Charles Cholmondeley (intelligence officer)
Charles Christopher Cholmondeley[a] MBE (27 January 1917 – 15 June 1982) was a British intelligence officer known for his leading role in Operation Mincemeat, a critical military deception operation which misdirected German forces' attention away from the Allied invasion of Sicily in Operation Husky.[2]
Biography[edit]
Cholmondeley was born on 27 January 1917 in O'Halloran Hill, South Australia, the son of Richard Vernon Cholmondeley and Hilda Georgina Cholmondeley (nee Naylor).[3][4] During World War II was served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force (RAF) who had been seconded to MI5, Britain's domestic counter-intelligence and security service. He had been appointed as the secretary of the Twenty Committee, a small inter-service, inter-departmental intelligence team in charge of double agents.[5]
In November 1942, the Twenty Committee turned down Cholmondeley's Operation Mincemeat plan as being unworkable, but thought there may have been some potential in the idea. As there was a naval connection to the plan, Ewen Montagu, the naval representative, was assigned to work with Cholmondeley to develop the plan further.[6][7] As part of his duties Montagu had been briefed on the need for deception operations to aid the Allied war aims in a forthcoming invasion operation in the Mediterranean.[7]
He was awarded the MBE in 1944.[8]
Cholmondeley died 15 June 1982; Montagu wrote an obituary that was published in The Times.[9]
In popular culture[edit]
- In the 2021 British war drama Operation Mincemeat, Cholmondeley is played by Matthew Macfadyen.
- Cholmondeley has also been portrayed by David Cumming, Seán Carey and Christian Andrews in Operation Mincemeat, a musical first performed at New Diorama Theatre in 2019 and premiered at Fortune Theatre in the West End in 2023.
References[edit]
- ^ Macintyre 2010, p. 11.
- ^ "The War on Paper: Operation Mincemeat".
- ^ "R.A.A.F. AWARDS IN LONDON". Sydney Morning Herald. 9 June 1944. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- ^ "Genealogy SA Online Database Search". South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society Inc. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ Macintyre 2010, p. 13.
- ^ Macintyre 2010, pp. 19–20.
- ^ a b Smyth 2010, p. 28.
- ^ "Page 2584 | Supplement 36544, 2 June 1944 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
- ^ Montagu, Ewen (23 June 1982). "Mr Charles Cholmondeley". The Times. No. 61267. p. 12.
Books[edit]
- Macintyre, Ben (2010). Operation Mincemeat. London: Bloomsbury. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4088-0921-1.
- Smyth, Denis (2010). Deathly Deception: The Real Story of Operation Mincemeat. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-923398-4.