Robert Edward “Ted” Ross: The Northern Ireland connection to Operation Mincemeat

Robert Edward Ross served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Born on 7th January 1922, he was the son of the late Daniel Alexander Ross and Alice Ross (née Lockett) of Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

Ted was one of six children. Three of his brothers; Daniel Ross, Alexander Ross, and James Ross, also served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Twin brother William Ross served in the Royal Navy, surviving two sinkings during the conflict. Ted also had a sister, Mary Ross.

Ted’s father died young as a result of lead poisoning, brought about by his job as a painter of boats and ships. This left his mother to bring up the six siblings alone. Having completed his education at The Blue Coat School in Liverpool, Ted worked as a horse and cart driver. He then trained as an apprentice upholsterer but on the outbreak of war, he joined the Royal Air Force.

Ted hoped to become a Wireless Operator / Air Gunner and passed all the required initial tests. He continued training at R.A.F. Blackpool, but his eyesight in his left eye was not strong enough to allow him to join an aircrew. He continued training as a Wireless Operator before moving on to R.A.F. Compton Basset in Wiltshire. There, he began training as a Direction Finder, a ground-based role to ascertain aircraft bearings.

Following this training, he began working as a Direction Finder at R.A.F. Lynton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire. Operating from a small hut on the base, he undertook the busy task of working within Bomber Command as they carried out large night-time raids. Ted’s next stop was to be overseas. He thought it was to be South Africa, but was soon kitted out for the Middle East. On board S.S. Llanstephan Castle, they first docked at Gibraltar.

With the R.A.F. at The Rock

In Gibraltar, Ted was among six Direction Finders instructed to leave the ship and tasked with establishing a new D.F. Station on The Rock. They joined members of The Signals, using Royal Navy equipment to work from inside The Rock until the small station was complete. The six Direction Finders worked in shifts from 0800hrs-1400hrs, 1400hrs-2200hrs, and 2200hrs-0800hrs. This gave 24-hour coverage, maintaining links with Malta and covering the rescue of stricken aircrews ditched nearby. Ted remained in Gibraltar for 18 months.

Almost all contact with London was in coded form with high priority messages sent as OBKA, general messages as OBKU, and occasional top-secret Ultra messages as both OBKA and OBKU. One such message related to the death of Polish General Wladyslaw Sikorski in Gibraltar.

A decade after the war, Ted sat down in his home on the outskirts of East Belfast to watch a film, ‘The Man Who Never Was’, and made a startling discovery. During his time in Gibraltar, he had played a crucial role in one of the most elaborate and daring deceptions of the Second World War; Operation Mincemeat.

Operation Mincemeat

The operation was the brainchild of Charles Cholmondeley and Ewen Montagu. It involved the dead body of a homeless person, deceptive radio broadcasts, and a plethora of forged documents. The aim was to convince Hitler that the Allies were planning an invasion of Greece rather than Sicily.

In April 1943, a sardine fisherman off the Andalucian Coast of Spain spotted a body floating in the sea. The corpse wore the uniform of a British Army officer. A briefcase handcuffed to its wrist contained what appeared to be top-secret military documents. As planned, this discovery prompted a chain of events that some say changed the course of the Second World War. This body would become known in popular culture, books, and film as ‘The Man Who Never Was’.

On watching the film, Ross realised his role in the concoction of the elaborate cover story. He was the last person to “speak” to this fictitious Officer. Ted’s job was to send a message from his base in Gibraltar to a fictional Allied aircraft carrier.

I received a signal in the form of a hand-written message. It read that if I heard an S.O.S. being transmitted I was to respond in this manner in Morse code: RRR SOS SEND POSITION COURSE AND SPEED.

Ted Ross – Interviewed by BBC Northern Ireland – 30th April 2018

The Royal Air Force knew that German High Command was listening to their communications. And so, this message sent from Gibraltar was part of a much larger cover story. The deception convinced German forces that the Allies were planning a large-scale invasion of Greece. Records suggest Operation Mincemeat saved thousands of lives by drawing Nazi troops away from Sicily.

At 0212hrs on 24th April 1943, Ted was the Radio Operator who received a message from a stricken aircraft off Cape Finisterre. The genuine origin of the message was from H.M. Submarine Seraph, the vessel carrying the body of the fictional Major William Martin.

Plane: S.O.S. S.O.S. S.O.S. S.O.S. V. G.B.A.W. G.B.A.W. S.O.S. K. True bearing 324 degrees from Gibraltar.

Ted responded as instructed, alerting other stations and getting a bearing of the non-existent plane.

Ted: S.O.S. S.O.S. S.O.S. S.O.S. G.B.A.W. G.B.A.W. from G.F.G.4 R.R.R. S.O.S. Send position, course speed.

After a short delay, Ted received a reply.

Plane: G.F.G.4 from G.B.A.W. Off Finisterre, course 170 degrees, speed 170.

Ted acknowledged the message before the Operator on the other end jameed down the Morse Key, sending a continuous signal. This was the normal procedure for a plane about to ditch at sea. The signal cut off at 0218hrs. This was the exact time shown on the stopped wristwatch of the body of the fictional Major Martin.

Shortly after 0230hrs, Ted heard the sound of an R.A.F. Rescue Boat heading out from Gibraltar. He later learned from his friend Alan Dixon that the crew was just on a routine patrol. Dixon was the R.A.F. Radio Operator on the launch. Whether Dixon, Ross, or anyone else involved in the unfolding of the story believed the ruse was unimportant. The Nazis fell for it.

German forces withdrew from Sicily leaving it less protected than it had been. When the invasion of Europe’s “soft underbelly” began, the Allies took to the task with more speed and less opposition.

Following his time in Gibraltar, in the thick of Operation Mincemeat, Ted Ross went on to serve in North Africa, Italy, and Yugoslavia.

Following the end of the Second World War, he used his skills working at civilian airports in Liverpool and in Belfast. He assisted Air Traffic Controllers at Speke Airport, Liverpool before moving to the new civil airport at Nutts Corner, Co. Antrim. There, he met a woman named Ann, and they would marry in 1950.

Ted and Ann spent many years living in Northern Ireland, and Ted spent the last year of his life in the Somme Nursing Home in East Belfast. He received regular visits from family and friends up until his death on 20th March 2020 aged 98 years old.