Great Escapes

by Barbara Bond

  RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MILITARY MAP-MAKERS

  It is clear that, certainly in the early part of the War, MI9 had little contact with MI4 and the military map-makers of the time, specifically D.Survey which was the military mapping organization responsible for the production of all operational mapping for both the Army and the Royal Air Force. Indeed, responsibility for the escape and evasion map production only passed to D.Survey, at that time located in Bushy Park, Middlesex, on 10 August 1944.

  The pre-war removal of MI4 from London and its relocation in Cheltenham had caused increasing difficulties and concerns, since they were separated from the Operations, Intelligence and Planning Staffs at the War Office in Whitehall and also from the Air Ministry Map Section located at Harrow. Recognition of the need for daily contact with the General Staff in Whitehall and the need for bigger and better accommodation than was available at Cheltenham prompted the decision to move back to London in mid- to late 1942, despite the possible disruption of operational mapping work at a critical stage in the war. MI4 had been re-designated Geographical Section General Staff (GSGS) and was moved to Eastcote in outer London and to the nearby factory site at Hanwell, where the building was known as ‘Hygrade’. At the same time the cross-service importance of GSGS was recognized and it was upgraded from Branch to Directorate level with the creation of the Directorate of Military Survey under Brigadier Martin Hotine. It was doubtless this move back to London which allowed MI9 greater access to existing operational mapping and to the production of escape and evasion maps based on existing GSGS series such as GSGS 3982.

  4

  SMUGGLING MAPS AND OTHER ESCAPE AIDS INTO THE CAMPS

  ‘All my life, magicians, illusionists, escapologists in particular, have fascinated me. I expect it goes back to the night I tried to outwit Houdini.’

  (Official Secret by Christopher Clayton Hutton)

  The next challenge faced by Hutton was to devise a fool-proof system to deliver to those imprisoned in the camps the various escape aids and gadgetry which MI9 had contrived to have produced, not the least of which were the maps themselves. He later confessed that he spent many sleepless nights wrestling with this challenge. MI9 was acutely aware that most of the many thousands of men taken prisoner at Dunkirk had little or nothing by way of escape aids and devices and yet each of them was a potential escaper. They reasoned that getting the aids through in small numbers was not what was required; they needed to devise methods which would allow a steady flow of thousands of aids and devices. This was precisely what they attempted to do and it was here that the staff of MI9 were able, once again, to demonstrate their considerable ingenuity, resourcefulness and creativity.

  THE ARTS OF SMUGGLING AND MAGIC

  It is fascinating to realize the extent to which Hutton and his colleagues resorted to the basic tenets of smuggling which, over the centuries, British smugglers had developed into an art form. With a coastline of some 15,000 kilometres (9,300 miles), the United Kingdom’s borders are impossible to patrol in their entirety and, over the centuries, determined smugglers have exhibited ingenious expertise in outsmarting the customs authorities. There is a considerable history of contraband being smuggled into the country through hollowed out containers, seemingly of standard construction when viewed externally, or concealed beneath the false bottoms of apparently standard containers. The significant characteristic of items designed to carry contraband goods was hollowness and it was a lesson which Hutton quickly incorporated into his plans. What MI9 embarked on in 1940 was thus essentially a programme of large-scale smuggling to ensure that the maps and other escape aids which they had produced would successfully reach the prisoners of war and thereby ensure that their planned escapes had the greatest possible chance of success.

  Hutton confessed to his own childhood fascination with magic and the illusionary escapology tricks as practised by Harry Houdini, and the extent to which he had personally been involved in challenging Houdini (see page 21). In his personal reflections, Hutton provided a remarkable insight into his penchant for devising means to deceive the enemy. Few men could have proved better suited to the task. It was against this backdrop of his own fascination with smuggling and magic that the programme to smuggle escape aids into the camps began to take shape.

  ROLE OF THE MI9 BULLETIN

  Part of the training which Intelligence Officers received at MI9’s Training School in Highgate was a briefing on the types of escape aids which had been devised. A key tool in this was the Bulletin, an extremely detailed volume compiled by MI9, which was essentially a textbook designed for use by Intelligence Officers when instructing others, and which was likely regarded as the escapers’ handbook. It was produced as a small-format, loose-leaf manual which was easily updated through the regular issue of amendments, in numerical sequence, each carrying the month and year of issue. The overall security classification of the Bulletin was MOST SECRET. The first entry was a short, true story about Winston Churchill’s experience of escaping in the Boer War when he dropped over the wall of where he was imprisoned by the Boers but his partner, who had the escape aids and maps, failed to get out: the moral of the story was emphasized: ‘Always Carry Your Escape Aids With You.’

  The Bulletin comprised twenty-three chapters in all, with the first seven covering such topics as security, escape and evasion, escape aids, international law, interrogation by the enemy, field-craft, and travel through Europe by rail. The subsequent chapters, each dedicated to a particular country or geographical region, provided a detailed description of the circumstances in each, recommended routes for escapes and detailed supporting maps. There were tips on successful escape ruses, modifying physical appearance (how to blend in) and recommended behaviour.

  It was in Chapter 2 of the Bulletin that all the various aids to escape were listed and described in detail, but it was in the individual country chapters where copies of the maps produced to support particular, recommended escape routes, were to be found. Maps Nos. 4 and 5, Schaffhausen Salient (East) and (West), numbered A1 and A2 respectively, were in Chapter 15/Germany of the Bulletin. The significance of these maps is described in detail in Chapter 6 and details given in Appendix 9. The maps were accompanied by ground photographs of the border area showing detailed views of topographic features (streams and paths) and landmark features (telegraph posts). It was also in Chapter 15 of the Bulletin that a set of large-scale plans of the Baltic ports was to be found. These were detailed plans of Danzig/Plan No.1 marked A3, Gdynia/Plan No. 2 marked A10, Stettin/Plan No.3 marked A11 and Lübeck/Plan No.4 with no additional sheet number marked. None of the Baltic port plans was marked with a security classification. This absence of any security marking was notably unlike the two small-scale maps of Norway Military Zones marked Map B covering southern Norway, and Map C covering northern Norway, both dated March 1943, which were both classified SECRET. Details of all these maps can be found at Appendix 9 and the significance of the Baltic port plans is considered in Chapter 7.

  Operational aircrews were only allowed direct access to the Bulletin under the supervision of their Commanding Officer or the RAF Station’s Intelligence Officer. They were not, however, under any circumstances allowed to make notes or copy items in the Bulletin: everything had to be memorized. In the case of the maps, this must have been particularly challenging, not least since those being briefed had absolutely no idea of where they might find themselves in the event of capture. Notwithstanding the restrictions placed on its access and use, there is no doubt that the Bulletin contained the very best information and advice on escape and evasion known to MI9. By autumn 1942, it was being updated by the issue of regular monthly amendments which also included intelligence information gleaned from the reports of the debriefing interviews to which all successful escapers were subjected.

  The Bulletin was indeed a veritable bible of escape and evasion, and contained everything that could be of assistance to Service personnel who found themselves cut off in enemy occupied territory or c
aptured by the enemy. It was devised as a textbook for all who were called on to give instruction on escape and evasion and its contents could change regularly and radically in the light of new information received from the field.

  THE USE OF BOARD GAMES, SPORTS EQUIPMENT AND OTHER LEISURE ITEMS

  Hutton and his team designed a great variety of devices to get material to prisoners of war. Maps and other escape aids were smuggled into the camps hidden inside all sorts of items such as games boards (Monopoly, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, draughts), dart boards, cribbage, backgammon and chess sets, pencils, gramophone records and sports equipment such as table tennis sets and squash rackets.

  An MI9 design for a game, with a hidden compartment for a map, currency, saw and compass.

  It has been suggested that cricket bats and balls were also sent into the camps, although no proof has so far been discovered that these also conveyed escape aids. Certainly there exist some family history stories that companies such as A. G. Spalding & Bros. were manufacturing cricket bats with silk maps hidden in the handles and compasses in the top of the handles. John Worsley was a war artist who had been captured and sent to the Marlag and Milag (Marinelager and Marineinternaten Lager) Nord camp constructed by the Germans southwest of Sandbostel, some forty kilometres (twenty-four miles) northeast of Bremen. One of his surviving watercolours depicts a cricket match in full flow. While it is difficult to make out the bat easily, the stumps and wicket keeper, complete with pads, are very clear, providing evidence that cricket equipment was sent to the prisoners of war. Indeed, there are also mentions of cricket matches in some of the reminiscences of prisoners of war. There is, however, no indication in the records that A. G. Spalding was ever involved in covert activity with MI9.

  A cricket match at Marlag and Milag Nord camp, painted in 1944 by John Worsley, an official war artist, who was imprisoned there. It has been suggested, but not proved, that cricket bats were used to smuggle escape aids into camps.

  Board games

  Hutton tackled this very challenging part of his task with apparent alacrity. The first company which he turned to was John Waddington Ltd of Wakefield Road, Leeds. He was already in regular contact with the company, through the Ministry of Supply, having established that they were rare, if not unique, in the commercial sector in being able to print on silk. Since they were already printing maps on silk for MI9, it was but one further step to ascertain the extent to which they could help MI9 in the manufacture of the means to despatch the maps into the camps. The fact that they were the principal agent in the UK to manufacture and distribute the British version of the popular US board game Monopoly was an undoubted gift to MI9.

  A wartime copy of Monopoly. Some boards had escape maps hidden within them, while genuine local currency was sometimes smuggled within the pile of Monopoly money.

  Monopoly boards began to be manufactured with escape maps hidden inside them. Those containing maps of Italy had a full stop after Marylebone Station and those containing maps of Norway, Sweden and Germany had a full stop after Mayfair, as a letter dated 26 March 1941 from Victor Watson of Waddington to Christopher Clayton Hutton explained. Additionally, boards were also produced containing maps of northern France, Germany and associated sections of the frontier: MI9 again insisted they carry some distinguishing mark and, in this case, it was a full stop after ‘Free Parking’. The practice ensured that there was a ready means of differentiating which boards carried particular maps and this system of coding also ensured that the appropriate games were sent to prisoners of war in the appropriate geographical area. Local currency was, of course, also needed by those planning to escape and the Monopoly money provided an ideal hiding place for local currency. Waddington was also sent in March 1941 a selection of small metal instruments, such as saws and compasses and asked if they could consider how best to secrete these in the Monopoly sets.

  Playing cards

  Waddington was also a major manufacturer of playing cards. In 1999, Christopher Bowes, the Waddington company archivist, described how maps were smuggled to prisoners in a pack of cards:

  The map would be made from a material impervious to water and sandwiched between the back and the pip side of the cards by water soluble glue. When dropped into a bucket of water the cards would come into three parts: front, back and the map. Each segment of map was serially numbered (in orange on the cards that I have seen) and overlapped the next segment on all sides by about ¼ inch. Each pack contained one map in 48 segments. The four aces contained a small-scale map of Europe and the Joker held the key or map legend. To make up such a pack must have been fiendishly difficult because of the overlaps.

  On 11 May 1942 a letter was passed to the company from the Ministry of Supply with an order for 224 packs of playing cards, twenty-four packs of which were to be Prize Packs ‘on the formula we discussed’: this appears to relate to the type of packs described by Bowes. It is clear from ensuing correspondence that a considerable increase in the cost of manufacturing such playing cards resulted, not least because of the need to ensure adequate overlaps between the cards. The overlaps were deemed necessary to ensure the total map was covered and that no portion would be missing. Such increased cost was later queried as being ‘rather high’ and the statement was made that the requirement was deemed ‘not of sufficient importance to warrant expenditure’. This was a rare, possibly unique, indication that MI9 was alert to the costs of its endeavours. The cards which were produced were packed into individual packs and also in bridge sets.

  A pack of cards with map sections sandwiched between the front and back of each card and a games box containing a secret compartment.

  The Per Ardua Libertas volume was produced by Hutton in February 1942. It was a detailed photographic review of the range of work for which MI9 had been responsible during the first two years of its existence. The volume was bound in red leather and was clearly a high quality presentation piece, possibly seeking to influence their sister organization in the USA, MIS-X, the Americans having declared war on the Axis powers on 11 December 1941. The volume showed a photograph of how maps were hidden in playing cards. It also contained photographs of various sizes of chess sets and confirms that maps were hidden inside them during manufacture. Norman Watson of Waddington was able to provide Alston, his principal contact in the Ministry of Supply and intermediary with MI9, with details of three companies in London which marketed pocket chess sets, indicating that they were probably agents rather than actual manufacturers. The companies were Thomas Salter, Baileys and E. Lehman & Co. There is also separate confirmatory evidence, in the form of the original artwork held in the RAF Museum, that chess sets were produced with secret compartments inside the boards, within which maps could be hidden (see page 124).

  A page from Per Ardua Libertas showing some of the smuggling methods used by MI9. The example at the top of the page shows a pack of playing cards containing a map. Also shown are cigars which here are described as being used to smuggle maps and compasses but which were also used to send a message of support from Winston Churchill to prisoners of war (see page 196).

  Gramophone records

  During the course of the war, Hutton needed continuously to generate new and ingenious ideas for hiding the maps and other aids, not least because the German camp guards did discover some of his early hiding places. Hutton acknowledged that the majority of the hiding places were undiscovered for long periods of time but each, in turn, was eventually spotted by an alert guard and had to be replaced by a new host device. Once MI9 had been alerted to the discovery, they suspended distribution of the items until an alternative replaced it.

  Initially, for example, Hutton had used books but, once they had been discovered as the repository of escape aids, he turned his attention to gramophone records, approaching John Wooler, Head of the Record Development Laboratory at EMI. Hutton’s initial idea was apparently to conceal miniature compasses inside the records. However, he rapidly discovered from Wooler that it was also possible to
conceal maps and currency in the records. Wooler pointed out to Hutton that when the Columbia and His Master’s Voice (HMV) record companies amalgamated in 1930, the two companies were using very different processes for record production. Essentially, HMV records were solid, whereas those produced by Columbia used a more economical method of Col Powder lamination (powder adhesives were used in the lamination process as an alternative to heat lamination). Hutton quickly realized the possibility of exploiting the lamination process since it allowed items to be hidden under the laminate in specially incorporated compartments. By adding extra layers it was possible to conceal up to four maps in each record or a combination of maps and currency. It is clear that Wooler did the pressing of these special records himself at weekends when the usual press workers were not around. Records were packed into boxes, each box containing five records.

  A gramophone record of Beethoven music conducted by Arturo Toscanini that contains secreted maps. Later on in the war MI9 also hid maps inside the record cover.

  Drawing, based on an indistinct manuscript sketch in the RAF Museum, which shows the layered construction of a gramophone record. Notice the labelled paper layers towards the bottom of the diagram, showing where maps and currency could be secreted. The same layers are repeated near the top of the diagram, enabling up to four items to be included in each record.