"But I have dreamed a dreary dream,
Beyond the Isle of Sky;
I saw a dead man win a fight,
and I think that man was I."
The Battle of Otterbourne 1388
These words are attributed in a Poland to Sir James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas, a Scottish nobleman, on the moonlit night of August 5, 1388, a battle against the English, led by Harry Hotspur, son of the Earl of Northumberland, was fought. Otterbourne is a village south of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the area called the Scottish Borders. The English supervised of the Scots, Sir James Douglas was killed early on, and the Scots were on the verge of being soundly beaten. Then, the miracle occurred, unaware that their leader had been killed, the Scots began a fierce counterattack, screaming "a Douglas!, A Douglas!" This carried the day, the Scots killed or captured 1800 of the English. This event was rightfully called "A Dead Man's Victory" because of the premonition Sir James had of been killed in the battle. This phenomena is seen again in the legends of "El Cid" Roderigo de Vivar was defending the Spanish city of Valencia from the Moore's when he was killed. At a critical time, his body, in full armor, was strapped on his horse and he wrote out of the gates leading his men. Needless to say, this scared the Moore's and put new life into the Army of El Cid. There are 2 versions of the story. The other is that "El Sid" died peacefully in bed. Good stories sometimes make good legends.
A more recent tale of a dead man winning a battle begins in early 1943. Everybody in the world knew that the Allies next move in the Mediterranean was the invasion of Sicily. However, a British Operation was planned and executed to make the Axis Powers believe that the invasion would be in the Balkans. Captain (acting Major) William Martin, Royal Marines, assigned to combined operations, was created, the man who never was. A grieving Welsh father volunteered the remains of his recently deceased son, who had died of pneumonia, to play the part of Major Martin. After the veil of the Official Secrets Act was lifted years later, there is some dispute who actually played the part of Major Martin. It probably was Seaman Jack Melville, who had been drowned in the explosion of the HMS Dasher. Nonetheless, Major Martin was put into the sea close to the Huelva, Spain, with a briefcase containing sensitive documents, knowing that the Spanish would give German intelligence access to the documents before they were returned. Major Martin, was buried with full military honors at the Cementerio de la Soledad in Huelva, Spain. The Germans, after investigating the documents and circumstances as best they could, believed the documents and move troops and equipment to the Balkans. They were a bit surprised when Sicily was invaded. 2 days after the Normandy invasion, a landing craft washed up close to Normandy containing document setting out future plans after the invasion. Having been stung by the Major Martin affair, the Germans ignored the gift because they still believe the invasion was to come through the Pas de Calais. During the invasion of Holland, called Operation Market Garden, a German patrol found an American staff officer who had been killed in a glider landing. With the American officer were the complete plans of the Market Garden Operation. Again, after having been bitten by the major market deception, the Germans chose to believe the documents were fake. The rest is history. Perhaps the moral of the story is "never look a gift horse in the mouth."
A more recent tale of a dead man winning a battle begins in early 1943. Everybody in the world knew that the Allies next move in the Mediterranean was the invasion of Sicily. However, a British Operation was planned and executed to make the Axis Powers believe that the invasion would be in the Balkans. Captain (acting Major) William Martin, Royal Marines, assigned to combined operations, was created, the man who never was. A grieving Welsh father volunteered the remains of his recently deceased son, who had died of pneumonia, to play the part of Major Martin. After the veil of the Official Secrets Act was lifted years later, there is some dispute who actually played the part of Major Martin. It probably was Seaman Jack Melville, who had been drowned in the explosion of the HMS Dasher. Nonetheless, Major Martin was put into the sea close to the Huelva, Spain, with a briefcase containing sensitive documents, knowing that the Spanish would give German intelligence access to the documents before they were returned. Major Martin, was buried with full military honors at the Cementerio de la Soledad in Huelva, Spain. The Germans, after investigating the documents and circumstances as best they could, believed the documents and move troops and equipment to the Balkans. They were a bit surprised when Sicily was invaded. 2 days after the Normandy invasion, a landing craft washed up close to Normandy containing document setting out future plans after the invasion. Having been stung by the Major Martin affair, the Germans ignored the gift because they still believe the invasion was to come through the Pas de Calais. During the invasion of Holland, called Operation Market Garden, a German patrol found an American staff officer who had been killed in a glider landing. With the American officer were the complete plans of the Market Garden Operation. Again, after having been bitten by the major market deception, the Germans chose to believe the documents were fake. The rest is history. Perhaps the moral of the story is "never look a gift horse in the mouth."