Operation Mincemeat

Operation Mincemeat

The most audacious deception operation of WWII. On the 30th of April, 1943, the corpse of a 'Major Martin' washed up near the Spanish city of Huelva. On his body, Spanish officials found secret documents detailing an upcoming Allied invasion of Greece. This was the moment that the Axis powers had been waiting for, and the Germans began redirecting much-needed divisions to Greece and the Balkans. They would discover only too late that this was all an elaborate feint, conceived by British Intelligence to obscure the Allies' real target - Sicily. By mid-July, the Allies had landed in southern Italy and the liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe was well underway.


So how exactly did its architects create this complex web of misdirection and misinformation? And can it really be true that the success of the Sicily invasion came down to this one act of deception? In this Explainer episode, Dan takes us through the twists and turns of this audacious and unorthodox act of subterfuge.


Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.


Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free original podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world-renowned historians like Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW. Download the app or sign up here.


We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.


You can take part in our listener survey here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jaksot(1492)

Food in the Ancient World

Food in the Ancient World

When we think of the modern Mediterranean, delicious and vibrant food is one of the first things that come to mind. But how much has the regional food changed over the last two millennia? In this epis...

17 Touko 202236min

HMS Black Joke

HMS Black Joke

Please note that this episode contains mentions of racial trauma, slavery and violence.The most feared ship in Britain’s West Africa Squadron, His Majesty’s Black Joke was one of a handful of ships ta...

16 Touko 202223min

The Secret Plot to Kill the Government

The Secret Plot to Kill the Government

On the night of February 23 1820, twenty-five impoverished craftsmen assembled in an obscure stable in Cato Street, London, with a plan to massacre the whole British cabinet at its monthly dinner. The...

15 Touko 202233min

How to Survive in Medieval England

How to Survive in Medieval England

If you travelled back in time to the Medieval period this very second, do you think you would survive? The short answer is probably not. If you weren't wearing a hat, wore glasses on the street, or ev...

12 Touko 202232min

Codebreaking at Bletchley Park

Codebreaking at Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park, Britain's key decryption centre during WWI, is known for the success of breaking the Nazi Enigma codes - experts have suggested that the Bletchley Park codebreakers may have shortened ...

11 Touko 202230min

Mental Health in Victorian Britain

Mental Health in Victorian Britain

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK so we’ve got a special episode exploring the surprising way Victorians approached mental health treatment in the 19th century. Oral historian Stella...

10 Touko 202228min

The 1650s: Britain's Decade Without a Crown

The 1650s: Britain's Decade Without a Crown

In 1649 Britain was engulfed by revolution. Charles I was executed for treason and within weeks the English monarchy had been abolished and the House of Lords discarded. The people, it was announced, ...

9 Touko 202228min

VE Day

VE Day

For most of us, VE Day conjures up black and white images of carefree servicemen and women dancing and beaming in Trafalgar Square, of Churchill greeted by jubilant crowds in Whitehall, and of course,...

8 Touko 202222min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
huijarit
mystista
konginkangas
rss-ikiuni
totuus-vai-salaliitto
tsunami
rouva-diktaattori
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
rss-peter-peter
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
historiaa-suomeksi
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
rss-sattuu-sita-suomessakin
apinan-vuosi
rss-kalmakabinetti
rss-kikka-forever