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My Great Grandad was a Scotsman who served in World War Two on board a submarine called the HMS SERAPH. It was involved in a famous top secret mission which helped to defeat the enemies. It was called OPERATION MINCEMEAT. There is a film based on it called ‘The Man Who Never Was’.
It was a clever plan which fooled the Germans.
A dead body was given a false, high ranking identity. Documents were planted on him that contained false ‘confidential information’ about British plans for invasion. He was then placed in the sea. When he was discovered, his body was handed to the Germans. As a result they moved their troops which gave British soldiers a clear path to invade elsewhere without attack.
The crew of the Seraph were not privy to the mission, and in fact my grandad was not aware of it until after the war had ended. He could however recall a large, cold cylinder object being loaded aboard the sub and was told it contained optical instruments. At a later stage the men used the container as a seat, and he remembered everyone joking about a dead body that they nicknamed ‘John Brown’ being inside!
I feel very proud of the part he played in the war.
Dom Martin, aged 14, West Sussex, UK

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