World War 2 Monopoly

I hope you guys find this interesting......

Regards Lee F

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.. Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate
map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of 'safe houses'
where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.

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 print- ing 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 stem).
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 20 amounts of genuine high -denomination German, Italian, and French currency, =C 2 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 de-classified
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!

I realize most of you are (probably) too young to have any personal
connection to WWII (Dec. '41
to Aug. '45), but this is still interesting, isn't it?

 

Well that is suprising.

 

Wow! Fascinating and ingenious, it's amazing what people came up with back in WWII.

 

Thank you.
I'm listening to Anne Frank's Diary on audio book and she mentions playing Monopoly in the annex. I didn't realise the game was so old.

 

Very interesting that the story wasn't declassified until 2007.

Cheers
Paul

 

cool...
i'm gonna go play monopoly now!

 

You will never look at this game in the same way again.

Just been sent this. Anyone know any more about it?

Ant



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...

Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of 'safe houses' where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.


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 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 honoured in a public ceremony.

It's always nice when you can play that 'Get Out of Jail' Free' card!

 

Here's a bit more

 

Was also discussed here in February last year.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/17962-world-war-11-monopoly.html

 

And a bit more about the role Waddington's played during WW2, and what the POW's did to copy the maps in the camps

Prisoner of war map, 1944

 

I never knew that. Dunno how I missed the two previous threads.

Cheers for the heads up.

How small must them maps have been in order to fit inside a monopoly playing piece?
You'd need a magnifying glass to read them???

 

Thanks Guys

Going to read up on it.

 

You really do have to marvel at the ingenuity of these guys and what they thought up.

 

Was there a "Shingle Street" on the board?

In all seriousness - Airey Neave covers some stuff on evasion aids in "Saturday at MI9". They were both successful....and on occasion notably UNsuccessful! :mellow:

Two major failures come to mind...

One was hiding maps etc. INSIDE gramaphone records. He recounts the anecdote of one camp where rumours of this had preceeded the delivery of a the first new gramaphone records in over a year...and on their arrival there was an orgy of destruction as every one in the batch was broken up to see what was inside them....

The culture-starved POWS were distraught to discover they were - just gramaphone records!

The second incident was a prolonged period of the Germans only allowing the CONTENTS of Red Cross parcels to be given put....after finding a batch of not-too-well concealed documents in the box cardboard! For some months the contents were doled out...all lumped together, piles of jam scooped from tins lumped beside piles of tea and coffee emptied from packets, etc...:p

IIRC he commented that the ICRC "Red Cross Parcels" Scheme was COMPLETELY compromised by British Military Intelligence!

 

Monopoly & POWs
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...
Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of 'safe houses' where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.
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 honoured in a public ceremony.


Unknown via e-mail

 

A few errors in that write up. It was MI9 sending escape aids to POW camps. Maps, money and forged documents were concealed in various items including inside playing cards, chess boards, gramaphone records, wooden calendars, amongst other items like the Monopoly set.

All this was known long before 2007. Also these items were specifically not smuggled in Red Cross parcels but through aid packages sent by other organisations. MI9 did not want to compromise the Red Cross with these smuggling operations as they knew many of the items would be discovered by the Germans.

Other interesting MI9 toys included miniture compasses concealed inside the brass buttons on RAF tunics and specially designed escape boots. The boots could be cut down to resemble a regular pair of walking shoes, the top part could be converted into a nice little waistcoat. The shoes also had a false heel to hide a compass and there was a flexible hacksaw blade inside the laces.

Lee

 

Not wishing to burst your bubble by any means, but we've talked of Monopoly before

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/17962-world-war-11-monopoly.html

(Merged) ~A

 

Ahhhh but do you know about Cumberland Pencils?