The Secret Woman Behind the Secrets of Project Mincemeat

 

EPISODE LINK: “The Ladies Behind The Plot That Tricked Hitler”

History is often told through the lives of men on battlefields, but the real war stories—the ones that quietly turned the tide—are often tucked behind the scenes. Hester Leggett is one of those women history almost forgot, though her role in World War II intelligence was anything but forgettable.

In the shadowy world of wartime espionage, the most powerful players often went unnoticed. One of them was Hester Leggett, a brilliant and discreet intelligence officer whose sharp mind and steady hand helped orchestrate one of the greatest deceptions in military history: Operation Mincemeat.

A seasoned linguist and academic, Hester Leggett was recruited during World War II to work in British intelligence. She became a vital figure in the now-famous Double Cross System, a counter-espionage operation that turned German agents into double agents, feeding misinformation back to the Nazis. But Leggett’s most notable contribution came through her work as secretary to the Twenty Committee, a group whose very name was a play on the Roman numerals XX—double cross.

Quiet, precise, and brilliant, Leggett, known by her colleagues as “Spin”,  acted as the unshakable nerve center for this highly sensitive operation. She handled classified communications, kept meticulous records, and ensured the right hand always knew what the left was doing—no small feat in a web of lies built to protect lives. She worked closely with key figures like John Masterman and Ewen Montagu, but as is often the case with women in intelligence, her name remained in the footnotes for far too long.

In 1943, the Allies were planning to invade Sicily, but they needed the Axis powers—especially Nazi Germany—to believe the attack would come elsewhere. Enter Operation Mincemeat: a daring and macabre plan to plant fake documents on a corpse dressed as a British officer, then float the body off the coast of Spain. The documents would “reveal” that the Allies were preparing to invade Greece and Sardinia instead of Sicily. It was a gamble that required absolute precision, flawless paperwork, and airtight secrecy.

While men like Ewen Montagu and Charles Cholmondeley are often credited with devising the plan, Hester Leggett was the quiet force who made sure every piece fit. As secretary to the Twenty Committee—the top-secret British intelligence group overseeing deception operations—Leggett handled highly classified communications and served as the operational glue between departments. She ensured the forged documents looked authentic, the codenames stayed straight, and the illusion held strong.

She didn’t write the headlines, but Leggett’s contributions were foundational. She typed the letters from “Major William Martin” (the identity given to the corpse) with the exact tone and detail needed to make them believable. Her administrative skills weren’t just bureaucratic—they were instrumental to maintaining the credibility of the deception. In intelligence work, details are life or death, and Hester Leggett mastered the details.

Operation Mincemeat worked. The Nazis took the bait, moved troops away from Sicily, and the Allies invaded with significantly less resistance. Thousands of lives were saved because a woman like Hester Leggett ensured the lie was airtight.

History has a habit of spotlighting the boldest voices, but sometimes the most important roles are played in silence. Hester Leggett wasn’t on the battlefield, but her work behind a typewriter and at the heart of British intelligence helped change the course of the war.

Let’s say her name a little louder now.