In 1943, the Allies planned to invade Sicily, and they were well aware than the Nazis knew of their plans. In order to make them think otherwise, they concocted a plan to convince Germany that they were actually planning to invade Greece instead.

Their plan was to drop a body into the sea off Spain, dressed as a British officer and carrying fake 'top secret' documents with details of their invasion to Greece. The team found a body (rumoured to be a recently-deceased homeless man from Wales), dressed it in uniform and set about creating a fake identity for the man, including fake letters from loved ones, photos, theatre tickets and a receipt for an engagement ring, all to make him seem like a real officer.

The body was drifted off the coast of Spain and discovered by a fisherman, with the documents passed on to German officers, as planned. This led to the Nazis removing a huge number of troops from Sicily to bolster their numbers in Greece, exactly as the Allies hoped.

The story is now reaching a wider audience with new film Operation Mincemeat, starring Colin Firth.

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