Author Topic: Screen Printing in WWII ? POW maps  (Read 723 times)

Offline numbercruncher

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Screen Printing in WWII ? POW maps
« on: January 30, 2019, 12:54:18 PM »
An associate of mine (in real estate and an avid historian)) sent this  to me - while this story may have little to do with screen printing, he seemed to think it did ....

Escape from WWII POW Camps

in 1940, an increasing number of British and Canadian 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, Italy, and France or wherever Allied POW camps were located. 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 honored in a public ceremony.   
Michael Jirasek
Independent Consultant
708-227-5084
jirs23m@hotmail.com


Offline Prince Art

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Re: Screen Printing in WWII ? POW maps
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2019, 12:01:36 PM »
Interesting story! Thanks for passing it along!
Nice guys laugh last.

Offline T Shirt Farmer

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Re: Screen Printing in WWII ? POW maps
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2019, 12:55:22 PM »
Amazing story indeed thanks for sharing.
Robert
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Your Source for Decorated Apparel.

Offline papinc

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Re: Screen Printing in WWII ? POW maps
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2019, 05:37:52 PM »
Great story! Thanks for sharing.  That's the kind of story you'd see on 'Mysteries at the Museum' TV show.

Offline rmonks

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Re: Screen Printing in WWII ? POW maps
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2019, 03:41:19 PM »
Awesome story. I like the way they kept this quiet for so many years. Thanks

Offline blue moon

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Re: Screen Printing in WWII ? POW maps
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2019, 01:44:13 PM »
Very cool!
Yes, we've won our share of awards, and yes, I've tested stuff and read the scientific papers, but ultimately take everything I say with more than just a grain of salt! So if you are looking for trouble, just do as I say or even better, do something I said years ago!