In 1943, British intelligence officers Ewen Montagu and Charles Cholmondeley executed Operation Mincemeat, a deception plot to convince Germany that the Allies would invade Greece instead of Sicily. The core challenge was acquiring and delivering a convincing corpse carrying fake secret documents. They selected Glyndwr Michael, a destitute Welshman who died from ingesting rat poison.
Because phosphorus poison leaves few visible clues and mimics drowning, it was ideal for a body supposedly recovered from a plane crash at sea. Pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury assured them the cold weather would preserve the corpse, which was kept on ice at St. Pancras mortuary under strict secrecy.
To craft the identity of 'Major William Martin,' the team meticulously forged a life story. They filled his pockets with realistic 'pocket litter': a photo of a fictional fiancée named Pam, passionate love letters typed on MI5 stationery, an unpaid bill for a silver engagement ring, theatre ticket stubs, and an angry overdraft notice from Lloyds Bank. When the time came, the body was packed in a custom-built, dry-ice-filled canister and driven to Scotland by racecar driver St.
John Horsfall in a Ford van. Transferred to the submarine HMS Seraph, Major Martin was cast into the sea off the coast of Huelva, Spain. Spanish authorities recovered the body, shared the 'top secret' documents with German intelligence, and the trap was sprung, successfully diverting Nazi divisions.