The unique set of skills possessed by the daredevil racing drivers were not really very useful during the WWII era. A handful became fighter pilots, since racing was the last thing on people’s minds during wartime, but some did put their skills to good use, literally helping steer the war effort in the direction of the Allies’ cause.
One such driver is John Horsfall (1910 – 1949), a private Aston Martin racing car driver, who got recruited by British intelligence (MI 5) in order to help them with a very important transport job that changed the course of the war.
Norfolk-born Horsfall was a naturally gifted mechanic who, with no formal training, was able to modify and improve the performance of motorbikes and cars, which he raced quite successfully in the 30s, making himself known not only in the UK, but in the entire European continent. His most famous racecar was a self-modified 1937 Aston Martin 15/98 2 Litre known as “the Black Car.”
Sticking to the WWII-espionage theme, Horsfall was recruited into MI 5 sometime in the 30s, and in 1943, he was asked to play his part in what the intelligence called “Operation Mincemeat.”
It involved planting a body on the southern Spanish coast, in order to confuse the Nazis as to where the Allied forces going to strike. The body chosen needed to fit several criteria, and it had to be moved before excessive decomposition set in. Horsfall was the driver tasked to move the body from London to Holy Loch, Scotland, in a canister of dry ice, in order for it to be taken aboard a submarine (HMS Seraph) which would plant it off the Spanish coast – the drive was around 420 miles long or 627 km and it demanded a fitting vehicle.
Luckily, Horsfall had just such a vehicle – a 1937 Fordson panel van that he tweaked and was reportedly capable of hitting 100 mph or 160 km/h… The van was used by him to transport his racing car around.
He reportedly nearly totaled the van on numerous occasions during the drive, and actually did have several minor incidents along the way. The delivery mission was successful, though. The body boarded the sub on April 18, and barely four months later, the course of the war had dramatically changed, due in no small part to the shady Operation Mincemeat and the daredevil spirit of Horsfall.
A movie called “The Man Who Never Was” was made in 1956, detailing and dramatizing the story, though it does not focus on Horsfall’s side of the events, concentrating instead on the operation itself from a more espionage-related angle. There’s also a Buzzfeed video posted below as a short (but excellently executed) recount of events.
If you know/have any more details that could further flush out the story, do share in the comments box below!
By Andrei Nedelea
Story References: Autosport , Road&Track , Horsfallblackcar Tentenths , Theinvisibleagent
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