John Madden’s war drama on Netflix, starring Colin Firth and Matthew McFadden, chronicling the incredible story of a deception operation in WWII, is a great film. Let’s get the ending of Operation Mincemeat explained. The movie, based upon a real story from the World War II era, tells with great detail the lengths to which the British went to deceive their enemy.
It follows British intelligence officials Ewen Montagu and Charles Cholmondeley. The duo collaborates on a dramatic disinformation effort. The objective? To distract the Germans from the Allies’ secret plot to invade Sicily during World War II. However, the duo’s remarkable efforts are confronted with numerous hurdles and interpersonal disputes that threaten the nation’s fate. If you’re curious about what occurs to Ewen and Charles and whether their plan works, here’s everything you need to know about ‘Operation Mincemeat’s denouement.
Operation Mincemeat Plot
Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu, together with his faithful assistant Hester Leggett, chooses to take a sabbatical from practicing law and joins the Twenty Committee in 1943. Given the heated atmosphere in London and their damaged marriage, Ewen’s wife Iris leaves with their children for America. Flight Lieutenant Charles Cholmondeley, on the other hand, stays with his mother and battles with officials to recover the remains of his brother Robert. The latter perished on the battlefield in Chittagong. He is also a member of the Twenty Committee.
A Mock Play?
Meanwhile, British forces wanted to attack Sicily and eventually take control of Italy, a vital ally of the Germans. However, because the Wehrmacht tightly guards the island as an apparent objective, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill directs Admiral Godfrey to design a strategy with the Twenty Committee to trick the adversaries into believing that Greece is their primary destination.
Why Was It Called Operation Mincemeat?
Taking inspiration from a paragraph in Admiral Godfrey’s Trout Memo, Charles proposes Operation Trojan Horse. It is a crazy plot to plant bogus paperwork on a body and place it in enemy territory to fool the Germans. The admiral reluctantly authorizes their plan and assigns Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming, his assistant, to assist them, as he was the one who made that recommendation to the message.
The Plan
The idea is renamed Operation Mincemeat due to the use of a body; Ewen, Charles, Ian, and Hester form a small team and begin fleshing out the details of the operation. They start by searching London hospitals for a fit body. After that, they eventually settle on a homeless man who died after swallowing rat poison. Ewen and Charles begin creating a false identity for the corpse to fool the enemies. Major William Martin is the name they use because it is a fairly common name and rank in the navy.
Furthermore, the team decides to build a narrative in which Major Martin has a family and Pam’s fiancée. Charles asks Jean Leslie, an MI5 clerk, for her photograph in exchange for adding her to the team to verify her existence. Ewen and Charles gradually fill Major Martin’s pockets with documents such as letters written with waterproof ink and other pocket litter. They also get him naval outfits and picture him with a similar-looking American army officer, Sergeant Roger Dearborn, for the ID card.
Operation Mincemeat Trailer:
The Play
Elsewhere, the squad stuffs the fake documents into a briefcase and chains them to Major Martin’s uniform belt. After Prime Minister Churchill authorizes the final plan, Ewen and Charles transfer the corpse to Holy Loch, Scotland. From there, Charles transports it in a preserving container aboard the submarine HSS Seraph and drops it near the shore of Huelva, Spain. The crew chose Huelva because German intelligence operatives Adolf Clauss and Karl Kuhlenthal were stationed there. They hope to deliver the forged documents to Hitler’s trusted lieutenant Alexis von Roenne.
Operation Mincemeat Ending Explained
The communication suggests that Hitler is sure that Greece is the principal target of the Allies. And that it has resolved to secure the country by withdrawing troops from Sicily. Alexis Von Roenne is a member of the Nazi High Command but is covertly plotting to depose Hitler and the Nazi regime. Jean, fearful of death, admits to Teddy that Major Martin is an alias for the body, but the contents of the letters are genuine.
This occurrence concerns Ewen and Charles, who are concerned that their entire strategy will unravel. Fortunately, they encountered minimal resistance when the Allies invaded Sicily by sea on July 10, 1943. Moreover, they successfully conquered the territory, as Hitler had sent the German troops to Greece. Thus, Operation Mincemeat is considered a success, and Prime Minister Churchill confirmed it by sending a cable to the Twenty Committee stating, “Mincemeat swallowed rod, line, and sinker.”
Also Read: The Takedown Ending Explained: Who Was The Gunman?
