My reading and understanding of the book showed he wasn’t a tramp ... the guy died of pneumonia which made it even more convincing since he washed up on a beach when set afloat from a sub. They went to the guys mother to get permission to use the body but didn’t say what for, just that it was an important war effort....
One account that I read said that the body was of an
alcoholic and that some of those involved were actually
surprised that the Germans did a sloppy enough autopsy to
have missed the signs of alcohol abuse and malnutrition.
Like a lot of history, probably several versions of the
story out there.
The book was written in 1953. More facts have come to light since. Apparently he was Glyndwr Michael, 34, a Welsh alcoholic vagrant, allegedly from Aberbargoed, who died of ingesting rat poison in January. His body was frozen and kept in dry ice until needed. He had no parents and no permission was obtained. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission in January 1998 added an inscription to the gravestone of “Major Martin” in the Catholic cemetery of Huelva, which reads, “Glyndwr Michael served as Major William Martin.” See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat