When Britain entered the Second World War in September 1939, military planners understood that thousands of Allied servicemen would inevitably fall into enemy hands. Traditionally, prisoners of war were expected simply to endure captivity until the conflict ended. But this time, the British military establishment began to develop a very different philosophy.
To coordinate rescue and escape efforts, Britain established MI9, a secret department dedicated to helping Allied servicemen evade capture and escape from occupied Europe. At its head was the determined Norman Crockatt, a brigadier who transformed escape from a private ambition into an official duty.
Highly detailed map printed on silk were supplied to Allied PoW to help them escape. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Crockatt believed that every captured Allied soldier had not only the right but the obligation to attempt escape. Escaping prisoners forced the enemy to divert guards, resources, and manpower that could otherwise be used on the battlefield. Even failed escape attempts created disruption and uncertainty within German prison camps.
To help Allied soldiers stranded behind enemy lines to escape and return home, MI9 created escape lines through occupied Europe, trained servicemen in evasion techniques, and supplied prisoners with secret escape aids. These included maps, tools, disguises, forged papers, compasses, and money. The man who devised these ingenious tools was Christopher Hutton.
Christopher Clayton Hutton was born in Birmingham in 1893. Before the war, he lived a remarkably varied life. He was briefly a pilot during World War 1. Then he worked as a journalist, and later in the film industry.
Christopher Hutton
During WWII, Hutton enlisted in the British Army before being transferred with four others to help Norman Crockatt set up a new section in the secret service department MI9. Their tasks included training fighting men in how to evade capture or escape if they found themselves in enemy-held territory. To these duties were eventually added the responsibilities of supporting escape and evasion lines and questioning returned prisoners after their successful escape. Hutton's role was to provide evasion and escape devices.
One of his earliest breakthroughs involved maps. Ordinary paper maps rustled loudly, tore easily, and became useless when wet. Hutton revived an old idea by printing maps on silk, and later on rayon fabric. These maps could be folded into tiny spaces, hidden inside clothing, sewn into linings, or concealed in boots without attracting attention. They were durable enough to survive repeated handling and exposure to rain.
Hutton devised many other concealed tools. Tiny hacksaw blades were hidden inside boot heels. Compasses were disguised as uniform buttons or cap badges. Magnetized razor blades also functioned as compasses when suspended by a thread or floated on water. Some shaving brushes concealed wire cutters. Even pencils could contain a magnetized rod hidden beneath the lead.
Compasses hidden inside buttons. Credit: War Relics Forum
Among his cleverest inventions were escape playing cards. Produced in collaboration with the American company United States Playing Card Company, these special cards appeared ordinary at first glance. But when soaked in water, layers peeled apart to reveal hidden maps concealed within. Prisoners could gradually separate and reassemble the pieces into a navigational chart.
Another innovation involved hidden messages embedded in postcards and letters using invisible ink or coded language. MI9 also distributed compasses concealed in collar studs and tiny radio components smuggled piece by piece into camps so prisoners could secretly listen to Allied broadcasts.
These escape aids were delivered to the prisoners hidden inside packages of food and clothing that PoW officers and troops were allowed to receive from families and charitable organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. The MI9 avoided using Red Cross packages for fear of reprisals if the hidden items were discovered. Instead, it used a variety of charity organizations and support groups, some set up specifically for the purpose. Escape kits were hidden inside seemingly innocent items sent to prisoners as relief packages. Monopoly sets became one of the most famous examples.
Working with the British manufacturer Waddingtons, MI9 produced special versions of the board game for PoW. Hidden inside the game boards were silk maps, miniature compasses, metal files, and real currency for use after escape. Certain coloured dots printed on the board secretly identified which game contained escape materials and for which region the maps were intended.
Miniature compasses hidden inside walnuts. Credit: Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen gGmbH, Schloss Colditz
Hutton also created escape packs containing rations and essential supplies. The first versions incorporated concentrated food, two paper maps, a tiny saw, a compass, and amphetamine tablets. For several days, he packed and unpacked the cigarette tins until he found the most efficient way of packing the necessary contents. Later packages also contained water purifying tablets.
An escape from a prison camp wouldn’t be successful without a proper uniform. Hutton designed convertible uniforms for RAF that might be altered to resemble those of the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht. These were delivered along with relief packages as military personnel were entitled to receive new uniforms in the POW camps. Hutton would also send blankets with hidden sewing pattern markings that could be cut and sewed into new disguises.
The escape aids were only part of the larger system. MI9 carefully studied the routines and psychology of German guards. Prisoners were encouraged to appear obedient while secretly gathering intelligence, forging documents, digging tunnels, or preparing disguises. Hutton’s gadgets supported these elaborate escape operations.
Some of the most famous wartime escapes benefited from MI9 equipment. During the preparations for the legendary “Great Escape” from Stalag Luft III in 1944, prisoners relied on concealed maps, compasses, and forged papers supplied through secret channels developed by MI9. Although many escapees were later recaptured, the operation demonstrated the extraordinary scale and sophistication of Allied escape efforts.
Counterfeit German uniforms confiscated from Allied PoW. Credit: Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen gGmbH, Schloss Colditz
By the end of the war, thousands of Allied servicemen had successfully escaped or evaded capture, including some daring escapes from Colditz Castle, with assistance from MI9. Not all owed their freedom directly to Hutton’s inventions, but many depended upon the tools and systems he helped create.
After the war, Christopher Hutton sought to tell the extraordinary story of MI9 and the ingenious escape devices developed for Allied prisoners of war. The result was his memoir, Official Secret, published in 1960.
Before the book could be published, Hutton faced strong opposition from British authorities. The government remained uncomfortable with former intelligence personnel revealing wartime secrets, even fifteen years after the conflict had ended. Many of MI9’s methods had remained classified throughout the war, and officials feared that publishing details about hidden gadgets, forged documents, and covert communication techniques might expose methods that could still prove useful in future conflicts.
Eventually, after an eight year long legal battle, Hutton was allowed to publish his autobiography, Official Secret, in 1960. The last three chapters describe his fight to publish the book.
After the publication of Official Secret, Hutton retired to Ashburton, Devon, on the eastern side of Dartmoor, where he died in 1965.
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