Execution
Major Martin, in his Royal Marines battledress and coat, was placed in a steel canister designed by Charles Fraser-Smith. The canister was filled with dry ice and sealed up. When the dry ice sublimated, it filled the canister with carbon dioxide and drove out any oxygen, thus preserving the body without refrigeration. Cholmondeley and Montagu delivered it to Holy Loch, Scotland where it was taken on board the British submarine HMS Seraph. Seraph's commander, (Lt. Bill Jewell) and crew had previous special operations experience. Jewell told his men that the canister contained a top secret meteorological device to be deployed near Spain.
On 19 April, Seraph set sail; she arrived at a point about a mile off the coast of Spain, near the town of Huelva on the 30th. The British knew that there was an Abwehr agent in Huelva who was friendly with the Spanish officials there.
At 04:30 on 30 April, Seraph surfaced. Jewell had the canister brought up on deck, then sent all his crew below except the officers. He briefed them on the details of the secret operation. They opened the canister, fitted "Major Martin" with a life jacket, and attached his briefcase with the papers. Jewell read the 39th Psalm, although the burial service was not specified in the orders, the body was then gently pushed into the sea where the tide would bring it ashore. Half a mile to the south, a rubber dinghy was thrown overboard to provide additional 'evidence' of a crash. The canister was taken further out to sea and riddled with Vickers machine gun fire so that it would sink. Because of the air trapped in the insulation, this effort failed, and the canister was eventually rigged with plastic explosives to destroy it (this was not part of the plan, and Jewell did not mention it until 1991). Jewell afterwards sent a message to the Committee: "MINCEMEAT completed", and continued on to Gibraltar. The body was found at around 9:30 a.m. by a local fisherman, José Antonio Rey Maria, and was taken to Huelva by the local military and law enforcement.
Read more about this topic: Operation Mincemeat
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