The Spy Toolkit: Extraordinary inventions from World War II

By The National Archives and Stephen Twigge

A revealing, sometimes sinister and often hilarious look at the gadgets and devices devised to help spies in their profession.

Spies claim that theirs is the second oldest profession. Secret agents across time have had the same key tasks: looking and listening, getting the information they need and smuggling it back home. Over the course of human history, some amazingly complex and imaginative tools have been created to help those working under the cloak of supreme secrecy.

During the Second World War, British undercover agents were the heroes behind the scenes, playing a dangerous and sometimes deadly game – risking all to gather intelligence about their enemies. What did these agents have in their toolkits? What ingenious spy gadgets did they have up their sleeves? What devious tricks did they deploy to avoid detection?

From the ingenious to the amusing, this highly visual book delves into espionage files that were long held top secret, revealing spycraft in action.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: May 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781472831491

Book preview

CONTENTS

Introduction

The Organization

The Agent

Training

Sabotage

Devices and Gadgets

Disguise

Deception

Touching Base

The Enemy

About this Book

The Spy Toolkit

Secret Agents

Sabotage: Explosive Devices

Booby Traps

Incendiary Devices

Disguise and Deception

Touching Base

INTRODUCTION

The image of the secret agent operating behind enemy lines during the Second World War has been etched into popular consciousness. Films such as Now It Can Be Told (aka School for Danger) (1947); Odette (1950); Ill Met by Moonlight (aka Night Ambush) (1957) and Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) have helped to foster the vision of the heroic agent working alongside partisans and resistance fighters to liberate Europe from Nazi domination. The reality was more prosaic. Agents often worked alone and were required to adopt a false identity that concealed their true intentions. To maintain their cover, agents were supplied with specialist equipment and ingenious devices that allowed them to conduct operations while remaining in the shadows. This book provides a pictorial guide to these gadgets and associated spy paraphernalia employed by agents on both sides during the Second World War.

THE ORGANIZATION

Following the fall of France in June 1940 and the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, Britain stood alone in the war against Hitler’s Germany. In order to take the fight to the enemy, the prime minister, Winston Churchill, created a small band of irregular forces trained to operate behind enemy lines. That new organization was the Special Operations Executive (SOE), sometimes known as the ‘Baker Street Irregulars’ after the location of its London headquarters. The directive given to SOE was simple: ‘set Europe ablaze’. In July 1940, following approval by the War Cabinet, the new agency began to recruit its first agents. SOE was formed by a merger of three separate organizations. The first of these was Section D of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), which had been established in the late 1930s to undertake sabotage operations and paramilitary activities. The second was Military Intelligence Research (MIR), a section of the War Office dealing with guerrilla warfare. The third was Electra House, a propaganda department within the Foreign Office. The structure of SOE was divided into three branches reflecting its origins: SO1 (propaganda); SO2 (active operations and agent running); and SO3 (planning). In August 1941, after a dispute with the Ministry of Information, its propaganda arm was transferred to the newly created Political Warfare Executive, under the control of the Foreign Office. This allowed SOE to concentrate fully on running agents and conducting sabotage operations overseas. The principal focus of SOE’s operations was on occupied Europe, but it also operated with varying degrees of success in North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East. SOE was disbanded in 1946 after the end of the war, its work complete.

THE AGENT

To undertake sabotage and subversion, SOE required a steady stream

Reviews for The Spy Toolkit

[libstaff2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A brief introduction to WWII era spies, their craft, and ware. The work includes numerous photos, is well-organized, and is appropriate for readers of all ages. A good place to start for anyone interested in spies and history, the first quarter of the book is informative text while the rest is a collection of photos. The pictures are clearer on the epub version.Net Galley Feedback