Film Night Feb 24th June – Operation Mincemeat

Film Night
Date: Feb 24th June
Time: Earlier Time of 19:30
Tickets£5 on sale now in Tarvin Post Office, or on the door on the night.

Operation Mincemeat was a British deception operation during WWII to disguise the 1943 invasion of Sicily. Two British intelligence officers dressed the corpse of a tramp; Glyndwr Michael as an officer of the Royal Marines and placed personal items on the body identifying him as Captain (Acting Major) William Martin. Military correspondence suggesting that the Allies planned to invade Greece and Sardinia, with Sicily as merely the target of a feint, was also placed on the body.

They transported the body to southern Spain by submarine and released it close to shore, where it was picked up by a Spanish fisherman. The nominally neutral Spanish government shared copies of the documents with German military intelligence, before returning the originals to the British. Forensics showed they had been read and decrypts of German messages suggested that Germans fell for the ruse. German reinforcements were shifted to Greece and Sardinia ; Sicily received none.

It is not clear if it is due to Operation Mincemeat was but Sicily was liberated more quickly than expected and with fewer losses than predicted.

Please note the earlier start time of 19:30