Operation Mincemeat
During World War II, Operation Mincemeat was a highly successful Allied deception plan against Axis Forces. The operation involved releasing a dead man in a life jacket off the coast of Spain on April_30 1943. A briefcase attached to the body contained fake documents identifying the man as a Major William Martin and copies of fake Allied war plans which stated that the Allies were planning an invasion of Sardinia, rather than Sicily. Local fishermen pulled out the corpse and intelligence materials. The documents were sent to Axis commanders who were fooled by them. This information quickly reached Hitler who, on May_12, demanded that "measures regarding Sardinia and the Peloponnese take precedence over everything else". Operation Husky commenced on July_9, with the Allies attacking the southern tip of Sicily. The island was taken by the Allies by August_7. Mussolini had been stripped of his power on July_25.
External References:
http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/navalwarfare/a/mincemeat.htm
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/seraph.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/27/1043534001763.html
See Barclay, Trojan Horse, Warehouse, Waterfall, and Withstand.