Britain's Secret Treasure Map Playing Cards
MI9 hid silk escape maps inside playing cards sent to POW camps, allowing captured airmen to plan escape routes.
Strange, surprising, and little-known stories from civilian life during wartime.
6 factsMI9 hid silk escape maps inside playing cards sent to POW camps, allowing captured airmen to plan escape routes.
The British government spread propaganda that carrots gave RAF pilots night vision to hide the existence of radar—and the myth persists to this day.
Despite severe food restrictions, the British population during WW2 was actually healthier than before or after, with reduced infant mortality and improved nutrition.
The famous propaganda slogan was based on real incidents where careless talk in American bars and restaurants resulted in U-boats targeting specific convoys.
Britain launched nearly 100,000 cheap hydrogen balloons carrying incendiary devices and trailing wires toward Germany, causing blackouts and forest fires.
Wartime secrecy around degaussing ships—a real anti-mine technique—spawned one of the most persistent conspiracy theories about invisibility and teleportation.