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Charles Cholmondeley (intelligence officer)

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Cholmondeley (left) and Montagu in 1943

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

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Cholmondeley was born on 27 January 1917 in O'Halloran Hill, South Australia, the son of Richard Vernon Cholmondeley and Hilda Georgina Cholmondeley (née Naylor).[3][4] During World War II he 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]

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  • In the 2021 British war drama Operation Mincemeat, Cholmondeley is played by Matthew Macfadyen.
  • Cholmondeley has also been portrayed by David Cumming, Seán Carey, Christian Andrews and George Jennings 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

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  1. ^ Macintyre 2010, p. 11.
  2. ^ "The War on Paper: Operation Mincemeat".
  3. ^ "R.A.A.F. AWARDS IN LONDON". Sydney Morning Herald. 9 June 1944. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Genealogy SA Online Database Search". South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society Inc. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  5. ^ Macintyre 2010, p. 13.
  6. ^ Macintyre 2010, pp. 19–20.
  7. ^ a b Smyth 2010, p. 28.
  8. ^ "Page 2584 | Supplement 36544, 2 June 1944 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  9. ^ Montagu, Ewen (23 June 1982). "Mr Charles Cholmondeley". The Times. No. 61267. p. 12.

Books

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Notes

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  1. ^ Pronounced Chumly (/ˈʌmli/ CHUM-lee)[1]