Selects: Operation Mincemeat: How A Corpse Fooled the Nazis

Operation Mincemeat, a British military deception during World War II, aimed to mislead the Nazis about the Allied invasion of Sicily. The plan involved creating a fictional persona, Major William Martin, and planting a corpse with false documents suggesting the invasion would target Greece. Ian Fleming initially outlined the idea, and the XX Committee, led by Ewan Montague and Charles Chumley, developed the scheme. Key to the operation was a letter with misleading information and planted "pocket litter" to enhance the illusion. The success hinged on exploiting Nazi assumptions, deciphering Enigma-coded messages, and targeting gullible Nazi agents like Adolf Klaus. Ultimately, the deception led Hitler to move troops from Sicily to Greece, facilitating the Allied invasion and significantly impacting the war's trajectory.