EveMagill33 at 04:28, 23 February 2026

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{{Short description|British intelligence analyst (1901–1985)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] [[The Honourable]]
| name = Ewen Montagu
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|QC|DL}}
| image = Ewen Montagu in 1943.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu
| birth_date ={{Birth date|df=yes|1901|03|29}}
| birth_place =
| death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|1985|07|19|1901|03|29}}
| death_place =
| nationality=British
| other_names =
| known_for =[[Operation Mincemeat]]
| occupation =Naval intelligence officer
}}

'''Ewen Edward Samuel Montagu''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|QC|DL}} (29 March 1901 – 19 July 1985) was a British judge, [[Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom)|Naval intelligence officer]], and author.

He is best known for his leading role in [[Operation Mincemeat]], a critical [[military deception]] operation that misdirected [[Nazi Germany|German]] forces' attention away from the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] ("Operation Husky").

Montagu was president of the [[United Synagogue]] from 1954 to 1962, and President of the [[Anglo-Jewish Association]] from December 1949.<ref name="yb 1951">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/1951/1951%20YEAR%20BOOK%20OF%20THE%20ANGLO-JEWISH%20ASSOCIATION.pdf|title=''Year book of the Anglo-Jewish Association 1951''}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Montagu was born in 1901, the second son of [[Gladys, Baroness Swaythling]] (née Goldsmid) and [[Louis Montagu, 2nd Baron Swaythling]]. His family was [[Jewish]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jhse.org/event/ewen-montagu/|title=Ewen Montagu|website=Jewish Historical Society of England|language=en|access-date=2020-01-13}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was educated at [[Westminster School]] before becoming a machine gun instructor during the [[First World War]] at a United States [[Naval Air Station]]. After the war he studied at [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and at [[Harvard University]].<ref name = "ODNBMontagu">{{Cite ODNB |title=Montagu, Ewen Edward Samuel (1901–1985), judge and intelligence officer |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31458 |access-date=2023-04-28 | year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31458 | last1=Foot | first1=M. R. D. | author-link = M. R. D. Foot | isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref> He was admitted to the [[Middle Temple]] on 22 November 1920 and was [[Call to the bar|called to the bar]] on 14 May 1924.<ref>Sturgess, H.A.C. 1949. ''Register of Admissions of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple'', Vol 3. London: Butterworth & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.</ref> One of his more celebrated cases as a junior barrister was the defence of [[Alma Rattenbury]] in 1935 against a charge of murdering her 30-years-older husband, the architect [[Francis Rattenbury]], who was savagely beaten with a [[mallet]] at the Villa Madeira in [[Bournemouth|Bournemouth.]] <ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=Alastair |date=2016-06-15 |title=Cause Celebre (ITV 1987, Helen Mirren, David Morrissey) MEMORABLE TV |url=https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/cause-celebre-itv-1987-helen-mirren/ |access-date=2026-01-02 |website=MEMORABLE TV |language=en-US}}</ref> He [[took silk]] in 1939.<ref name = "ODNBMontagu"/>

== Naval intelligence==
Montagu was a keen yachtsman, and enlisted in the [[Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve]] in 1938.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smyth|first=Denis|author-link = Denis Smyth|title=Deathly Deception: The Real Story of Operation Mincemeat|url=https://archive.org/details/deathlydeception00smyt|url-access=limited|year=2010|publisher=Oxford Press|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/deathlydeception00smyt/page/n47 25]|isbn=978-0-19-923398-4}}</ref> Because of his legal background he was reassigned to specialized study. From there he was assigned to the [[Royal Navy]]'s East Yorkshire headquarters at [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] as an assistant staff officer in intelligence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smyth|first=Denis|title=Deathly Deception: The Real Story of Operation Mincemeat|year=2010|publisher=Oxford Press|location=New York}}</ref> Montagu served in the [[Naval Intelligence Division (UK)|Naval Intelligence Division]] of the [[British Admiralty]], rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander RNVR. He was the Naval Representative on the [[Double-Cross System|XX Committee]], which oversaw the running of double agents.

=== Operation Mincemeat ===
[[File:Mincemeat -4.jpg|thumb|Mincemeat plaque at Hackney Mortuary]]
While Commanding Officer of NID 17M, Montagu and Squadron Leader [[Charles Cholmondeley (British intelligence officer)|Charles Cholmondeley]] RAFVR conceived [[Operation Mincemeat]], a major deception operation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/9189418/Jean-Gerard-Leigh.html |title=Jean Gerard Leigh |date=5 April 2012 |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> 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 (the real target was Sicily). The location chosen was where pro-German Spanish officials would show the papers to German agents. Montagu manufactured a false identity, "[[William Martin (Royal Marine officer)|William Martin]]", for the body of [[William Martin (Royal Marine officer)#Glyndwr Michael|Glyndwr Michael]] to have in his pockets: military ID, theatre ticket stubs, love letters and a photo of his fiancée, bills from a tailor and jeweller. To follow the normal wartime procedure that dead or missing officers were required to be listed in the obituary column of ''[[The Times]]'', Acting Major William Martin was so listed in the edition of 4 June 1943.

The Germans were fooled completely. German documents found after the war showed that the false information went all the way to Hitler's headquarters, and led to German forces being diverted to Greece. The [[Allied Invasion of Sicily|invasion of Sicily]] was a success. Historian [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]] called it the best deception in the history of military deception. For his role in Operation Mincemeat, Montagu was appointed to the Military Division of the [[Order of the British Empire]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36544|date=8 June 1944|page=2572|supp=y}}</ref> In November 2021 the [[Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation]], working with the [[Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women]] and the [[London Borough of Hackney]], placed a memorial at the Hackney Mortuary, where the corpse had been prepared.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2021/12/02/hackney-role-wartime-escapade-plaque/|title=Hackney's role in stranger-than-fiction wartime escapade commemorated with plaque|newspaper=Hackney Citizen |date=2 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/operation-mincemeat-hackney-mortuary-in-colin-firth-film-8537290|title=Operation Mincemeat: Role of Hackney mortuary marked in Colin Firth film|date=3 December 2021}}</ref>

== Later career ==
From 1945 to 1973 Montagu held the position of [[Judge Advocate of the Fleet]]. He wrote ''[[The Man Who Never Was (book)|The Man Who Never Was]]'' (1953), an account of Operation Mincemeat, which was adapted [[The Man Who Never Was|as a theatrical film]] three years later. Montagu also wrote ''Beyond Top Secret Ultra'', which focused more on the information technology and espionage tactics used in World War II. He was a governor of a public health project, [[the Peckham Experiment]], in 1949.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Bulletin of the Pioneer Health Centre|journal=Peckham|date=September 1949|volume=1|issue=5|url=http://www.sochealth.co.uk/1949/09/21/peckham/|access-date=21 October 2016}}</ref>

Before the [[Courts Act 1971]] Montagu was Chairman of the [[Quarter Sessions]] for the Middlesex area of Greater London<ref>Whitaker's Almanack (1968) p.636</ref> and [[Recorder (judge)|recorder]] in the County of [[Hampshire]]. He was appointed [[Deputy Lieutenant]] of the [[County of Southampton]].

Montagu was president of the [[United Synagogue]] from 1954 to 1962, and President of the [[Anglo-Jewish Association]] from December 1949.<ref name="yb 1951"/>

==Family==
Montagu's youngest brother, [[Ivor Montagu]], was a film maker and Communist. Ewen Montagu married Iris, the daughter of the painter [[Solomon J. Solomon]], on 14 June 1923.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1923-05-12 |title=Forthcoming Marriages |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph-forthcoming-marriage/183627649/ |access-date=2025-10-24 |work=The Daily Telegraph |pages=11}}</ref> They had a son, Jeremy (b. 1927),<ref>{{Cite news |date=1927-12-29 |title=Heir for the Hon. Ewen Montagu |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard-heir-for-the-hon-ewen/183629131/ |access-date=2025-10-24 |work=Evening Standard |pages=4}}</ref> who became an authority on musical instruments,<ref>Macintyre, Ben, (2010) [https://books.google.com/books?id=q6JAazB9nCwC&pg=PT7 ''Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II''], preface</ref> and a daughter, [[Jennifer Montagu|Jennifer]], who became an art historian.

Montagu was a first cousin once removed of comedian [[Christopher Guest]], through Montagu's maternal grandparents.{{citation needed|date= August 2023}}

==In popular culture==
Montagu has been portrayed on screen twice relating to Operation Mincemeat. In the 1956 film ''[[The Man Who Never Was]]'', he was portrayed by [[Clifton Webb]]. In the 2021 film ''[[Operation Mincemeat (film)|Operation Mincemeat]]'', he was played by [[Colin Firth]]. Montagu himself appeared in ''The Man Who Never Was'', playing an air-vice marshal questioning the Ewen Montagu character in a briefing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Dennis Wheatley 'Museum' |url=http://www.denniswheatley.info/museum/room.asp?id=8&exhib=17 |access-date=2026-01-01 |website=www.denniswheatley.info}}</ref>

Montagu has also appeared as a character in at least one adaptation of the real life murder of [[Francis Rattenbury]]. The best known is the [[Terence Rattigan]] radio play (1975), stage play (1977) and TV movie (1987) ''[[Cause Célèbre (play)|Cause Célèbre]]''. Montagu was played by [[Rory Fleck-Byrne]] in the original [[BBC Radio 4]] radio play and the stage adaptation and by [[Adam Blackwood (actor)|Adam Blackwood]] in the later TV movie. An earlier television play based on the case, ''[[Killer in Close-Up|Killer In Close-Up: The Rattenbury Case]]'' (1958), written by [[George F. Kerr]] and produced by [[Melbourne]] television station [[ABV (TV station)|ABV-2]], but as the recording is no longer known to exist, it is not clear if the defence barrister was identified as Montagu, nor who played him.

In the musical ''[[Operation Mincemeat (musical)|Operation Mincemeat]]'', the role of Montagu was originated on the West End by co-creator [[Natasha Hodgson]], who also reprised the role on Broadway. All other performers of the role have also been women, including Holly Sumpton,<ref>https://www.operationmincemeat.com/cast-we, Cast of Operation Mincemeat, accessed 31.1.2024</ref> Geri Allen,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://x.com/spitlip/status/1710777910678667700?s=61|title=x.com|website=X (formerly Twitter)}}</ref> [[Emily Barber]],<ref>{{Cite web | title=Archived copy | url=https://twitter.com/mincemeatlive/status/1786010074785140943 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517204808/https://twitter.com/mincemeatlive/status/1786010074785140943 | archive-date=2024-05-17}}</ref> [[Alex Young (actor)|Alex Young]], Madeleine Jackson-Smith, [[Gerianne Pérez]], Jessi Kirtley, [[Julia Knitel]], Katy Ellis, and Georgina Hagen.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book | last=Montagu | first=Ewen | title=The Man Who Never Was | publisher=Lippincott | year=1954 | location=Philadelphia}}
*{{cite book | last=Montagu | first=Ewen | title=The Archer-Shee Case | publisher=David and Charles | year=1974 | location=Newton Abbot | isbn=0-7153-6774-9}}
*{{cite book | last=Montagu | first=Ewen | title=Beyond Top Secret ULTRA | publisher=Coward McGann and Geoghegan | year=1977 | isbn=0-698-10882-5}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | last=Macintyre | first=Ben | author-link=Ben Macintyre | title=Operation Mincemeat. The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II | publisher=Bloomsbury | year=2010 | location=London | isbn=978-0-7475-9868-8 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/operationminceme0000maci }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Operation Mincemeat}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu, Ewen}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Admiralty personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British military writers]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Hampshire]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Intelligence analysts]]
[[Category:Operation Mincemeat]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II]]
[[Category:Samuel-Montagu family|Ewen]]
[[Category:Younger sons of barons]]

Ewen Montagu - Revision history

EveMagill33 at 04:28, 23 February 2026