December 7, 2024: The Great Game Escape

World War II history has always fascinated me, as have tales of spycraft and subterfuge. That's why it's been so cool to learn how Monopoly was essential to the Allied war effort.

 

Yes, that Monopoly. It turns out that a game about acquiring property and getting rich was a great way to help soldiers escape from POW camps in Europe. The story starts with Christopher Clay Hutton, a man hired by the British Secret Service in 1939 and tasked with inventing devices that could help British soldiers escape from their German captors. While he came up with many ingenious devices, he had to innovate constantly. Things like false shoe heels and cloth maps sewed into uniforms were eventually discovered, but Hutton would soon find an unlikely means for transporting escape kits to soldiers.

 

It turns out that the Germans allowed charities to send boardgames to POWs, assuming that they would keep them distracted, docile, and less likely to ruminate on escape plans. Hutton turned to the British boardgame company Waddington's and asked them to put together special versions of Monopoly to send to prisoners. These versions would feature essentials like silk maps (they were quieter and more resilient than paper), knives and files, miniature compasses, rope, and real money hidden in the gameboards themselves. Incredibly, these "escape boards" were designed to be the exact weight as standard Monopoly sets so as to avoid suspicion. According to one website, up to a third of all successful escapees in the European theatre were aided by these British-made boards. (You can watch this video to learn more.)

 

Though World War II is well behind us, learning the history of these escape sets makes me wonder if similar technology is being used today, or if it was used during the Cold War. After all, no one suspects a deck of cards or a simple boardgame to be anything more . . . right?

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