English Channel latter part of the 19th century when Captain Matthew Webb made the first observed and unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover, swimming from England to France on 24–25 August 1875 in 21 hours 45 minutes. In 1927, at a time when fewer than ten swimmers (including the first woman, Gertrude Ederle in 1926) had managed to emulate the feat and many dubious claims were being made, the Channel Swimming Association (CSA) was founded to authenticate and ratify swimmers' claims to have swum the Channel and to verify crossing times. The CSA was dissolved in 1999 and was succeeded by
The Man Who Never Was The Man Who Never Was The Man Who Never Was is a 1956 UK Second World War film, produced by André Hakim, directed by Ronald Neame, that stars Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame and Robert Flemyng. It is based on the book of the same name by Lt. Cmdr. Ewen Montagu and dramatises actual events. The film's storyline concerns Operation Mincemeat, a 1943 British Intelligence plan to deceive the Axis powers into thinking Operation "Husky", the Allied invasion of Sicily, would take place elsewhere in the Mediterranean. "The Man Who Never Was" was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. Nigel