r/AskHistorians•
ethorad

Is the full text of the "Trout Memo" from British Intelligence in 1939 publicly available?

I've been reading some books about British Intelligence, SOE and the 20 committee during WW2. As part of that I've become aware of the "Trout Memo", apparently written in 1939 by Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame) for his boss John Godfrey. This memo lists 54 ways to fool the enemy, of which one - dropping a corpse with fake papers - formed the basis of Operation Mincemeat.

I've been trying to find a copy of the memo, and so far have come up blank on various government archive databases. I find lots of references to it online, but they all just refer to it as "the Trout Memo" rather than a more formal designation. Also it seems that the only thing anyone seems to refer to from it is the opening line about trout fishing: "The Trout Fisher casts patiently all day. He frequently changes his venue and his lures ..."

Does anyone know where I can find it?

Posted Aug 20, 2024, 4:35 PM UTC

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