Ewen Montagu

British intelligence officer

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July 23, 2026

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Ewen Montagu was a British intelligence officer instrumental in the success of Operation Mincemeat. This covert operation, executed in 1943 during World War II, aimed to deceive Nazi Germany about the Allied invasion plans for Sicily.

The plan involved planting fake secret documents on the body of a deceased Welshman, Glyndwr Michael, who was given the false identity of Captain William Martin. These documents falsely indicated an impending Allied attack on Greece and Crete, diverting German forces and leaving Sicily more vulnerable for the actual invasion. Montagu documented this elaborate deception in his memoir, "The Man Who Never Was".1

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Today in History—April 29
That Time the Writer of James Bond Was a Real Spy
…up by Naval Intelligence agent Ewen Montagu, who’d later publish a book about the mission. “My sense of humor having by this time become somewhat macabre,” Montagu wrote, “Operation Mincemeat it became.”
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…up by Naval Intelligence agent Ewen Montagu, who’d later publish a book about the mission. “My sense of humor having by this time become somewhat macabre,” Montagu wrote, “Operation Mincemeat it became.”
Read More

Operation Mincemeat
Development and execution
…to MI5, and intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, an NID agent. The success of the operation depended on procuring a dead body and dropping it in the ocean. The “agent” chosen for the mission was not a military hospital corpse, as Fleming had suggested, but the body of a 34-year-old homeless…
Read More
…to MI5, and intelligence officer Ewen Montagu, an NID agent. The success of the operation depended on procuring a dead body and dropping it in the ocean. The “agent” chosen for the mission was not a military hospital corpse, as Fleming had suggested, but the body of a 34-year-old homeless…
Read More