Another escape compass. This is the 'round card' type compass - left (as opposed to the more common 'square card' type - right)
Another escape compass. This is the 'round card' type compass - left (as opposed to the more common 'square card' type - right)
Another compass (The collection has been a little slow of late, it appears everybody else wants what I want!)
I thought I'd try and post some better images of the unissued and unfinished Sheet E of the 43 series. The images show the excess ink on the untrimmed area from the screen printing process and the blank side where Sheet F should be. I have also shown it alongside Sheet C (which it overlaps), it is interesting to note that despite them being the same scale (1:1,000,000) Sheet E is slightly bigger than Sheet C. Also note that Sheet C carries more village/town names although less features (i.e. rivers/streams and roads) than Sheet E
This is another variation of the T1 and T3 map. They appear to be identical prints (there is no change in international boundaries), however, this one has T1 and T3 printed in red in each corner and they have been moved from the position where the black T1 and T3 would have been printed.
The black T1 and T3 is slightly larger than the red one.
Another compass. I am unsure as to the origins of this one. It is threaded and obviously the top off of something. There were a number of pre-war and wartime commercially made survival kits which had flasks, etc with compasses inset, however, this one is only 12mm in diameter.
A normal pack of cards?
...bought a couple of years ago at a car boot sale. I picked them up because I saw that they were 'War-time' and paid about £1 put them away and forgot about them. I got them out today whilst looking for some other items and tried my best Las Vegas shuffle and dropped them on the floor! I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had been 'butchered' with holes cut into five of the cards! They have clearly been cut by hand and are loose (i.e. have not been stuck together), unfortunately because I dropped the pack I don't know whether they were together or seperate in the pack. The 'hole' they create is not very deep so I don't know what was meant to be hidden in there, although it is about passport photo sized. A tissue map would fit in (I did fold it up but it wouldn't stay flat to be photographed). Interestingly it is only the Aces and Joker (the other Joker is missing) that have been cut - maybe so that card games could still be played with them?
Of course I could be totally wrong and it could be some school boys magic trick (any magicians out there?)
I have managed to aquire a reproduced black and white printed version of 'Per Ardua Libertas' as shown on page 3 of this thread (Originals are very rare). The book shows examples of MI9's work from escape compasses hidden in pipes to maps hidden in records, cameras hidden in cigarette lighters to reproduced full German uniforms!
Shown are some examples of my maps and compasses alongside images from the book - unfortunately I have a very long way to go to get anywhere near what is shown in the book!
An early single sided black and white 'Air Ministry' marked silk map. It is marked 9.U
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