A British deception operation that diverted German forces away from Sicily, contributing to a faster Allied conquest of the island in 1943.
Key Facts
- Year conducted
- 1943
- Corpse used
- Glyndwr Michael, disguised as Captain William Martin
- Transport method
- Body delivered by British submarine to southern Spain
- Target of false documents
- Greece and Sardinia presented as invasion targets
- Actual invasion target
- Sicily, liberated faster than anticipated
- Intelligence source
- Based on 1939 Trout memo by Godfrey and Ian Fleming
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
With the Allies planning to invade Sicily in 1943, British intelligence sought a means of convincing Germany that the real targets were Greece and Sardinia. The plan drew on the 1939 Trout memo by Rear Admiral John Godfrey and Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming, and received approval from Churchill and Eisenhower.
British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, dressed it as fictitious Royal Marines officer Captain William Martin, and planted forged correspondence suggesting Allied invasions of Greece and Sardinia. The body was released from a submarine off the southern Spanish coast, recovered by a fisherman, and the documents were shared with German intelligence by the nominally neutral Spanish government.
Ultra decrypts confirmed Germany believed the deception, and reinforcements were redirected to Greece and Sardinia rather than Sicily. Sicily received no additional German forces, was invaded in July 1943, and was liberated more quickly and with fewer casualties than Allied planners had predicted.