: JASPER THE MAGICIANMASKELYNE WHO FOILED HITLER’S ARMY he Second World War plummeted the world into chaos, so it’s really no surprise that tales T of paranormal activity, supernatural events, and unsolved mysteries continue to surface from a time of such trauma. Rumoured to be staunch believers in the occult, Hitler and the Nazi party have since been tied to stories of otherworldly pursuits. You’d be correct to think that the influence behind Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade isn’t purely fiction. While they didn’t confront a whip-wielding archaeologist, the Nazis did spend time searching for religious artefacts, including the Holy Grail. This search was deemed so important that Heinrich Himmler himself – leader of the SS – was tasked with finding the all-powerful cup. It has been documented that Himmler truly believed finding the Admiral Graf Spee at Spithead, 1937. Holy Grail would grant him supernatural power, allowing him to win the war for Germany. However, shoelaces embedded with wire strong and sharp the furthest Himmler ever got to completing his enough to saw through bars; packs of playing quest was to arrive at Montserrat Abbey near cards containing maps of the surrounding areas; board games with local currency; cricket bats Barcelona on the basis of an old Catalonian folk concealing weapons in the handle and blades song, only to leave empty-handed. shaped in a way that allowed them to be used as at Lake Mariout were switched on. From 8,000 The Allies were quick to act upon this noto- shovels. It has also been reported that a map was feet above in the dark, the Luftwaffe were unable rious tendency to superstition, with military hidden inside a gramophone record, concealed to tell the difference, and proceeded to attack the strategy often taking strange routes during so carefully that it’s unlikely the prisoners ever fake harbour. To give the illusion that they were World War Two. For instance, playing upon the would have found it if it hadn’t accidentally been engaged in battle, ground troops feigned fighting Nazis’ belief in astrology, the Brits employed broken. Thanks to The Magic Gang’s brilliant back with fake shells. Meanwhile, a team used an astrologer named Louis de Wohl to create ideas that would have had James Bond watering truck-loads of papier-mache bricks and painted false horoscopes in an effort to disrupt the at the mouth, the MI9 managed to sneak over bomb craters to create the illusion of a devastat- Nazis’ plans. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t 1,600 undercover gadgets into Nazi POW camps. ed harbour at the real Alexandria in anticipation work – in fact, it’s now believed Hitler’s But Jasper’s most notorious cases of trickery of reconnaissance aircraft the following morning. interest in astrology was purely propa- lie within North Africa, where he was recruited by It has been rumoured that this deception worked ganda – and the MI5 later admitted their the head of the deception department, Brigadier a total of nine times! . It was here that he helped devise embarrassment at hiring such a “dan- perhaps most notorious trick, was to hide the aforementioned gadgets, but Jasper knew gerous charlatan”. If the Brits were to the Suez Canal altogether. How does one hide a his illusions could be bigger. With British troops succeed in using the Nazis’ belief in 120-mile-long, well-mapped body of water? His setting up camp at various spots along the Suez the paranormal to defeat them, they convince his superiors that an illusionist might be of use to Canal, it was a perfect target for enemy attacks. It would perhaps have to use magic them on the battlefield, he used his skills to create a fake, was around this area that Jasper would create three themselves. but realistic, version of the Admiral Graf Spee floating on the mind-boggling tricks to deceive the Axis forces. Jasper Maskelyne was a Thames. This was no small task, as the German Panzerschiff His first was at the Alexandria Harbour. Just third-generation magician, the was not only a 186-meter juggernaut, but had also been a short boat ride away from the Suez Canal, this Jasper grandson of scuttled the year before. Jasper reportedly resurrected the Maskelyne. harbour was critical to the Allies. It was not only who invented the illusion of lev- battleship using balloons and mirrors. The illusion clearly a primary Royal Navy base, but also acted as itation, as well as the pay toilet impressed his superiors, as Jasper was promoted to Major the main British port for deploying reinforce- which led to the creation of the and given his own unit made up of carefully selected elec- ments. To protect the harbour, Jasper devised euphemism “spend a penny”. tricians, magicians, artists, carpenters, and criminals called a plan which involved moving the entire base With such notorious lineage to ‘The Magic Gang.’ With his new ragtag team in tow, Jasper as well as staging a full-scale, fake war zone to live up to, Jasper was deter- was tasked with using magic to trick the Axis forces. convince reconnaissance pilots that their target had been destroyed and thereby prevent future mined to add to his family Shortly before The Magic Gang was assembled, the British military established MI9. This special unit of intelligence attacks. A dummy harbour was set up at Lake legacy. When World War Two agents worked hard to provide aid for resistance fighters and Mariout, a body of water just one mile from broke out, he volunteered to free captured prisoners of war. Many of their missions Alexandria, separated only by a narrow strip of to join the Royal Engineers. involved smuggling key equipment into hostile environments, land. Using canvas ships and plywood buildings, Finding his training fright- including prison camps. This high level of trickery needed a Jasper and his team recreated Alexandria’s light fully dull, Jasper found keen eye and creative mind to oversee the inventions. Enter grid and lighthouse. On the night of the attack, himself spending more Jasper Maskelyne. Alexandria’s lights were switched off, and those time acting as a troop As stated in the Geneva Convention, prisoners were entertainer than aid- allowed to receive care packages from humanitarian groups – ing in the war effort. a rule the Allies keenly exploited. The Magic Gang was tasked In an attempt to with creating clever contraptions that looked like everyday items to get past the guards but contained vital tools or infor- Jasper Maskelyne and his Magic Troupe in , 1950. mation to help the prisoners survive and escape. Amongst some of these inventions were plan for this illusion was to give the Axis forces the ol’ razzle dazzle – quite literally. Since the Luftwaffe conducted their raids at night, Jasper believed that by using multiple huge, flashing lights would damage the Luftwaffe’s House of Commons, chances of hitting their praising the plan as target. The Magic Gang a “marvellous system reportedly built giant spotlights comprising of revolving tin of .” mirrors with spinning searchlights which, when turned on, would shine cones of light that stretched for nine miles, The Magic Gang Soldiers rush to battle at El Alamein, October 1942. disbanded shortly the idea being that as German bombers flew into the light, after this mission, and they would be too blinded to spot the canal. If sources are Jasper Maskelyne even- to be believed, the impact was incredible, not only saving tually retired in . the canal from devastation, but disorienting enemy pilots trickery, some are sceptical of his involvementAs a man who in the built his and causing them to crash. Second World War. The real details remarkableof his work havecareer been on blurred by secrecy, lost documents, exaggerated sto- As with all great magicians, Jasper was saving his illusion and grandiose best trick until last. The Nazis were becoming desper- ries, and lack of eyewitnesses, leading many to discredit ate by October 1942, with their diminishing supplies Jasper’s work. There is no photographic evidence of his and the British hot on their tails. The dream of con- battleship illusion; many believe the Alexandria harbour quering Egypt was slipping from their grasp. It was deception was someone else’s idea for which Jasper took the credit, if it had been possible in the first place; hiding all leading to the Battle of El Alamein. The Magic the Suez Canal is believed to be utter nonsense, with lit- Gang was once again employed in hope of deceiv- tle evidence to suggest the lights existed or that Jasper ing the Axis forces just enough to tip the scales was event there, with the canal instead protected by con- in the Allies’ favour. They were set the task for ventional defence methods; and despite the events at El tricking the Afrika Korps into believing an attack Alamein being true, Jasper has been removed from almost would be coming from the south, when it would all accounts, with camouflage expert Anthony Ayrton actually be coming from the north. Once again, getting the credit. Reports about Jasper’s final days also Jasper and his crew set out to create a large- contradict. Some believe he was happily living in Kenya, a scale illusion. In the north, the Magic Gang respected member of his community who taught driving disguised 1,000 tanks by making them look and magic lessons, while others believe he died a bitter like trucks, while in the south, they created drunk. The real history of Britain’s magician who aided in an army of 2,000 inflatable dummy tanks. the war effort will never truly be known, but what is cer- During this time, they also created a tain is that Jasper Maskelyne was a man who was every bit phantom war zone. Radio chatter played as elusive as his career. constantly with noise of construction echoing in the background, supply dumps were made, fake buildings and railway lines were manufactured. The true genius, however, lay in an ever-incomplete water pipeline, which convinced General Erwin Rommel that the Allies were not prepared for battle, and left completely flab- bergasted when the Allies began their invasion on October 23 battle was such a success that Churchill commended it in the rd. The

The Suez Canal, 1934.