The forgotten hero of an outlandish plot to fool the Nazis

AUTHOR ERIN EDWARDS REVEALS THE SECRET ROMANCE BEHIND A CUNNING MILITARY OPERATION THAT HELPED CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

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IT WAS in 1943 that the Germans thought they had got their hands on a briefcase full of British military secrets.

But it was all a ruse. The documents had been created by MI5 to trick Axis forces into leaving Sicily undefended, when in fact the Allies planned to invade, and they had sold the lie by planting the briefcase on a corpse dressed up like a British pilot.

To make it as believ-able as possible, they had created a whole life for this man, including giving him a fictional fiancée called Pam.

The corpse left off the Spanish coast carried both a photograph of “Pam” and two love letters from her.

The believability of this lie was vital - if the Germans saw through the ruse, it would make it clear that the information in the documents was false and give them an advantage. Pam's love letters could make or break the invasion plans - they needed to be perfect.

Plenty is known about the men behind Operation Mincemeat, but far less information has endured about the women who helped enact it. Jean Leslie, a secretary at MI5, was remembered as being the face of Pam in the photograph included in the briefcase, but the woman who wrote the letters had faded into obscurity.