OPERATION MINCEMEAT and THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS
KEVIN PATIENCE SpeakerNet Sponsor
- Region:
- Anywhere
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Hobby
- Fee:
- Paid: £65
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 30th March 2024
- Tagged:
- World War 2 / Spies
On the 23 April 1943 the body of a man dressed in the uniform of a Major in the Royal Marines was recovered in the sea off the Spanish town of Huelva by fishermen and handed to the Spanish authorities together with its briefcase. Landed from a Royal Navy submarine earlier that day the body was given a military funeral and the contents of the briefcase examined and photographed by the Spanish military with copies going to Adolf Hitler. It was a cover plan to indicate to the Germans that the proposed invasion of Sicily would in fact take place in Greece or Sardinia. The Germans believed it and moved men and armour to Greece. The invasion took place in Sicily and the casualties were less than anticipated. The code name for this bizarre deception was ‘Operation Mincemeat’, and the identity of the body was the one of the best kept secrets of the Second World War.
Views: 217 | Enquiries: 0About KEVIN PATIENCE
I grew up in Kenya and served in the Royal Air Force, who also taught me to dive. On leaving the service I completed a commercial diving course, returned to Mombasa and was involved in salvage operations on the Kenya coast. In 1976 I published my first book on East African railway history and in 1977 became a commercial diver in the Arabian Gulf based in Bahrain and later established a marine salvage company. In 1982 I was appointed MD of a Kenya diving company in Mombasa responsible for operations in East Africa and later returned to Bahrain and established a new diving company with contracts in the Gulf and East Africa. With an interest in military history I was involved in the restoration of British forces graves in Bahrain, and the recovery at sea of a propeller from a crashed Air France airliner as a memorial to those killed and was honoured by the French government. In the 1990s I published a number of books on the military and transport history of East Africa and an acclaimed study of the German cruiser ‘Königsberg’ sunk in East Africa in 1915. Later writing articles for a number of aviation, medal and railway journals. In recent years I co-organised steam train safaris in East Africa and led World War 1 Kenya battlefield tours. Now resident in the UK, writing and research continues, together with presenting talks on a variety of subjects.
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by KEVIN PATIENCE
- The AFRICAN QUEEN’ - The true story behind the film
- The BRIDGE over the RIVER KWAI and the DEATH RAILWAY
- The AIR FRANCE aircraft accidents at BAHRAIN
- AVIATION around POOLE BAY 1910-1976
- 'SHOUT AT THE DEVIL' - The Destruction of the German cruiser KÖNIGSBERG - 1915
- SCAPA FLOW - Salvaging the IMPERIAL GERMAN NAVY
- SALVAGE MASTER - A Career in Commercial Diving and Marine Salvage
- BUILDING the 'LUNATIC LINE' 1896 - 1901
- ROLLS- ROYCE and the SILVER LADY
- TREASURES from the DEEP
- GARRATTS - BEYER PEACOCK'S GIANTS
- HANCOCK'S QUEST - A search for the man behind the medals
- 'HERA' - A Cornish shipwreck tragedy
- SEND a GUNBOAT - The ROYAL NAVY in EAST AFRICA in the 19th Century
- The BOMBAY EXPLOSION and the day it rained GOLD
- The TRAFALGAR LADIES - A short after dinner illustrated talk
- TWO SETS of MEDALS - A genuine unique issue to the same gentleman
- SEA SAFARI - Travels on the British India Line
- WW 1 in KENYA - 1914 - 1916
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