Secret plan & local connections
Q: Kevin Broadfoot, St Albans: "In April 1943 a dead body was dressed as a Major in the Royal Marines and put into the sea off Spain carrying false documents about Allied intentions. Amongst the documents the body carried was a letter from the 'dead' man's father and also a letter written on hotel notepaper from the White Lion Hotel in Mold. The White Lion has long since gone - it is now part of Woolworths although the original entrance can still be seen. I'm interested to know why the planners of the operation might have used note paper from a Mold hotel and how they came by it. My own theory is that one of the planners had stayed at the White Lion - does anyone know who owned the hotel in 1943 or whether there might be a guest book still in existence in an attic somewhere? Also, the White Lion had a stone White Lion statue over the entrance. This went when Woolworths took over although the porch is still visible on the High St. Does anyone know when and where the stone lion went?"
your comments
Martin Davies ex North Wales now St Louis MO
This is strange especially when you consider the hyper-secret nature of the Rhydymwyn Valley factory's part in the Tube Alloys project Britain's early work on the development of the atomic bomb and its subsequent role as a chemical weapons facility. You would have thought British intelligence would have gone out of its way to not bring any attention at all to this part of the country. It's my undertanding that this facility was never discovered by the Germans during the war.
Mon Aug 11 14:16:45 2008
David Rowe of Mold Civic Society
I don't know the link as to how they settled on Mold but 'Major Martin' came from Aberbargoed and a plaque there reads: "The Man who never was" In recognition of Service to the Allied War effort by Glyndwr Michael of Aberbargoed 4th February 190? - 24th April 1943." As far as we are aware he died in London. If this limited information helps with your search please let us know as we would like to extend details of this event on the Mold Civic Society Community Archive.
Mon Nov 8 14:44:51 2004
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