July 18th

 

Fake sweetheart letters

wiping out a lonely life

reborn killed again

I watched a documentary about Operation Mincemeat. In second world war London, a homeless, illiterate, mentally ill man had taken his own life. Ordinarily this would generate no interest, he had no one in the world, there was a war on, he’d be scooped up, put in the mortuary then buried, probably in an unmarked grave.

But, this man inadvertently became something of a hero in death. He was the right man, had the right look and was the right age (34) for British Intelligence. He would be used as a decoy, dressed as a British Officer, dumped off the coast of Spain and be washed up on the shore, in his possession would be supposed “secret” papers detailing an upcoming Allied invasion of Greece (when the real invasion would take place in Sicily). The hope and expectation was that nominally neutral Spain, would pass on these documents to the Nazis, whom General Franco has a cordial relationship with.

It worked, the Nazis moved several divisions into Greece expecting a full scale invasion there. It meant the battle of Sicily was won far easier by the Allies and it probably accelerated the victory in Europe.

But, there’s something so desperately sad about this story. Glyndwr Michael, for that was his name, had no one. He was lonely, illiterate, depressed. His death record listed him as “lunatic”. But in death they breathed a whole full life into him, to give the role his corpse would be playing some credibility. He would become Major William Martin of the Royal Marines. He carried a photograph of his supposed beloved (they named her Pam) and also love letters from her. Which leads to the second part of this sad tale, to me anyway. It revolves around the lady who wrote the fake love letters.

Hester Leggett, the most senior lady in the small team of British Intelligence ladies, cruelly nicknamed “the spin” (short for Spinster) was given the task. Somewhat of an irony to the girls who worked for her it seems. I quote from this marvellous blog post (which is a quote within a quote as they quote from what looks like an excellent book on the subject by Ben Macintyre)

“The job of drafting fell to Hester Leggett, ‘The Spin,’ the most senior woman in the department. Jean [Leslie -- also interviewed in the documentary -- whose picture was used as that of Pam] remembered her as ‘skinny and embittered.’ Hester Leggett was certainly fierce and demanding. She never married, and she devoted herself utterly to the job of marshalling a huge quantity of secret paperwork. But into Pam’s letters she poured every ounce of pathos and emotion she could muster. These letters may have been the closest Hester Leggett came to romance: the chattering pastiches of a young woman madly in love, and with little time for grammar.”

An example of one of her letters also appears in the book (see below). It just made me feel so sad, that this unpopular lady probably had dreams of love and escape at some point in her life, but the opportunities passed her by. And here she was playing the role set for her, pouring her heart out to a lover she not only knew was made up, but also dead!

As for poor Glyndwr Michael, he was buried in Spain with his alter egos name, with full military honours. Until fairly recently, no one knew his real name. But a dedicated researcher, on release of documents under (I believe) the 50 year secrets rule, found it out. Since then, the gravestone in Spain has been updated with a footnote giving his true identity and his name has been added to the war memorial in his home town in Wales. Poor man, in life he had no one, but in death, the unpleasant and frankly disturbing use of his body helped to win the war.