I suggest you try to find a copy or see if anyone is streaming the 1956 film 'The man who never was' starting Clifton Webb, Steven Boyd & Gloria Graham. ( other well known British actors were in it too). It's a brilliant film and you'll get to know a fully story of what went on. A more recent remake was made called 'Operation Mincemeat' (2022) starring Colin Firth, but personally I prefer the earlier film.
There have been two films about Operation Mincemeat, the second one only about a year ago. The grave in Spain originally said it was Major Martin, but later, once the truth was known, the name of the Welshman was added, saying "He served as Major Martin".
If you think “The Man Who Never Was” is something special, you should learn about the other great deceptions that the British and later the USA undertook to fool the Axis. When the war started then Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke gather together a number of people including people who had worked in British vaudeville and theater. His group then combined fictional orders of battle, visual deception and double agents to deceive the Axis generals of what the Allies where doing. His team created an entire fake port city of Alexandria a few miles away along the coast that was light up while power was cut off in the real port, allowing Axis bombers to repeatedly attack the fake city. It also created a fake railyard for bombers to attack and an entire fake army with plywood tanks, canvas trucks, and wooden artillery guns in North Africa. The British then did the same to build a huge fake army before D-Day in England.
Newer one was a great disappointment. The first movie was known as 'The man who never was'. The real identity of the body is still speculated about today and the subject of several books
Major Martin's grave in Nuestra Senora Cemetery in Huelva, Spain, is looked after by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission who oversee the care of Commonwealth War Graves around the world. Although the grave shows "Major Martin" as the deceased, in 1997 a postscript was added to the grave which shows that "Glyndwr Michael served as Major Martin". There is also a memorial outside Hackney Mortuary in London, from where the corpse was originally sourced.
Connar, during World War II, they knew about the ‘sea tides’, and ‘sea currents’ around Spain and in the Mediterranean Sea because of the Admiralty Hydrographic Department: - the predecessor to the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) which is still in operation today. This department was responsible for charting and surveying the seas world-wide to support naval operations. Their work was crucial for navigation and strategic planning during the war.
The royal navy owned one of the very first mechanical computers for predicting tides. It consisted of a series of calibrated pulleys marked with the names of ports with a single rope running through them if you moved one pulley to the correct hight all the others would move showing you the expected depth of water in each place. I believe it or at least a reproduction still exists. What makes it so brilliant is the fact it's made out of rope and pulleys because of course they did..Navy.
If you want to learn more about the war in the Mediterranean. Look up the Battle of Cape Matapan. The only battle in which a Carrier took part in a surface action with its guns, rather than aircraft. Also, the future husband to Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, Prince Phillip served in the battle onboard Warspite.
Ewan Montagu, who was instrumental in developing the plan and who later became a judge, wrote ‘The Man Who Never Was’ about it, and this was later turned into a film with Clifton Webb playing Montagu. In 2010 Ben MacIntyre wrote a book called Operation Mincemeat which later became a film, this time with Colin Firth as Montagu. Apparently Montagu was not allowed to disclose some information about the operation so MacIntyre’s book is more accurate. The narrator did seem to pronounce Huelva as ‘Huevla’.
The US was three years late in World War I and over two years late in World War II. That's how much they thought of their allies!!! (Especially France, who had given them the Statue of Liberty!).
I am disappointed in the harsh comments from fellow UK citizens. You are insulting a nation that does not deserve such comments. The USA was supposed to be neutral and the nation was as keen to be involved in a war as much as the UK was after czechoslovakia was invaded. During this time, they did as much as they could to help the UK without breaking their neutrality. I can give you a long list if you are unable to use google, but when added up they were acting as allies to the UK in many ways. Your ignorance of history is no excuse for your rudeness. If you know nothing about what they did, then either research it or keep your comments to yourself!
@@BikersDoItSittingDown. Get your facts right, matey. First of all, it wasn't Czechoslovakia, (with a capitol C), that was invaded, it was Poland. Secondly, the US was supplying war materials to Germany as well as the UK. And, thirdly, as I'm 81 years old, I probably know a bit more about that time than you do. There was no insults given when true facts are known, the only reason that the US became involved in the war was because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor!!!! (And the UK declared war on Japan IMMEDIATELY after!).
another good one is when the british commandos and greek resistance kidnapped a german general (General Kreipe) on the isle of crete and managed to whisk him off to egypt , made famous by the movie , Ill Met by Moonlight. It turned into a massive manhunt with the Germans trying to recover their General, that lasted several weeks as they had to traverse Crete through the moutains, awaiting a safe extraction by the Royal Navy. The other interesting thing , is the man responsible for the plan and who carried it out Major Patrick Leigh Fermor and General Kreipe appeared together on a greek TV show in the 1970's. the way they grabbed him, they literally stopped his car at night ,they knew his route between his residence and HQ, then took the car with him into the mountains it was called Operation 'Bricklayer'
@@freebornjohn2687 would always be the case, like with Heydrich, however experts have said , the reprisals where nothing to do with it, and would off occured either way.
'But I have dreamed a dreary dream, Beyond the Isle of Skye; I saw a dead man win a fight, And I think that man was I.' The ballad 'The Battle of Otterburn'.
Connor have you heard of the bouncing bombs, they used to practice with them at the dams in wales i believe. There is a famous film called the dam busters. Im guessing you already know this.
They practised in Derwent Dam and Ladybower Resevior in Derbyshire. I went around them this week. There were a few other practise areas for various parts of the training, but these were the two main sites due to the mountains that encompass the large bodies of water. I think they practised with the explosives in Wales.
2:41: after the landings in French North Africa, the French army as a whole (army, navy, air force, except of course the 1 million plus French soldiers in German POW camps following 1940), and not only the French Free Forces that had been fighting from the 1940 armistice to the allied landings in French North Africa in 1942, joined the allies in the fight against the axis. The took part and the Sicily landings and later the Italian peninsula landings, and it was the French forces who broke the German line in Italy and permitted the allies to continue northward. The French liberated Rome and on the day of the Normandy landings, the French army had its parade through a Rome they had liberated. The Provence (south France landings) were due to take part at the same time as the Normandy landings, but was postponed a few weeks due to insufficient numbers of ships. While French forces were the first to land on Sword beach during D-day (177 men of Kieffer commando) and other French men parachuted the night before, French naval forces and aerial forces (fighters and the bombers bombing smoke screens for the troopers to land) also took part during D-day), most of the French forces landed during operation Dragoon in Provence. While part of the French forces stayed in and liberated France, an other part joined with the allies from the Normandy landings marching eastwards towards Germany. They were very effective, for example, the French were the ones to take Hitlers’ eagles’ nest.
His family was located and gave permission for his body to be used before the Operation happened. I believe the family did receive a medal in recognition of what had been done. There were a couple of strange things that went on during WW2. A man who did crosswords for a major British newspaper found himself in prison being interrogated a few weeks before D Day. He had submitted a crossword that contained the words Gold, Juno, Sword and Utah. It was a complete coincidence. (They were the names given to 4 of the 5 beaches at Normandy).
I have both the films made about this "The Man That Never Was" and "Operation Mincemeat" which was the actual name they chose for the plan. I personally prefer the first film. Well worth watching them.
I'm british and have see the old ww2 movie on the man who never was.But from an American point of view they had the biggest force attacking sicily and probably own more the this dead man any one just hope some of those American veterans found out later about a dead man saving there lives
One of the "pranks" I like, was a train of panzers that was prevented from getting to normandy and fighting in the north thanks to a tub of grease laced with carborundum, an abrasive, that basically locked up the wheels and forced them to go by road instead at a huge cost in time and fuel. You might be interested in the involvement of a man called Jasper Maskelyne who was a stage magician and used his talents to hiding targets and diverting bombers to empty fields instead. Even the suez canal was made to disappear at one point.
The issue of bodies carrying documents nearly happened for real in 1944. Prior to D Day, the Allies ran a disastrous live fire exercise at Slapton Sands, Devon, as the beach was similar to Utah Beach. 749 American servicemen were killed when German E Boats stumbled upon the convoy of troop ships prior to the landing. Amongst the lost were several high level officers with knowledge of D Day sites. Had the Germans captured them, or made the connection between the geographies of Slapton and Normandy, it could've jeopardised the entire landing operation. D Day was nearly called off until all 10 of the officers could be accounted for and the entire incident was kept secret until August 1944 when the casualties were included in the D Day lists.
Sea tides and currents, the British had been mapping currents tides and ocean depths since the first oceanic mission of the Challanger, hence the name The Challanger deep, one of their early discoveries.
Apparently the invasion was going to take 90 days and at the cost of 40,000 to 50,000 men, once operation mincemeat had worked it took 38 days at the loss of 7000 men. I'd say that was a very very important operation that worked perfectly.
Interestingly the photo used in the fake ID papers was of Captain Ronnie Reed, a radio expert, who supervised Agent Zigzag's morse messages back to Germany. After the war he joined MI5 and headed the counter-espionage section.
@@mikebutler6308 They did make a film called Triplecross with Christopher Plummer. It wasn't all that good as they were restricted by Official Secrets but I am sure they could do a much better film nowadays. Who would you pick to play Eddie?
One problem with the story that the tramp was Major Martin was that he did not die of drowning and he was physically extremely unfit which made him an unlikely Royal Marine. There is a plausible theory that the body was actually that of a sailor who drowned when the aircraft carrier HMS Dasher exploded and sank in the Clyde on March 27th 1943. Many of the crew's bodies were never recovered so it would have been easy for one of the recovered bodies to have been taken and used as Major Martin without anyone realising.
Very interesting. I know the 'tramp' story was deception, as I was told so nearly 50 years ago. It was first suggested they find someone who had died of pneumonia, as this would provide fluid in the lungs - however it was pointed out that sea water and bodily fluid would have been easily distinguished in the event of a detailed autopsy.
You mentioned Rome and Carthage fighting over Sicily. Have you seen Patton (1970) with George C. Scott in the title role? Patton was a bit obsessed with historical battles and it's part of the movie that he "reminisce" over old battlefields he feel he had been on before. History nut or just nuts, he was a great general.
Such a good General he slapt a soldier suffering from shell shock across the face because the soldier refused to go back to his unit and called him a coward, this in the hospital tent,I would not call him a great General and he made some bad decisions.
@@angelabushby1891 Agreed he wasn't a nice person and even for that time he was tactless and even abusive, but as a tactician I think his successes were more than his failures. I have no admiration for the man, so I hope my comment didn't make it sound like that. I just wanted to recommend a movie that I like that had something to do with the reaction video.
Both films/movies made of 'Operation Mincemeat' are a worth while watch...'The man that never was' (1956) and 'Operation Mincemeat' (2021)...good films...The Ben MaCintyre documentary is also a good watch (below) th-cam.com/video/UXMxiSGdaI4/w-d-xo.html
This is one of those things you hear about and say if I'd seen that in a film I'd think it's a good idea. But would never work. How wrong can you be. Good video Connor. This goes to show the impossible done right can become reality.
If you're going to watch one of the movies about this, I'd recommend the first one. Also his pronunciation of Ruse as 'rooce' is driving me nuts...it's 'rooze' like Fuse with a 'R' 😂
the funniest british prank , and it might be made up, but here it goes, the brits supplied the russians with rubbers, useful to keep your guns clean in the winter. Anyway we sent them loads , but the biggest ones we could find, but changed the description to 'medium size'
The story became a famous book and a movie. The reason they choose neutral Spain is because tge German intelligens worked fone, so the message would be delivered sooner or later, but German experts and forensic scientist wouldn't be able to examine the body and briefcase to closely. The Spanish authorities had no reason to do so, and the British ambassador could arrange for the briefcase to be delivered back to the British, and a speedy burial of the corpse. When the briefcase was examined in England very thoroughly they found that envelopes had been opened and re-sealed, and some double-agents got requests for information about said Martin.
Plus, as Spain, under Franco, was fascist, like Germany, they counted on at least some Spanish officials being somewhat "pro-German." and would facilitate the German Agent's getting a look at the documents at least, or even better, taking photos of them. Not discussed was the interesting side note that in the papers was a casual reference to a Sicilian "Diversion" or Mock Invasion.
The Western Desert War, never mind East Africa, Somalia and Ethiopia were Britain's first successes in the War, Norway, Fall of France being the opening salvos. The Mediterranean was largely an Axis lake and the real fear was losing Suez and its Canal - the link to India and the Anzacs. Fall of Greece, the fall of Crete, the Malta experience where an entire island was awarded the George Cross (civilian VC). Middle East - Iraq and Iran! The torpedo bomber attack on Taranto harbour - watched by a Japanese envoy - inspired the attack on Pearl Harbour. Lots going on, not many American involved until Torch, not many US movies!
You should look up about Operation Copperhead which was about how British Intelligence fooled the Germans into thinking Field Marshall Montgomery was in places where he actually wasn't. There's a movie called 'I was Monty's double' that's worth watching if you can find it.
So much was learned from the Italian campaign prior to D-Day, if the Germans had those 20 reallocated divisions in Italy the campaign might have failed, D-Day might have taken place in the Summer of ‘45 or also failed in ‘44.
You don't know about the north African campaign because the US weren't hardly involved it was won by British & imperial troops, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops. Misdirection is a "ruse de gurre", something we brits are good at as we are often out numbered & have to fight clever.
th-cam.com/video/hBk3sSUB5X4/w-d-xo.html by Rick Robinson: this is an excellent long-form documentary of Mincemeat. I visited 'Major Martin"'s grave in Heulva when I went to work in Gibraltar. Very moving.
THEY MADE A FILM A FEW YEARS AGO WITH COILN FRIEI AND Matthew MAC FADYEN GREAT FILM PRETTY WELL KEEPS TO THE STORY WITH A FEW ADD ONS TO SPICE IT UP TO ENJOY ALL ON NETFLIX ETC CHANELS 🤷♀️
There are 2 films about it, 'Operation Mincemeat' made a couple of years ago which is rubbish, far far better is 'The man who never was' made in 1956(?) which is much more accurate.
I am not going to take issue with the title of this video, except to say that there was nothing insane about Operation Mincemeat or any of the personnel who set it up and executed it. Were I to amend the title, I would replace the word "insanity" with "brilliance". For a comprehensive description of the "caper", I would point you toward the Wikipedia entry on the subject at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat where you will find plenty of vivid descriptions of and facts about the operation. Well worth a read (it does not take long).
I want to apologise to you I still want to be your friend I feed a lot of stuff what you're going through little Napoleon will stand by you don't give up be strong
British intellect has always been just as important to military wins as military equipment & soldiers. Inventing radar, decoding Enigma in WW2. Inventing electric telegraph to connect Crimea to London. The field telephone & wireless communication in the Boer War etc etc..
Conor I love your channel but you just reinforce my opinion that Americans need to be told twice. You asked how they knew the body would get washed up minutes after they explained how it would.
This is by far the worst TH-cam video I’ve seen covering ‘Operation Mincemeat’. There is a BBC documentary easily found on this platform but to react to that in a proper manner it would require 45 minutes of this reactors valuable time! If you are going to do a reaction video to important historical events may I suggest you find the best source material available and not some guy who’s knocked up a video to just get as many views as possible. Just a suggestion!
@@beefabob it wasn’t quite as bad as anticipated, although Huelva was pronounced ‘Huevla’. However I think that any video that uses childish cartoons is likely to be of dubious quality.
I entirely agree with you, bad source material ruins so many reaction videos on history subjects. But reactors can't appreciate this in advance, they haven't yet watched the video!! However, he reacts to a series of travelogues, Wolters World. I think they're terrible, but he watches one after the other, feeling comfortable with Wolter's American perspective, and not knowing any difference, so he definitely needs guidance as to what to watch.......
Ok it's fine in I found out your gun back out with someone so I am going to go back out with this soldier whose come back from abroad and speed phone number you up and asked me out so I am going to play the field too undersold your person from Catterick told me you really just like me this person really likes me so I'm going to go out with him see what it feels like now
I've got to go get cleaned up the home spotless because my sister is visiting and the fetching the kids and I'm making a Sunday roast for them all bottle what's your videos on overnight bye for now
Siciy has always been of great strategic importance as it's the stepping stone between N. Africa and Italy and controls the seaways between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean. Over the years it's been controlled by a variety of powers including: The Phoenicians, Cathaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Spanish, Austrians and British as well as several periods of independence. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sicily
Mr Ballen done the exact story but accept that he and his staff made one mistake , they said it was a death of a senior army officer and not a homeless man ,as i got to his story early once he uploaded it , i explained that his staff was wrong as it was a homeless man . I also showed him the story and proof of who it was the body the british army used . He never said nothing or his staff , that how bad their staff are they did not accept the mistake or pinned the comment of their mistake . Which is a shame as he is a great story teller and his staff are rubbish , so i usually check the stories before i watch them.
@@captaincorky237 you have your information wrong it was a homeless man , but what i will say is , it is your choice to what ever you believe ,that is all i can say . I have looked in the indormation books in the libarary which are for the public i suggest you may do the same . Being told is different to what or where you get your information from.
@@XENONEOMORPH1979 The information books are indeed for the public. The homeless Welshman story was for the public. It was disinformation, for the benefit of the family of the dead man, who insisted on a vow of secrecy from the authorities.
I suggest you try to find a copy or see if anyone is streaming the 1956 film 'The man who never was' starting Clifton Webb, Steven Boyd & Gloria Graham.
( other well known British actors were in it too).
It's a brilliant film and you'll get to know a fully story of what went on.
A more recent remake was made called 'Operation Mincemeat' (2022) starring Colin Firth, but personally I prefer the earlier film.
Agreed, "The Man Who Never Was" is a top film.......
@@CovBloke1310 far better than the recent one, which went into farce to an extent
Agree with all these, watch the 1956 film, you'll enjoy it!
That was an absolutely brilliant film !
Yes the 1956 film is the best. Montagu even appeared in it in a small cameo role playing another officer. I met Montagu a few times before he died.
There have been two films about Operation Mincemeat, the second one only about a year ago. The grave in Spain originally said it was Major Martin, but later, once the truth was known, the name of the Welshman was added, saying "He served as Major Martin".
If you think “The Man Who Never Was” is something special, you should learn about the other great deceptions that the British and later the USA undertook to fool the Axis. When the war started then Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke gather together a number of people including people who had worked in British vaudeville and theater. His group then combined fictional orders of battle, visual deception and double agents to deceive the Axis generals of what the Allies where doing. His team created an entire fake port city of Alexandria a few miles away along the coast that was light up while power was cut off in the real port, allowing Axis bombers to repeatedly attack the fake city. It also created a fake railyard for bombers to attack and an entire fake army with plywood tanks, canvas trucks, and wooden artillery guns in North Africa. The British then did the same to build a huge fake army before D-Day in England.
Newer one was a great disappointment. The first movie was known as 'The man who never was'. The real identity of the body is still speculated about today and the subject of several books
Major Martin's grave in Nuestra Senora Cemetery in Huelva, Spain, is looked after by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission who oversee the care of Commonwealth War Graves around the world. Although the grave shows "Major Martin" as the deceased, in 1997 a postscript was added to the grave which shows that "Glyndwr Michael served as Major Martin". There is also a memorial outside Hackney Mortuary in London, from where the corpse was originally sourced.
When his father was told he was given the chance at the end of the war having the correct name put on his sons grave stone.
His father refused.
I thought the Hackney mortuary was were his identity was changed and his body prepared for the mission.
Not where it was souced from.
Connar, during World War II, they knew about the ‘sea tides’, and ‘sea currents’ around Spain and in the Mediterranean Sea because of the Admiralty Hydrographic Department: - the predecessor to the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) which is still in operation today. This department was responsible for charting and surveying the seas world-wide to support naval operations. Their work was crucial for navigation and strategic planning during the war.
The Navy had that knowledge as far back as Drake
The British Navy had been in the med for a while by then 👍
The royal navy owned one of the very first mechanical computers for predicting tides. It consisted of a series of calibrated pulleys marked with the names of ports with a single rope running through them if you moved one pulley to the correct hight all the others would move showing you the expected depth of water in each place. I believe it or at least a reproduction still exists. What makes it so brilliant is the fact it's made out of rope and pulleys because of course they did..Navy.
If you want to learn more about the war in the Mediterranean. Look up the Battle of Cape Matapan. The only battle in which a Carrier took part in a surface action with its guns, rather than aircraft. Also, the future husband to Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, Prince Phillip served in the battle onboard Warspite.
Ewan Montagu, who was instrumental in developing the plan and who later became a judge, wrote ‘The Man Who Never Was’ about it, and this was later turned into a film with Clifton Webb playing Montagu. In 2010 Ben MacIntyre wrote a book called Operation Mincemeat which later became a film, this time with Colin Firth as Montagu. Apparently Montagu was not allowed to disclose some information about the operation so MacIntyre’s book is more accurate. The narrator did seem to pronounce Huelva as ‘Huevla’.
You should watch the 1956 film "The Man Who Never Was " with Clifton Webb which would answer all your questions as well as being a very good film.
love your reactions. The reason for the lack of focus on Africa is Hollywood, they focus on how America won the war on its own.
Even though they were2 years LATE into a WORLD war !!
@@enemde3025 And claimed, in a film, they broke the Enigma Code, by capture of German submarine!!!!
The US was three years late in World War I and over two years late in World War II. That's how much they thought of their allies!!! (Especially France, who had given them the Statue of Liberty!).
I am disappointed in the harsh comments from fellow UK citizens.
You are insulting a nation that does not deserve such comments.
The USA was supposed to be neutral and the nation was as keen to be involved in a war as much as the UK was after czechoslovakia was invaded.
During this time, they did as much as they could to help the UK without breaking their neutrality.
I can give you a long list if you are unable to use google, but when added up they were acting as allies to the UK in many ways.
Your ignorance of history is no excuse for your rudeness.
If you know nothing about what they did, then either research it or keep your comments to yourself!
@@BikersDoItSittingDown. Get your facts right, matey. First of all, it wasn't Czechoslovakia, (with a capitol C), that was invaded, it was Poland. Secondly, the US was supplying war materials to Germany as well as the UK. And, thirdly, as I'm 81 years old, I probably know a bit more about that time than you do. There was no insults given when true facts are known, the only reason that the US became involved in the war was because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor!!!! (And the UK declared war on Japan IMMEDIATELY after!).
another good one is when the british commandos and greek resistance kidnapped a german general (General Kreipe) on the isle of crete and managed to whisk him off to egypt , made famous by the movie , Ill Met by Moonlight.
It turned into a massive manhunt with the Germans trying to recover their General, that lasted several weeks as they had to traverse Crete through the moutains, awaiting a safe extraction by the Royal Navy.
The other interesting thing , is the man responsible for the plan and who carried it out Major Patrick Leigh Fermor and General Kreipe appeared together on a greek TV show in the 1970's.
the way they grabbed him, they literally stopped his car at night ,they knew his route between his residence and HQ, then took the car with him into the mountains
it was called Operation 'Bricklayer'
I believe the Germans were very hard on the Cretans after the kidnap.
@@freebornjohn2687 would always be the case, like with Heydrich, however experts have said , the reprisals where nothing to do with it, and would off occured either way.
'But I have dreamed a dreary dream,
Beyond the Isle of Skye;
I saw a dead man win a fight,
And I think that man was I.'
The ballad 'The Battle of Otterburn'.
a great ballad in full, I wondered who knew this to put it into the film
The Man Who Never Was eventually had his real name carved on his grave stone in Spain. Thus the poor man's true identity became known to the world.
The grave carries the inscription " served as Major Martin " acknowledging his service to his country and the Allied cause.
Connor have you heard of the bouncing bombs, they used to practice with them at the dams in wales i believe. There is a famous film called the dam busters. Im guessing you already know this.
They practised in Derwent Dam and Ladybower Resevior in Derbyshire. I went around them this week. There were a few other practise areas for various parts of the training, but these were the two main sites due to the mountains that encompass the large bodies of water. I think they practised with the explosives in Wales.
2:41: after the landings in French North Africa, the French army as a whole (army, navy, air force, except of course the 1 million plus French soldiers in German POW camps following 1940), and not only the French Free Forces that had been fighting from the 1940 armistice to the allied landings in French North Africa in 1942, joined the allies in the fight against the axis. The took part and the Sicily landings and later the Italian peninsula landings, and it was the French forces who broke the German line in Italy and permitted the allies to continue northward. The French liberated Rome and on the day of the Normandy landings, the French army had its parade through a Rome they had liberated.
The Provence (south France landings) were due to take part at the same time as the Normandy landings, but was postponed a few weeks due to insufficient numbers of ships.
While French forces were the first to land on Sword beach during D-day (177 men of Kieffer commando) and other French men parachuted the night before, French naval forces and aerial forces (fighters and the bombers bombing smoke screens for the troopers to land) also took part during D-day), most of the French forces landed during operation Dragoon in Provence.
While part of the French forces stayed in and liberated France, an other part joined with the allies from the Normandy landings marching eastwards towards Germany.
They were very effective, for example, the French were the ones to take Hitlers’ eagles’ nest.
His family was located and gave permission for his body to be used before the Operation happened. I believe the family did receive a medal in recognition of what had been done.
There were a couple of strange things that went on during WW2. A man who did crosswords for a major British newspaper found himself in prison being interrogated a few weeks before D Day. He had submitted a crossword that contained the words Gold, Juno, Sword and Utah. It was a complete coincidence. (They were the names given to 4 of the 5 beaches at Normandy).
Yes, but he was not a destitute Welshman. The body was that of a serving marine. The family insisted on secrecy.
James Bond wasn't as farfetched as we thought.. lol.
They recently made a movie about this, although there was already a movie out back in the 60’s or 70’s
I remember the film ' The man who never was' . An amazing story and one of the allies ability to fool German intelligence
I have both the films made about this "The Man That Never Was" and "Operation Mincemeat" which was the actual name they chose for the plan. I personally prefer the first film. Well worth watching them.
I'm british and have see the old ww2 movie on the man who never was.But from an American point of view they had the biggest force attacking sicily and probably own more the this dead man any one just hope some of those American veterans found out later about a dead man saving there lives
One of the "pranks" I like, was a train of panzers that was prevented from getting to normandy and fighting in the north thanks to a tub of grease laced with carborundum, an abrasive, that basically locked up the wheels and forced them to go by road instead at a huge cost in time and fuel.
You might be interested in the involvement of a man called Jasper Maskelyne who was a stage magician and used his talents to hiding targets and diverting bombers to empty fields instead. Even the suez canal was made to disappear at one point.
This was an amazing plan that could have gone wrong at any time
The issue of bodies carrying documents nearly happened for real in 1944. Prior to D Day, the Allies ran a disastrous live fire exercise at Slapton Sands, Devon, as the beach was similar to Utah Beach.
749 American servicemen were killed when German E Boats stumbled upon the convoy of troop ships prior to the landing. Amongst the lost were several high level officers with knowledge of D Day sites. Had the Germans captured them, or made the connection between the geographies of Slapton and Normandy, it could've jeopardised the entire landing operation.
D Day was nearly called off until all 10 of the officers could be accounted for and the entire incident was kept secret until August 1944 when the casualties were included in the D Day lists.
You have to hand it to us....the British have an alternative ingenuity 🤓 If you get time have a look at percy hobart....top bloke 👊
4:43 “even in death I still serve!”
They made a film about this called THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS.
they 2 one 1950's with Sir John Mills and another 2023/24
He was buried as a soldier and still is to this day
Sea tides and currents, the British had been mapping currents tides and ocean depths since the first oceanic mission of the Challanger, hence the name The Challanger deep, one of their early discoveries.
I am proud to say I visited this man's grave in September...
Connor; Pranks, Japes, Wheezes, Tricks by whatever name you prefer. Keep Reacting!
There is a film made about this, it's in black and white.
Apparently the invasion was going to take 90 days and at the cost of 40,000 to 50,000 men, once operation mincemeat had worked it took 38 days at the loss of 7000 men.
I'd say that was a very very important operation that worked perfectly.
So much great information missing in this video.
You should check out the history of Malta as well as it's role during WWII.
I watched the movie a while back.
A stage musical about this, is currently running in London's West End. It's opening on Broadway in 2025.
It’s a great show which has kept going much longer than expected with the original cast. Please note, it’s a comedy/farce
Saw Operation Mincemeat the musical it’s a brilliant show.
Interestingly the photo used in the fake ID papers was of Captain Ronnie Reed, a radio expert, who supervised Agent Zigzag's morse messages back to Germany. After the war he joined MI5 and headed the counter-espionage section.
Now Agent Zigzag.... make that into a film, that is definitely one that nobody would believe.
@@mikebutler6308 They did make a film called Triplecross with Christopher Plummer. It wasn't all that good as they were restricted by Official Secrets but I am sure they could do a much better film nowadays. Who would you pick to play Eddie?
One problem with the story that the tramp was Major Martin was that he did not die of drowning and he was physically extremely unfit which made him an unlikely Royal Marine. There is a plausible theory that the body was actually that of a sailor who drowned when the aircraft carrier HMS Dasher exploded and sank in the Clyde on March 27th 1943. Many of the crew's bodies were never recovered so it would have been easy for one of the recovered bodies to have been taken and used as Major Martin without anyone realising.
The idea that a down and out could be confused with a fit and healthy royal marine seems absurd.
Very interesting. I know the 'tramp' story was deception, as I was told so nearly 50 years ago. It was first suggested they find someone who had died of pneumonia, as this would provide fluid in the lungs - however it was pointed out that sea water and bodily fluid would have been easily distinguished in the event of a detailed autopsy.
There's been a couple of films of this operation made in the 1950's & later in 2022 with Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham from Downton Abbey!)
colin firth
Colin Firth not Hugh Bonneville
You mentioned Rome and Carthage fighting over Sicily. Have you seen Patton (1970) with George C. Scott in the title role? Patton was a bit obsessed with historical battles and it's part of the movie that he "reminisce" over old battlefields he feel he had been on before. History nut or just nuts, he was a great general.
Such a good General he slapt a soldier suffering from shell shock across the face because the soldier refused to go back to his unit and called him a coward, this in the hospital tent,I would not call him a great General and he made some bad decisions.
@@angelabushby1891 Agreed he wasn't a nice person and even for that time he was tactless and even abusive, but as a tactician I think his successes were more than his failures.
I have no admiration for the man, so I hope my comment didn't make it sound like that. I just wanted to recommend a movie that I like that had something to do with the reaction video.
Both films/movies made of 'Operation Mincemeat' are a worth while watch...'The man that never was' (1956) and 'Operation Mincemeat' (2021)...good films...The Ben MaCintyre documentary is also a good watch (below)
th-cam.com/video/UXMxiSGdaI4/w-d-xo.html
This is one of those things you hear about and say if I'd seen that in a film I'd think it's a good idea. But would never work. How wrong can you be. Good video Connor. This goes to show the impossible done right can become reality.
If you're going to watch one of the movies about this, I'd recommend the first one.
Also his pronunciation of Ruse as 'rooce' is driving me nuts...it's 'rooze' like Fuse with a 'R' 😂
the funniest british prank , and it might be made up, but here it goes, the brits supplied the russians with rubbers, useful to keep your guns clean in the winter. Anyway we sent them loads , but the biggest ones we could find, but changed the description to 'medium size'
The story became a famous book and a movie.
The reason they choose neutral Spain is because tge German intelligens worked fone, so the message would be delivered sooner or later, but German experts and forensic scientist wouldn't be able to examine the body and briefcase to closely.
The Spanish authorities had no reason to do so, and the British ambassador could arrange for the briefcase to be delivered back to the British, and a speedy burial of the corpse.
When the briefcase was examined in England very thoroughly they found that envelopes had been opened and re-sealed, and some double-agents got requests for information about said Martin.
Plus, as Spain, under Franco, was fascist, like Germany, they counted on at least some Spanish officials being somewhat "pro-German." and would facilitate the German Agent's getting a look at the documents at least, or even better, taking photos of them. Not discussed was the interesting side note that in the papers was a casual reference to a Sicilian "Diversion" or Mock Invasion.
The Western Desert War, never mind East Africa, Somalia and Ethiopia were Britain's first successes in the War, Norway, Fall of France being the opening salvos. The Mediterranean was largely an Axis lake and the real fear was losing Suez and its Canal - the link to India and the Anzacs. Fall of Greece, the fall of Crete, the Malta experience where an entire island was awarded the George Cross (civilian VC). Middle East - Iraq and Iran! The torpedo bomber attack on Taranto harbour - watched by a Japanese envoy - inspired the attack on Pearl Harbour. Lots going on, not many American involved until Torch, not many US movies!
they honour him every year for what his death had done to change the war in sicily
You should look up about Operation Copperhead which was about how British Intelligence fooled the Germans into thinking Field Marshall Montgomery was in places where he actually wasn't. There's a movie called 'I was Monty's double' that's worth watching if you can find it.
5:41 You should watch the movie made about this
I remember the movie from years ago
Connor you should check out the 2021 movie "operation mincemeat"
Connor, please watch the Macintyre documentary and you’ll find out what happened after Operation Mincemeats success.
So much was learned from the Italian campaign prior to D-Day, if the Germans had those 20 reallocated divisions in Italy the campaign might have failed, D-Day might have taken place in the Summer of ‘45 or also failed in ‘44.
If you listen they mentioned the tides😊
about time!!
You don't know about the north African campaign because the US weren't hardly involved it was won by British & imperial troops, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops.
Misdirection is a "ruse de gurre", something we brits are good at as we are often out numbered & have to fight clever.
Also South African Troops. They had agreed to fight in Africa, this may have been a bit further North than they had intended.
@@chrissouthgate4554 yes quite right, yes the brave sprinhboks as well!
th-cam.com/video/hBk3sSUB5X4/w-d-xo.html by Rick Robinson: this is an excellent long-form documentary of Mincemeat. I visited 'Major Martin"'s grave in Heulva when I went to work in Gibraltar. Very moving.
This man whose body was used contributed to shortening this war.
THEY MADE A FILM A FEW YEARS AGO WITH COILN FRIEI AND Matthew MAC FADYEN GREAT FILM PRETTY WELL KEEPS TO THE STORY WITH A FEW ADD ONS TO SPICE IT UP TO ENJOY ALL ON NETFLIX ETC CHANELS 🤷♀️
Not a patch on the original, this modern one just used the plan as background for some weird romantic affair - like 'D-day 6th of June'
There are 2 films about it, 'Operation Mincemeat' made a couple of years ago which is rubbish, far far better is 'The man who never was' made in 1956(?) which is much more accurate.
yews i did and have watched the man who never was loads of time
I am not going to take issue with the title of this video, except to say that there was nothing insane about Operation Mincemeat or any of the personnel who set it up and executed it. Were I to amend the title, I would replace the word "insanity" with "brilliance".
For a comprehensive description of the "caper", I would point you toward the Wikipedia entry on the subject at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat
where you will find plenty of vivid descriptions of and facts about the operation. Well worth a read (it does not take long).
There is a better video with more details shows you his grave and yes he was given a medal,cannot remember which one.
2 really good films about this. Personneyl like the original black and white movie. " the man who never was" recommend you try and find it 👍
I seem to remember it being in colour? I may be wrong.
@sirderam1 There maybe 2 versions of the film or there again I might be wrong. The newest one is definitely colour.
There is many explanation of this on here better than this, it was all too quick, you looked lost trying to keep up how quick it was spoken.
I want to apologise to you I still want to be your friend I feed a lot of stuff what you're going through little Napoleon will stand by you don't give up be strong
British intellect has always been just as important to military wins as military equipment & soldiers. Inventing radar, decoding Enigma in WW2. Inventing electric telegraph to connect Crimea to London. The field telephone & wireless communication in the Boer War etc etc..
Conor I love your channel but you just reinforce my opinion that Americans need to be told twice. You asked how they knew the body would get washed up minutes after they explained how it would.
British trick
This is by far the worst TH-cam video I’ve seen covering ‘Operation Mincemeat’. There is a BBC documentary easily found on this platform but to react to that in a proper manner it would require 45 minutes of this reactors valuable time! If you are going to do a reaction video to important historical events may I suggest you find the best source material available and not some guy who’s knocked up a video to just get as many views as possible. Just a suggestion!
@@beefabob it wasn’t quite as bad as anticipated, although Huelva was pronounced ‘Huevla’. However I think that any video that uses childish cartoons is likely to be of dubious quality.
I entirely agree with you, bad source material ruins so many reaction videos on history subjects. But reactors can't appreciate this in advance, they haven't yet watched the video!! However, he reacts to a series of travelogues, Wolters World. I think they're terrible, but he watches one after the other, feeling comfortable with Wolter's American perspective, and not knowing any difference, so he definitely needs guidance as to what to watch.......
@@artrandy Wolter’s World is so bad that it is almost good. It’s main effect is to scare Americans into not travelling abroad.
There is a new movie 2022 "Operation Mincemeat " with Colin Firht
Really good 👍
Ok it's fine in I found out your gun back out with someone so I am going to go back out with this soldier whose come back from abroad and speed phone number you up and asked me out so I am going to play the field too undersold your person from Catterick told me you really just like me this person really likes me so I'm going to go out with him see what it feels like now
I've got to go get cleaned up the home spotless because my sister is visiting and the fetching the kids and I'm making a Sunday roast for them all bottle what's your videos on overnight bye for now
2:14 also never heard of operation mincemeat!
just like operation pussyflaps…..never heard of that one either.
Weird innit.
i did an operation called mincedbeef tonight
There are better documentaries than this Connor.
Siciy has always been of great strategic importance as it's the stepping stone between N. Africa and Italy and controls the seaways between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean.
Over the years it's been controlled by a variety of powers including: The Phoenicians, Cathaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Spanish, Austrians and British as well as several periods of independence.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sicily
Mr Ballen done the exact story but accept that he and his staff made one mistake , they said it was a death of a senior army officer and not a homeless man ,as i got to his story early once he uploaded it , i explained that his staff was wrong as it was a homeless man .
I also showed him the story and proof of who it was the body the british army used .
He never said nothing or his staff , that how bad their staff are they did not accept the mistake or pinned the comment of their mistake .
Which is a shame as he is a great story teller and his staff are rubbish , so i usually check the stories before i watch them.
It was not a homeless man. I was told this 50 years ago.
@@captaincorky237 you have your information wrong it was a homeless man , but what i will say is , it is your choice to what ever you believe ,that is all i can say .
I have looked in the indormation books in the libarary which are for the public i suggest you may do the same .
Being told is different to what or where you get your information from.
@@XENONEOMORPH1979 The information books are indeed for the public. The homeless Welshman story was for the public. It was disinformation, for the benefit of the family of the dead man, who insisted on a vow of secrecy from the authorities.