaming platform Netflix, so it’s probably worth your while to check it out if it is still available in your country.

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
History.com
Pictures: pexels.com