Hester Leggatt
Hester Leggatt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Hester May Murray Leggatt 1905 |
| Died | 26 July 1995 (age 89) Chilton, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Occupation | Secretary |
| Employer | MI5 |
| Known for | Operation Mincemeat |
| Relatives | Bill Leggatt (brother) |
Hester May Murray Leggatt (1905 – 26 July 1995)[1][2] was a British MI5 employee. She contributed to the Second World War deception mission Operation Mincemeat.
Life and career
[edit]Leggatt was born in British India in 1905.[3] Her brother, Bill Leggatt, was a lieutenant colonel in the British Army, serving in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War.[3] Before the First World War, her family returned to the United Kingdom, where she attended Tormead School and Wycombe Abbey. She completed secretarial training at St James' Secretarial College in London.[4] In the early 1930s, Leggatt worked as a secretary for Osbert Sitwell and for the Golden Cockerel Press.[5]
During the Second World War, she worked as an administrative assistant for the B1a section of MI5, which was responsible for managing Double Cross agents.[4] According to an account by Jean Leslie, a younger secretary in the section, Leggatt headed the secretarial unit with the utmost seriousness, demanding "absolute obedience and perfect efficiency" from the other administrative assistants.[6]
As the most senior woman in the department, Leggatt was tasked with writing false love letters for the British deception mission Operation Mincemeat.[6][disputed – discuss] The letters, alongside fake intelligence documents, were to be planted on a corpse dressed as a Royal Marine major in a ruse to trick Hitler into moving troops out of Sicily.[5][7] Although Leggatt was unmarried, and would remain so for the rest of her life, the letters she wrote in the guise of a fictional fiancée named Pam were described as "chattering pastiches of a young woman madly in love, and with little time for grammar".[6]
I do think dearest that seeing people like you off at railway stations is one of the poorer forms of sport. A train going out can leave a howling great gap in ones life & one had to try madly – & quite in vain – to fill it with all the things one used to enjoy a short five weeks ago. That lovely golden day we spent together oh! I know it has been said before, but if only time could stand still for just a minute – But that line of thought is too pointless. Pull your socks up Pam & don't be a silly little fool
— Hester Leggatt, in one of the false love letters written by 'Pam'
The love letters acted as corroborative details that helped sell the fiction that the corpse was a real British soldier. The official report on Operation Mincemeat described Leggatt's letters as achieving "the thrill and pathos of a war engagement with great success".[6] After the war, Leggatt worked for the British Council.[4] Leggatt never married. After retiring, she moved to Chilton, Buckinghamshire, where she died aged 89 in a nursing home on 26 July 1995.[1]
In popular culture
[edit]Leggatt was first portrayed by Jak Malone in the stage musical Operation Mincemeat, which premiered in 2019 and is currently running both in the West End and on Broadway as of May 2025[update].[8][9] Some lyrics in the musical's song "Dear Bill" were intentionally lifted directly from Leggatt's letters.[10] Penelope Wilton played the role of Leggatt in the 2021 film Operation Mincemeat.[11]
Historical research
[edit]Leggatt's possible contributions to the operation were first brought to mainstream attention by Ben Macintyre's 2010 book Operation Mincemeat, though the book misspelled her name as "Leggett".[12]
A group of fans of the stage musical were inspired to research into the real life of Leggett, portrayed as a character in the play, as little was known about her. They contacted MI5 and were able to find out some key information about her, including the correct spelling of her surname, and that she worked for Osbert Sitwell in the 1930s, for MI5 during the Second World War, and later for the British Council.[13][5][7] In December 2023, a plaque was installed at the Fortune Theatre in commemoration of Leggatt and her service to her country.[14][15]
A book about the discovery of Leggatt's contributions to the war effort was published in June 2025. It was written by theatre archivist Erin Edwards and is titled Finding Hester: The Incredible Story of the Hidden Woman Whose Love Letters Changed World War II in Operation Mincemeat.[16][17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Hester Leggatt". London Remembers. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ Callus, Greg (9 July 2023). "Secretary who turned the tide of history cannot be forgotten". The Independent. London. ProQuest 2834530002.
- ^ a b Leggatt, William Murray, Winchester College at War, Winchester College. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "From the Archives: Hester Leggatt (C37, Barry, 1924)". Wycombe Abbey. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ a b c Macintyre, Ben (9 September 2023). "How musical fans forced MI5 to come clean". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
- ^ a b c d Macintyre, Ben (2010). Operation Mincemeat : The True Spy Story That Changed the Course of World War II. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 73–79. ISBN 978-0-7475-9868-8.
- ^ a b "Dear Hester: how fans uncovered a missing piece of Operation Mincemeat's history". The Stage. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "'Operation Mincemeat' extends Broadway run for third time". Broadway News. 24 March 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ "Operation Mincemeat gets its 14th extension at the West End's Fortune Theatre in London". West End Theatre. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ Schwartz, Katerina (8 May 2023). "The Quartet Behind Operation Mincemeat". Broadway Baby. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
I like that Hester did write the real letter. And the phrase, 'why did we meet in the middle of a war, what a silly thing for anyone to do.' That feels just so lovely.
- ^ "Dame Penelope Wilton on starring in Operation Mincemeat with Colin Firth and why Ricky Gervais was desperate to work with her". Virgin Radio UK. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ Marshall, Alex (26 March 2025). "How a Broadway Musical Revealed a Family's World War II Spy Secrets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ "Fan campaign confirms lost Operation Mincemeat character details". What's On Stage. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
- ^ "Plaque celebrating real-life Operation Mincemeat character unveiled". The Stage.
- ^ "Operation Mincemeat to unveil plaque for Hester Leggatt following search for character's history". What's On Stage. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ "Finding Hester by Claudia Caplan Wolff, Rose Crossgrove, Jack Lawrence, Greg Callus, Erin Edwards". Shakespeare and Company. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ "Finding Hester". Andrew Lownie Literary Agency. Retrieved 23 April 2025.