M.I.9. The Official History of the secret Escape and Evasion Organisation

Every British serviceman, whether soldier, sailor or airman, had a duty to evade capture if stranded behind enemy lines, or to escape if captured. As there were potentially thousands of men cut off or captured during the Second World War, a branch of military intelligence, M.I.9, was set up in 1939 to instruct soldiers in evasion and escape techniques. Thanks to the success of M.I.9 and the determination and ingenuity of individuals and groups, some 35,000 Allied military personnel were able to escape from POW camps or evade capture and make their way to Allied or neutral countries. How this top-secret unit was set up and organised and how it achieved its great successes was documented by M.I.9 officers towards the end of the war - and is published here for the first time. The history includes details of the lectures given to troops on how to avoid capture when on the run in enemy-occupied territory (more than 2,000 lectures were given to over half a million men) and of the secret equipment issued to them for escape, such as the famous silk maps and small but comprehensive escape kits. When soldiers escaped and returned to Britain, they were interrogated by specially selected M.I.9 officers and their stories were used to show the troops how they too could evade capture. This resulted in some of the most fascinating and often hilarious stories from the Second World War. For example, the story of a man who had to cross a canal bridge in Holland with a German sentry on the other side. While he was thinking about how he could cope with the situation, a Dutch woman approached with a baby in a pram. The man explained that he was British, whereupon the woman handed him the pram and put her arm through his. They crossed the bridge together and passed the guard post. On another occasion, a refugee at a railway station attracted the attention of a German officer. A group of French women arrived and the man rushed to the group, hugged one of the women and asked her to speak French to him. They did so and pretended he was their friend, whereupon the officer turned away. Such stories helped the soldiers understand how to forge documents, how to travel undetected through enemy-occupied countries, what disguises could be used to avoid attracting the enemy's attention, and they also included lists of locals who were willing to help refugees - including Pope Pius XII, who actually had a private meeting with one of the refugees in the Vatican! The troops were also instructed on how to write coded messages to Britain from the POW camps. All this is revealed in this utterly fascinating book.