Operation Mincemeat: a masterstroke of intelligence and deception

Operation Mincemeat: How A Dead Man And A Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis And Assured An Allied Victory

By Ben Macintyre

Published in the U.S. by Broadway Paperbacks, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

In 1943, two British naval officers devised an improbable plan to fool Adolph Hitler and the Nazis, a plan so bold and audacious that it could never get approved, let alone pulled off.

Except the plan was approved by Winston Churchill and General Dwight Eisenhower and, against all odds, it succeeded beyond the wildest expectations of many. It's widely believed that the implementation of this ingenious plan succeeded in altering the course of World War Two.  

The true story of how the British and Americans deceived the Germans is told in Ben Macintyre's thrilling book, "Operation Mincemeat" (an earlier book about the events, The Man Who Never Was, was published in 1954 and it quickly became a best seller; a movie of the same name was released in 1956).

The plan was to create a fake identity of a purported British airman and arrange for the body to wash ashore in neutral Spain. The dead body would contain official documents confirming Allied plans to launch a surprise attack on Greece, when the actual attack would take place in Sicily. If the Germans believed that an attack on Greece was imminent, it would strengthen its resources in that area and leave southern Italy relatively exposed. At this point in the war, the Axis powers held an iron grip on Europe; the Allies needed a weakly-defended entry point in which to launch an assault, which would aid them in eventually liberating Europe.

For the plan to work, an extraordinary degree of luck and good fortune had to play into the Allied hands. In Spain, the Nazis had a vast network of spies and informants working in that country, and many of these agents needed to believe the ruse and pass false information up the chain of command. The opportunities for error were enormous. It's interesting to note the various forms of communication that were employed in fabricating this ingenious hoax - including letters, memos, diaries, newspapers, and good old-fashioned rumour and gossip.

Macintyre describes the lives, backgrounds and motivations of all participants with a superb sense of pacing and detail. At times, Operation Mincemeat reads like a thriller with sudden plot twists and mounting suspense. No detail is overlooked, from the intricate planning and choosing of a body to creating a fake identity and transporting the body to the coast of Spain. It's no accident that Ian Fleming (creator of the James Bond series) and Alan Hillgarth (an adventure novelist)  were among the officers who took part in the ploy.

Here, Macintyre sums up how a single, simple idea took shape and wound up changing the course of history:

"Amateur, unpublished novelists, the framers of Operation Mincemeat, dreamed up the most unlikely concatenation of events, rendered them believable, and sent them off to war, changing reality throughout lateral thinking and proving that it is possible to win a battle fought in the mind, from behind a desk, and from beyond the grave."

"OperationMincemeat" is an incredible story about an incredible chapter in the history of World War Two, and I give it two thumbs up. 

Fitzgerald's tragic tale of wasted days and wasted nights

The Beautiful and Damned

By F. Scott Fitzgerald

First Vintage Classics Edition, August 2010 (Originally published in hardcover in the U.S. by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1922)

The protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and Damned" is Anthony Patch, an intelligent, Harvard-educated young man with excellent prospects and a bright future. The year is 1913, and America is on the cusp of a brand new era that includes automobiles, moving pictures and exciting new industries. But Anthony has a problem: a stupendous lack of ambition and a refusal to engage in any form of purposeful work.

"The Beautiful and Damned" tells the tragic story of Anthony Patch and his attractive, socialite wife, Gloria, over an eight-year period beginning when Anthony returns from Europe to be near his ailing grandfather, Adam Patch. Adam is a respected industrialist worth millions who disapproves of Anthony's life choices and urges his grandson to stop dilly-dallying around and establish a career.

Anthony does make half-hearted attempts to find employment and to join the workforce, but he is easily bored and soon quits any so-called 'real' jobs. If young Anthony holds any aspirations for a career, it's to become a journalist/writer, but the actual work and effort required in becoming a writer is far beyond his grasp and desires.

During the span of the novel, Anthony and Gloria manage to live a life of complete debauchery, drinking and partying to excess almost daily, with a cheerful disdain for those who have to work for a living. The one consistent theme in the couples' life is their capacity for living on a small inheritance left by Anthony's mother, an inheritance that is gradually being squandered.

As their financial circumstances worsen, they are desperate for Anthony's grandfather to die, whereupon Anthony will inherit millions. But when the grandfather finally does die, the couple are mortified to discover that Anthony has been excluded from the will (except for a meager inheritance), and they suddenly find themselves weighing three unpleasant options - contesting the will in court, finding employment, or going broke.

Both Anthony and Gloria are doomed figures in "The Beautiful and Damned." Especially Gloria who grew up believing that her charm and beauty would ensure a rich and happy life. The gradual deterioration of Gloria's beauty coincides with the strains in her marriage and the couples' growing financial misfortunes. Fitzgerald portrays Gloria as a woman trapped by her beauty, by her husband, and by her grand illusions of herself. 

A rare moment of true happiness and freedom occurs when she flees after the sexual advances of a stranger at a party at her home. Here is Gloria, having escaped the party, sitting on a railway plank in the rain:

"The oppression was lifted now - the tree-tops below her were rocking the young starlight to a haunted doze. She stretched out her arms with a gesture of freedom. This was what she had wanted, to stand alone where it was high and cool...She had thought she would never feel so young again, but this was her night, her world. Triumphantly she laughed as she left the plank, and reaching the wooden platform flung herself down happily beside an iron roof-post." 

As readers, we disapprove of the lives of Anthony and Gloria and their endless pursuit of money, and the shallowness of their characters, but Fitzgerald more than makes up for his characters' deficiencies with prose that glitters like jewellery, and his ability to portray New York high society in the early 20th century with such flair.

The ending of "The Beautiful and Damned" wasn't what I was expecting, which speaks to Fitzgerald's narrative skills in keeping readers guessing and his ability to offer delightful surprises - right up until the end.