by Cecil Owen

Dawn was just breaking on the shores of Huelva Beach. It was a lovely time to be out fishing during the quietness of the early morning hours. Several fishermen were out doing this very thing. When suddenly, something very strange was caught in one of the fisherman's nets! It was the body of a British military officer that had been in the water for several days.

A Mae West life jacket was worn over the uniform of the Royal Marine. His rank showed that he was a Major attached to the British Secret Service. He was a handsome 36 year old named William Martin. An airplane had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and his body drifted in close to the beach. Major William Martin's body was turned over to the Vice-Consul in the port city of Huelva, Spain. The town coroner certified that he had drowned in the ocean. And the next day he was given a full Military funeral and buried in the Huelva town cemetery. The British Consul in Madrid provided a tombstone which read,  "William Martin. Born March 29, 1907 - died April 24, 1943. Beloved son of John Glyndwyr Martin and the late Antonia Martin of Cardiff, Wales. Dulce et est pro patria mori. R.I.P."

Chained to Major Martin's right wrist was a big black briefcase with top secret military plans enclosed! The plans showed plainly that the Allies were getting

ready to invade Greece. This is what Hitler had believed for some time. The German Secret Service was given this information by Spanish spies. And when it was sent to Berlin, the German high brass was overjoyed! Hitler immediately began a mass movement of men and equipment to counter this coming invasion. Troops were pulled from lower France, Italy and Sicily. Hitler said, " we will let them come ashore, then we will drive them back into the ocean!" This is exactly what we wanted the Germans to do!! They had forgotten the old saying, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true! For this was one of the greatest hoaxes of World War ll because Major William Martin of the British Royal Marines was a phantom, he did not exist!!!!

Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu and Lieutenant Charles Cholmondeley of the British Royal Naval Intelligence Division came up with this brainstorm. First they had to have a dead body, which proved to be very difficult. How do you go around asking someone to lend you a corpse? After much searching, they ;located an elderly couple that gave them permission to use their son's body, (but only if their true identity was never revealed.) So

Major William Martin came into being, as the body was dressed in the uniform of a British Royal Marine. Then he was issued with two military dog tags, this made it official. Next we started out to make him a real person. Besides the top secret military documents contained in his black briefcase, he carried several other identifying items; A picture and two love letters from his girlfriend Pam, a receipt from Phillips jewelers for an engagement ring, two bus tickets, and two tickets from the Prince of Wales Theater, one match book from the Gargoyle Cabaret night club, and a book of postage stamps

with two used. On his left wrist he wore the standard military wristwatch. He also carried a pack of half smoked Players brand cigarettes. Next was a key ring with twelve assorted keys. And finally, a letter from Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Operations, explaining Major Martin's entire mission. Next we had to decide how to keep Major Martin's body together until he was sent off to war.

A water and air tight round canister was designed, 6' 6" long and 1' 10" high. It had an inner wall and an outer wall, lined with asbestos wool. These were made of 22 gauge steel sheets welded together. The lid was sealed with a rubber gasket and bolted down with sixteen bolts. A spanner wrench was chained to the lid. A folding handle was fastened to both ends for easy lifting. For the total operational weight was around 400 lbs. The canister was then filled with dry ice so it would become very cold. When the dry ice melted, the canister was refilled again. (A very low temperature was needed to keep Major Martin's body in the same state of preservation.) When the second batch of dry ice melted, then Major Martin was carefully placed into the canister. It was packed with dry ice once more and the lid was bolted down tightly. Now it was time to transport the canister labeled "Handle with care - optical instruments - for special F.O.S. shipment!" Up until now, all of these secret operations had taken place in London, England or

close by. But now Major Martin's canister was loaded onboard a closed van for a 350 mile trip to Greenock, Scotland  (a large British submarine base). Here it was handed over to Lieutenant-in-Command N.A. Jewell, Skipper of the British submarine H.M. Seraph. No one on the submarine knew what the canister contained, except the skipper. The crew members were told that it contained a secret weather-reporting device to be floated experimentally off the coast of Spain. The journey took ten days under water, as they could surface only at night.

Finally, the H.M. Seraph submarine

surfaced in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the south west coast of Huelva, Spain. The time was 4:30 am, the new moon had set, and the ebb tide was just on the turn. All of these things had been figured out just right,  so that Major Williams Martin would float in towards the beach. Otherwise it would only drift farther out to sea. The mysterious canister was hauled up through the conning tower and placed upon the deck. Only then did Lt. Jewell, the skipper, tell the five officers with him that it held a corpse. The lid was unbolted and the body carefully taken out. Then Lt. Jewell made the final check. Were the Major's uniform and badges fastened correctly? Was the hand gripping the all important dispatch case? And was the chain holding the case intact? Everything was checked and double checked and everything was found okay! So the skipper bent over to inflate the Major's "Mae West" life jacket. Only one thing remained to do, five officers bowed their heads in simple tribute. And Lt. Jewell gave the best part of the Naval Burial service that he could remember, in the dark. For the five naval officers that were sworn to secrecy, these words from Psalm 39 held special significance: I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle: while the ungodly is in my sight. I held my tongue and spake nothing: I kept silence, yeah, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me!! Then the unknown warrior was gently pushed into the water and inshore with the tide, on his last most important journey. He would accomplish much more in death than he had ever been able to do in life. Because of this heroic deed, countless thousands of Allied lives were saved when we invaded Sicily!!!