Anyone ever seen it? No, but please don't keep me in suspense..
The gist of it:
Before the invasion of Sicily the British developed a plan to convince the Germans that the target of the invasion was Sardinia and the attack on Sicily was just a feint.
To manage this, they created a fake Major William Martin who was supposed to carry secret messages to Egypt, but would have died in a plane crash, is body washing ashore in neutral (but favouring the Germans) Spain where they were almost sure the secret messages would get into German hands.
To acomplish this, a body of a man who had died of pneumonia (similar autopsy results as drowning) was obtained. Around this man was built the life of Major William Martin of the Royal Marines. The body was dropped from a submarine (HMS Seraph) in a place were the currents would wash him ashore on the Southern Spanish coast.
After the body was recovered by the Spanish the British consul made every effort to have the body and the documents delivered to them before anyone else could see them. The body was buried in Huelva, Spain with military honnors and the documents were returned, apparently untouched, but intelligence found out that the message had reached the Germans and that they were buying the whole story. The fact his Sardinia defenses were strengthened and the invasion of Sicily was a success.
It was only much later after the war that the true identity of "Major William Martin" was revealed.
His grave in Huelva now bears both is real and fictional names.
