To deceive the Germans, MI5 recruited Australian actor Meyrick Clifton James.
It was arguably the most audacious hoax of the Second World War. With the Allied forces preparing the D-Day invasion on the Normandy Beaches of northern France it was essential to take the occupying Nazi forces unawares.
The D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, altered the course of the war. Ahead of their 80th anniversary on Thursday, the actor’s family has spoken of the hoax and for the first time opened the family photo album.I was Monty’s DoubleClifton-James was in his dressing room at the Comedy Theatre in London for a troop show when a photographer came in and said he had heard of his resemblance to Montgomery.
After the meeting he was asked to sign the Official Secrets Act. He learnt how to walk and talk like Monty and was supplied with a battle-dress from a military tailor adorned with replicas of the general’s badges, red tabs and rows of medal ribbons.in 1946, said: “I got into the battle-dress and, slightly whitening my hair, and broadening my moustache, put on the beret. Hesitating and taking a deep breath, I stepped out into the room. Abruptly the conversation ceased.
Richard Clifton James, 36, said his grandfather’s role as Monty’s double was a demanding one: “I understand he needed a lot of training to do the job, but, as my dad said, it was all about England and doing what needed to be done. That apparently was what my grandad’s mindset was like. It really was an incredible story.
“Keith told me that during the war his dad disappeared for about six months. He said he and his mum thought he’d walked out on them, but it seems he couldn’t come back because of the Official Secrets Act. Then, apparently, after six months, a big posh car turned up at their home in Worthing in Sussex, and he got out of the car along with two blokes wearing trilbies.
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