what battle did the British fake their tanks wwii north africa

There was one problem: Giraud’s intense dislike for the British, enough so that he would not board a British vessel.

There, it was hoped, he would help rally French forces to the Allied cause in North Africa. Henri Honore Giraud, in Vichy France hiding from the Germans, to Gibraltar. He was educated in England and joined the Royal Navy in 1936, volunteering for the submarine service.Īccording to World War II magazine, Operation Mincemeat almost was scuttled when British pilots initially mistook the surfaced Seraph for a Nazi vessel and strafed it with fire.Īmong Jewell’s other missions was to bring French Gen. 24, 1913, in the Seychelles, where his father was a colonial officer. Norman Limbury Auchinleck Jewell was born Oct. “Operation Mincemeat had been an unqualified success,” World War II magazine reported in 1995. Hitler also sent Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to Greece and pulled two vital armored divisions from the Russian front. The fortification of the wrong landing points was said to have been a costly error for German defenses. The German high command took the bait and began arming for an invasion in Corsica and Sardinia, islands west of mainland Italy. Although Spanish authorities returned the briefcase to the British, they had given copies of its contents to the Germans. As expected, the body made its way to shore - it was netted by a fisherman - and was buried in fascist-ruled neutral Spain.

What battle did the British fake their tanks wwii north africa