Monopoly Sets for WWII POWs: More Information
I already blogged about this; there’s more information in this new article:
Included in the items the German army allowed humanitarian groups to distribute in care packages to imprisoned soldiers, the game was too innocent to raise suspicion. But it was the ideal size for a top-secret escape kit that could help spring British POWs from German war camps.
The British secret service conspired with the U.K. manufacturer to stuff a compass, small metal tools, such as files, and, most importantly, a map, into cut-out compartments in the Monopoly board itself.
Petréa Mitchell • September 23, 2009 2:26 PM
I remember a documentary on Colditz a few years ago which said that a way was found to hide maps inside vinyl records. The prisoners discovered this by accident one day when someone dropped the right record and it broke open. They quickly went and smashed the rest of their small record library to see if there were any other goodies, but sadly that had been the only one.