The forgotten hero of Operation Mincemeat

Secretary whose fake love letters helped fool the Nazis

- ERIN EDWARDS

It is one of the most incredible stories of the Second World War: fake documents planted on a dead body tricked Hitle hastened the Allied victory.

And Operation Mincemeat's backstore now being told in a smash hit West End and Broadway musical.

Its standout British star, Jak Malone, 30, has just won a Tony Award, stage acting's highest accolade, for playing a woman M15 secretary Hester Leggatt whose importance in the daring plot has wi recently come to light.

After collecting his award for Best Per mance by a Featured Actor on Sunday, the Liverpudlian, whose mother was a nurse and father worked in a soap factory, sa am hovering above my body experiere this, watching this happening" Like most people, Jak did not know about Hester when he agreed to the role (and others in the show) in 2019.

But he is now a huge fan, even writing the foreword to a book I co-authored about her, Finding Hester. In it, he admits the agreed to the role because he though was just a secretary who did not play a big part in the plot. He assumed playing would give him more opportunity to additional supporting roles.

But that all changed a few years when a group of fans of the musical dug up new information, putting Hester at the centre of the daring operation.

"It's an incredible story that I still have trouble believing myself," Jak said.

"A group of individuals who pull offi unthinkable - a moment in history that truly deserves to shine." It was in 1943 that the Germans thought they had got their hands on a briefcase full of British military secrets.