It even convinced Hitler, supporting his entrenched belief that the Balkans was the soft underbelly of the Nazi Empire (ironically, Goebbels was the only leading Nazi who didn't fall for the deception). A lot of its success also depended on wishful thinking by those in the chain, wanting to believe the information, or wanting to ingratiate themselves by submitting the prized and explosive information further up the chain.
The effectiveness of the plan also relied on understanding the psychology of individuals and nations, not just of the Germans, but also of the officially neutral Spaniards, juggling between those who were really pro-Axis and those (such as the Spanish navy) who were often pro-Allies.
The key was "not merely to conceal what you are doing, but to persuade the other side that what you are doing is the reverse of what you are actually doing." To do this they had to create a whole backstory for the fictional dead Marines officer, Major William Martin, and concoct supporting evidence for the documents and other materials found in his possession that would withstand investigation by any German or other enemy agent in Britain. The whole story reads like a rather unlikely thriller, disguising a dead body in a Marines uniform, planting a carefully constructed series of fake documents on him, drafted and presented in such a way that they would convince the enemy of their genuineness. The success of the operation paved the way towards the invasion of Italy, toppling Mussolini and taking that country out of the war, the first major breach in the Axis coalition. This is the gripping true story of the Second World War deception operation by which the Allies managed to convince the Germans that the planned invasion of Sicily in 1943 was in fact a decoy and that the real invasion was to be targeted at Greece in the eastern Mediterranean and Sardinia in the western Mediterranean.
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