Facts and Stories from WWII That We Won’t Find in History Books

Operation Mincemeat stands as one of the most ingenious and successful espionage operations of WWII. In a masterstroke of deception, the British selected the corpse of a homeless man, transforming him into a fictitious Allied officer, complete with a false identity and personal documents.

This included counterfeit correspondence intended to convince the enemy that the Allies planned to invade Greece and Sardinia, not Sicily. The body was then strategically placed off the coast of Spain, where it was discovered and the misleading documents eventually reached German intelligence. Believing the ruse, the Germans reallocated their forces away from Sicily, significantly reducing their defensive presence there.