Starting? in 1941, an increasing number of ? British Airmen found themselves as? the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, ? and the Crown was casting about? for ways and means to facilitate their ? escape... ? ?
Paper maps had some real drawbacks -- they make a lot of? noise ? when you open? and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet,? they ? turn into? mush. ? ?
Someone in MI-5 (similar to America's OSS) got the ? idea of printing escape? maps on silk. It's durable, can be scrunched-up into ? tiny wads, and unfolded? as many times as needed, and makes no noise ? whatsoever. ? ?
At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great ? Britain that had? perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was ? John Waddington,? Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only ? too happy to do? its bit for the war effort. ? ?
By pure coincidence, ? Waddington was also the U.K. Licensee for the popular? American board game, ? Monopoly. As it happened, 'games and pastimes' was? a? category of item ?qualified for insertion into 'CARE packages',? dispatched by? the International ? Red Cross to prisoners of war. ? ?
Under the strictest of secrecy, in a ? securely guarded and inaccessible old? workshop on the grounds of ? Waddington’s, a group of sworn-to-secrecy? employees began mass-producing ? escape maps, keyed to each region of Germany? or Italy where Allied POW camps ? were regional system). When processed, these? maps could be folded into such ? tiny dots that they would actually fit inside? a Monopoly playing piece. ? ? ?
As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at? Waddington’s also ? managed? to add: ? ? 1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic ? compass ? 2. A? two-part metal? file that could ? easily be screwed together ? 3.? Useful amounts of ? genuine? high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency,? hidden within ? the? piles of Monopoly money! ? ?
British and American air crews were ? advised, before taking off on their? first mission, how to identify a 'rigged' ? Monopoly set -- by means of a tiny? red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like ? an ordinary printing glitch,? located in the corner of the Free Parking ? square. ? ? Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully? escaped, an ? estimated? one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly? sets. ? ? ?
Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since? the ? British? Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in? still ? another,? future war. ? The story wasn't declassified until 2007, when the ? surviving craftsmen from? Waddington’s, as well as the firm itself, were ? finally honored in a public? ceremony. ? It's always nice when you can play ? that 'Get Out of Jail' Free' card! ? ?
Many of you are too young to have any ? personal connection to WWII ? (Dec.? '41 to Aug. '45), and a lot of you ? probably never heard of Monopoly either,? but this? is still interesting.
Paper maps had some real drawbacks -- they make a lot of? noise ? when you open? and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet,? they ? turn into? mush. ? ?
Someone in MI-5 (similar to America's OSS) got the ? idea of printing escape? maps on silk. It's durable, can be scrunched-up into ? tiny wads, and unfolded? as many times as needed, and makes no noise ? whatsoever. ? ?
At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great ? Britain that had? perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was ? John Waddington,? Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only ? too happy to do? its bit for the war effort. ? ?
By pure coincidence, ? Waddington was also the U.K. Licensee for the popular? American board game, ? Monopoly. As it happened, 'games and pastimes' was? a? category of item ?qualified for insertion into 'CARE packages',? dispatched by? the International ? Red Cross to prisoners of war. ? ?
Under the strictest of secrecy, in a ? securely guarded and inaccessible old? workshop on the grounds of ? Waddington’s, a group of sworn-to-secrecy? employees began mass-producing ? escape maps, keyed to each region of Germany? or Italy where Allied POW camps ? were regional system). When processed, these? maps could be folded into such ? tiny dots that they would actually fit inside? a Monopoly playing piece. ? ? ?
As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at? Waddington’s also ? managed? to add: ? ? 1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic ? compass ? 2. A? two-part metal? file that could ? easily be screwed together ? 3.? Useful amounts of ? genuine? high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency,? hidden within ? the? piles of Monopoly money! ? ?
British and American air crews were ? advised, before taking off on their? first mission, how to identify a 'rigged' ? Monopoly set -- by means of a tiny? red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like ? an ordinary printing glitch,? located in the corner of the Free Parking ? square. ? ? Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully? escaped, an ? estimated? one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly? sets. ? ? ?
Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since? the ? British? Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in? still ? another,? future war. ? The story wasn't declassified until 2007, when the ? surviving craftsmen from? Waddington’s, as well as the firm itself, were ? finally honored in a public? ceremony. ? It's always nice when you can play ? that 'Get Out of Jail' Free' card! ? ?
Many of you are too young to have any ? personal connection to WWII ? (Dec.? '41 to Aug. '45), and a lot of you ? probably never heard of Monopoly either,? but this? is still interesting.
