Book Review: Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre

Published in 2010 and 2011. This is a nonfictional account of a unique plan in World War II called Operation Mincemeat. The Brits came up with a wild idea to plant a dead body with vital information so the Germans could recover it and the documents. The idea was to fool the Nazis into thinking the Allies—Great Britain and the U.S.—would launch an attack through the Balkans instead of Sicily. The plan was devised by Charles Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumly) and approved by higher ups. Cholmondely and Ewen Montagu, another British officer implemented the plan. But first, they needed a dead body…

This was a fascinating story. The plan was hardly foolproof and it could have unraveled at any moment. However, thanks to Hitler’s own staff, the ruse was believed and led to the successful invasion of Sicily, shooting a dagger into the underbelly of the German Reich.

The plan was revealed after the war in several novels. Ewen Montagu’s book, “The Man Who Never Was,” was a best seller and made into a movie.

I recalled hearing about this operation when I was researching the Japanese-Americans in World War II. The 100th Infantry Battalion made up of Japanese-American soldiers from Hawaii was part of the landing force in Sicily. At the time, I didn’t have many clues as to what the operation entailed, only that it worked.