The Man Who Never Was (WW2) - Glyndwr Michael

[daisy1942]

Many on here will know the film and the story of the WW2 subtuferge (?) to confuse the Germans about Allied landings in the Med, and hubby has just been re reading one of the many books on this.
AM I the only person who finds it odd that there is no trace of Glyndwr Michael on Find My Past?

[nanny jan]

There is a death in 1943 in St. Pancras; born in 1909. I think that would fit with the WW2 timings. Found on FindMyPast.


Nanny Jan

[bibliotaphist]

Is this not his birth? - complete with FreeBMD postem to that effect.

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=kDvgi%2FbLe73CowypbJ0MMA&scan=1

[stanmapstone]

Glyndwr Michael was born 4 Jan. 1909 at 136 Commercial Street, Aberbargoed, Monmouthshire.
See http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s8-MICH-GLY-1909.html

Stan

[AJ100]

As many of you may know, Glendwr Michael was the first choice to be Major Wiliam Martin but there is a school of thought that thinks otherwise.
Due to the decomposition of the body it was decided, so the theory goes, to use a body from HMS Dasher in Scapa flow, an escort carrier which unaccountably blew up killing a great many crew.
Otherwise why go to the trouble of driving the body from London to Glasgow to be put on a submarine to come all the way back again?
That's the theory - doubtless you all have you own views.
That apart, the film of The Man Who Never Was remains my wife's and my favourite.

AJ

[nanny jan]

Whoever the body was...........Glyndwr Michael can still be found on birth/death registrations.

[jim1]

My understanding is that a 30-40 yo male body with no outward signs of injury was required for the job which would seem to rule out someone killed in an explosion.
I believe he died of a heart attack while sleeping rough.

[IMBER]

"Otherwise why go to the trouble of driving the body from London to Glasgow to be put on a submarine to come all the way back again?"

Perhaps because the submarine concerned was based on the Clyde?

Imber

[AJ100]

A lot of the crew drowned, Jim, and, you're quite right, the body had to show that it died from drowning and not an explosion. G. Michael died from drinking rat poison, which, apparently, gave much the same symptoms.

The submarine was indeed based on the Clyde, Imber, but would it not make sense for the sub to meet the van carying the body near the south coast on its way to Portugal?

AJ