Ewen Montagu
| Ewen Montagu | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu 19 March 1901 |
| Died | 19 July 1985 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Naval intelligence officer |
| Known for | Operation Mincemeat |
Captain Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu, CBE, QC, DL, RNR (19 March 1901 – 19 July 1985) was a British judge, writer and Naval intelligence officer. He is well known for his leading role in Operation Mincemeat, a critical military deception operation which misdirected German forces' attention away from the Allied Invasion of Sicily in Operation Husky.
Montagu was born in 1901, the second son of Louis Montagu, 2nd Baron Swaythling. He was educated at Westminster School before becoming a machine gun instructor during World War I at a United States Naval Air Station. After the war he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge and at Harvard University before he was called to the bar in 1924. One of his more celebrated cases as a junior barrister was the defence of Alma Rattenbury in 1935 against a charge of murdering her elderly husband at the Villa Madeira in Bournemouth.
Montagu enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1938. Because of his legal background he was reassigned to specialized study. From there he was assigned to the Royal Navy's Humberside headquarters at Hull as an assistant staff officer in intelligence. Montagu served in the Naval Intelligence Division of the British Admiralty, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander RNVR. He was the Naval Representative on the XX Committee, which oversaw the running of double agents. While Commanding Officer of NID 17M, Squadron Leader Charles Cholmondely, RAFVR and he conceived Operation Mincemeat, a major deception plan against the Germans during the war. Montagu got the idea of having a dead British soldier wash ashore with false information on the plans for the invasion of Sardinia, as opposed to Sicily, where the invasion really would occur. Carefully picking a location where he knew pro-Nazi villagers would loyally turn over the drowned man's briefcase, Montagu also manufactured an entire life history and even a living fiancée for the mythical young serviceman, whose body was that of a homeless Welshman who'd died from eating rat poison.
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