Description
Object description
Spare oar from a dinghy carried by the submarine HMS Seraph, the submarine that took part in the Operation MINCEMEAT deception, April 1943.
Label
Captain The Hon. Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu CBE QC DL (19 March 1901 - 19 July 1985)
Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu, second son of the 2nd Baron Swaythling, was born in 1901 and educated at Westminster, Trinity College Cambridge and Harvard University. He was called to the Bar in 1924 by the Middle Temple taking Silk ( KC) in 1939. During the Second World War Montagu, commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander in the RNVR, served with Naval Intelligence where he conceived and implemented the now celebrated 'Operation Mincemeat', a major deception plan to persuade the German High Command that Allied Forces were to launch what became known as 'Operation Husky' via Sardinia rather than Sicily. For his contribution to the success of this deception plan, he was appointed OBE in 1944 (CBE 1950).
Montagu subsequently wrote a highly successful account of 'Mincemeat' which was published as 'The Man Who Never Was ' (London 1953). An equally successful film of the same name, followed in 1957 with the American actor Clifton Webb playing the role of Montagu. From 1945 to 1973 Montagu was Judge Advocate of The Fleet. Hiis other Judicial appointments included Recorder of Devizes (1944-51); Recorder of Southampton (1951). He was a JP (1947) and a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire (1953). He was Deputy Chairman of Hampshire Quarter Sessions (1948-51) and Chairman from 1951. A Member of the General Council of the Bar from 1948, he was elected a Bencher of Middle Temple in 1948. Montagu died in 1985. The IWM holds a small number of items formerly owned by Montagu and related to 'Operation Mincemeat' (Ref: EPH 3244; MAR 585-586).
The basic details of 'Mincemeat' are as follows: a civilian corpse in a Royal Marine uniform with faked ID-"Major Martin" - was dropped into the sea off theSpanish coast from the submarine HMS "Seraph" (Lt Jewell)in late April 1943. "Major Martin" carried forged secret papers implying that imminent Allied invasions would strike at Sardinia or Greece The corpse was handed over to the Germans and successfully deflected attention from the invasion of Sicily, which took place in July 1943.
History note
Captain The Hon. Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu CBE QC DL (19 March 1901 - 19 July 1985)
Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu, second son of the 2nd Baron Swaythling, was born in 1901 and educated at Westminster, Trinity College Cambridge and Harvard University. He was called to the Bar in 1924 by the Middle Temple taking Silk ( KC) in 1939. During the Second World War Montagu, commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander in the RNVR, served with Naval Intelligence where he conceived and implemented the now celebrated 'Operation Mincemeat', a major deception plan to persuade the German High Command that Allied Forces were to launch what became known as 'Operation Husky' via Sardinia rather than Sicily. For his contribution to the success of this deception plan, he was appointed OBE in 1944 (CBE 1950).
Montagu subsequently wrote a highly successful account of 'Mincemeat' which was published as 'The Man Who Never Was ' (London 1953). An equally successful film of the same name, followed in 1957 with the American actor Clifton Webb playing the role of Montagu. From 1945 to 1973 Montagu was Judge Advocate of The Fleet. Hiis other Judicial appointments included Recorder of Devizes (1944-51); Recorder of Southampton (1951). He was a JP (1947) and a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire (1953). He was Deputy Chairman of Hampshire Quarter Sessions (1948-51) and Chairman from 1951. A Member of the General Council of the Bar from 1948, he was elected a Bencher of Middle Temple in 1948. Montagu died in 1985. The IWM holds a small number of items formerly owned by Montagu and related to 'Operation Mincemeat' (Ref: EPH 3244; MAR 585-586).
The basic details of 'Mincemeat' are as follows: a civilian corpse in a Royal Marine uniform with faked ID-"Major Martin" - was dropped into the sea off theSpanish coast from the submarine HMS "Seraph" (Lt Jewell)in late April 1943. "Major Martin" carried forged secret papers implying that imminent Allied invasions would strike at Sardinia or Greece The corpse was handed over to the Germans and successfully deflected attention from the invasion of Sicily, which took place in July 1943.
Stamped on the oar blade
Circle with G14 inside,
