I Was Monty's Double (released in the US as The Counterfeit General Montgomery [1] ) is a book by M. E. Clifton James, first published in London in 1954. It was made into a film in 1958, directed by John Guillermin, from a screenplay adapted by Bryan Forbes. It tells the story of Operation Copperhead: James had an uncanny resemblance to Bernard Montgomery in real life, and he was used to impersonate Montgomery to confuse the Germans during the Second World War.
The film broadly follows the account by James in his book of the same name, but according to James, there was no attempt to kidnap him. The German High Command did plan to have him killed, but Hitler vetoed the plan until he could be sure where the landings would actually take place.
Gibraltar was in reality a hotbed of German agents, and James/Montgomery was spied on by several operatives who were smuggled into Gibraltar specifically to discover what "Monty" was up to. James/Montgomery deliberately talked nonsense about non-existent operations and plans, in the hope that the spies would overhear and take such information seriously. According to some accounts, the plan was brought to an abrupt end when James, still in disguise as Montgomery, was seen in public drunk and smoking, while the real Montgomery was a teetotaling non-smoker.
Since 2010, the name 'Monty's Double' has been adopted by the actor Colin Brooks-Williams as the identity for his popular Montgomery lookalike and impersonation act, with which he tours 1940s-themed events nationwide as a tribute to Montgomery and James. Brooks-Williams has registered the name 'Monty's Double' as his professional stage name with the actor's union 'Equity' and carries the name on his Equity membership card.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein,, nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War.
Operation Fortitude was a military deception operation by the Allied nations as part of Operation Bodyguard, an overall deception strategy during the buildup to the 1944 Normandy landings. Fortitude was divided into two subplans, North and South, and had the aim of misleading the German High Command as to the location of the invasion.
A look-alike, double, or doppelgänger is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of family resemblance.
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is a comedy song written by Monty Python member Eric Idle that was first featured in the Python film Life of Brian and has gone on to become a common singalong at public events such as football matches as well as funerals.
The Goose Steps Out is a British film released in 1942, starring Will Hay, who also co-directed with Basil Dearden. It is a comedy of mistaken identity, with Hay acting as a German spy and also an Englishman who is his double. It was the film debut of Peter Ustinov.
Knock on Wood is a 1954 American comedy film starring Danny Kaye and Mai Zetterling. Other actors in the film include Torin Thatcher, David Burns, and Leon Askin. The film was written and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, with songs by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine.
Operation Copperhead was a small military deception operation run by the British during the Second World War. It formed part of Operation Bodyguard, the cover plan for the invasion of Normandy in 1944 and was intended to mislead German intelligence as to the location of General Bernard Montgomery. The operation was conceived by Dudley Clarke in early 1944 after he watched the film Five Graves to Cairo. Following the war M. E. Clifton James wrote a book about the operation, I Was Monty's Double. It was later adapted into a film, with James in the lead role.
5 Fingers, known also as Five Fingers, is a 1952 American film noir spy film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Otto Lang. The screenplay written by Michael Wilson was based on the 1950 book Operation Cicero by Ludwig Carl Moyzisch, Nazi commercial attaché at the German embassy in Ankara, Turkey (1943–44).
The Sea Wolves is a 1980 war film starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven. The film, which is based on the 1978 book Boarding Party by James Leasor, is the true story of Operation Creek during the Second World War. In the covert mission, the Calcutta Light Horse, part of the Cavalry Reserve in the British Indian Army, successfully sank a German merchant ship in Mormugão Harbour in neutral Portugal's territory of Goa, India on 9 March 1943. The ship had a secret radio which was transmitting information about Allied shipping to U-boats operating in the Indian Ocean.
A political decoy is a person employed to impersonate a politician, to draw attention away from the real person or to take risks on that person's behalf. This can also apply to military figures, or civilians impersonated for political or espionage purposes.
On the Double is a 1961 comedy film, directed by Melville Shavelson, who also wrote the screenplay with Jack Rose. It stars Danny Kaye who plays, as in many of his films, two roles — in this case, an American soldier and a British General.
Carry On Spying is a 1964 British spy comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas. It is the ninth in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992).
Meyrick Edward Clifton James was an actor and soldier, with a resemblance to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery which was used by British intelligence as part of a deception campaign during the Second World War.
Five Graves to Cairo is a 1943 war film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter. Set in World War II, it is one of a number of films based on Lajos Bíró's 1917 play Hotel Imperial: Színmű négy felvonásban, including the 1927 film Hotel Imperial. Erich von Stroheim portrays Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in a supporting performance.
Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), a theoretical physicist, has appeared in many works of popular culture.
Battle for Britain was a comic strip cartoon published in the fortnightly satirical magazine Private Eye in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. It depicted Margaret Thatcher's second term of office as prime minister, but with the politicians shown as British soldiers or Nazi officials, as in a comic of the Second World War. The strip was attributed to Monty Stubble, which was a nom de plume of editor Ian Hislop, and to his artistic collaborator Nick Newman.
I Was Monty's Double is a 1958 film produced by the Associated British Picture Corporation and directed by John Guillermin. The screenplay was adapted by Bryan Forbes from the autobiography of M. E. Clifton James, an actor who pretended to be General Bernard Montgomery as a decoy during World War II.
David Montgomery is a Northern Irish media executive, proprietor and media investor. He has also edited two tabloid newspapers during the course of his career.
German submarine U-53 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 13 March 1937 at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel and went into service on 24 June 1939 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See (Oblt.z.S.) Dietrich Knorr.