1. Ewen Montagu is best known for his leading role in Operation Mincemeat, a critical military deception operation that misdirected German forces' attention away from the Allied invasion of Sicily.
20 Facts About Ewen Montagu
1. 2.
Ewen Montagu was born in 1901, the second son of Gladys, Baroness Swaythling and Louis Ewen Montagu, 2nd Baron Swaythling.
3.
Ewen Montagu was educated at Westminster School before becoming a machine gun instructor during the First World War at a United States Naval Air Station.
4.
Ewen Montagu was admitted to the Middle Temple on 22 November 1920 and was called to the Bar on 14 May 1924.
5.
Ewen Montagu was a keen yachtsman, and enlisted in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1938.
6.
Ewen Montagu served in the Naval Intelligence Division of the British Admiralty, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander RNVR.
7.
Ewen Montagu was the Naval Representative on the XX Committee, which oversaw the running of double agents.
8.
Ewen Montagu had the idea of having a corpse dressed as a British officer wash ashore in Spain, carrying faked papers revealing plans for invasion of Greece.
9.
Ewen Montagu manufactured a false identity, "William Martin", for the body of Glyndwr Michael to have in his pockets: military ID, theatre ticket stubs, love letters and a photo of his fiancee, bills from a tailor and jeweller.
10.
From 1945 to 1973 Ewen Montagu held the position of Judge Advocate of the Fleet.
11.
Ewen Montagu wrote The Man Who Never Was, an account of Operation Mincemeat that was adapted as a theatrical film three years later.
12.
Ewen Montagu wrote Beyond Top Secret Ultra, which focused more on the information technology and espionage tactics used in World War II.
13.
Ewen Montagu was a governor of a public health project, the Peckham Experiment, in 1949.
14.
Ewen Montagu was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Southampton.
15.
Ewen Montagu was president of the United Synagogue from 1954 to 1962, and President of the Anglo-Jewish Association from December 1949.
16.
Ewen Montagu's youngest brother, Ivor Ewen Montagu, was a film maker and Communist.
17.
Ewen Montagu married Iris, the daughter of the painter Solomon J Solomon, in 1923.
18.
Ewen Montagu was a first cousin once removed of comedian Christopher Guest, through Ewen Montagu's maternal grandparents.
19.
Ewen Montagu has been portrayed by Natasha Hodgson, Holly Sumpton, Geri Allen, and Emily Barber.
20.
Ewen Montagu appears as a character in the Terence Rattigan play Cause Celebre.