This book describes the design, manufacture, covert shipment and use of the many ingenious evasion and escape devices provided to Allied troops during WWII. Following the fall of mainland Europe, hostile Allied actions against land-based Axis forces were generally limited to air attacks. However, as the numbers of those attacks increased, the number of aircraft and crews failing to return grew alarmingly: something needed to be done to provide these air crews with aids to enable them to evade to safe territory or escape captivity, or losses of irreplaceable crews would become critical. Britain’s MI-9 and U.S. MIS-X organizations were formed solely to support evaders and prisoners of war in occupied territories. They developed a wide variety of evasion and escape devices that were given to Allied Forces prior to operations in hostile territory or delivered clandestinely to POWs. It worked: the aids facilitated the return of thousands of men to their units.
Phil Froom served nine years in the British Army working globally in Signals Intelligence, before taking up a role in the defence industry. A medal and militaria collector and military historian, Phil lives in England, is married, and has two children.
Featured in Flypast magazine, March 2016 - British army veteran and author Phil Froom takes a close look at these remarkable inventions and the ways in which they helped downed airmen make it home.
Featured in 'The Globe and Laurel' - the Royal Marines magazine - April 2016.
"What a book! Packed full of colour illustrations, maps and photos, it portrays every conceivable type of escape equipment, explaining who used them, how, why, when and where. It also explains their manufacture in top-secret locations together with how the cunning gadgets fooled the enemy. A huge volume, it deserves a place on the shelf of all historians." - This England, Autumn 2016
The first page I opened of this beautifully produced book featured the Caterpillar Club. As my father in law was a member, having bailed out of his burning plane over Denmark, I was immediately hooked. With over 700 unique images of immensely rare devices, this is a fascinating book which covers the evolution, formation and role of the secret wartime organisation known as MI9 and its US mirror organisation MIS-X. These two organisations were responsible for the invention, production and distribution of a huge variety of ingenious evasion and escape devices issued to allied air crew and Special Operations personnel to enable them to evade capture after being forced down, or cut off behind enemy lines in occupied Europe, hopefully to evade and safely return to their Squadrons and Regiments to continue the struggle against Axis powers. The escape items featured include pens, pencils, razors, shaving brushes, tooth brushes, combs, cigarette lighters, books, mirrors, games, sporting goods, dart boards and numerous other everyday items, all constructed with escape devices concealed inside. - Antiques Diary May 2016
"A lavishly illustrated, glossy and impressive publication which proved to be a thoroughly good read." - Armourer, issue 133 2016
The Mail Online featured an article: "Revealed: The real-life James Bond gadgets invented by MI9 spies in WWII including compasses in dice and daggers in pens that were smuggled into PoW camps inside board games" which includes several illustrations of the intriguing gadgets in this book - take a look at the link below!
