University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2014 MI9's escape and evasion mapping programme 1939-1945 BOND, Barbara A. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/3553 Plymouth University All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. MI9’s ESCAPE AND EVASION MAPPING PROGRAMME 1939 – 1945 B.A.BOND DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2014 Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent. 1 2 MI9’s ESCAPE AND EVASION MAPPING PROGRAMME 1939 – 1945 by BARBARA ANN BOND A thesis submitted to Plymouth University in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Humanities and Performing Arts Faculty of Arts and Humanities October 2014 3 4 Barbara Ann Bond MI9’s escape and evasion mapping programme 1939 – 1945. Abstract This thesis examines the programme of mapping produced on silk, and other fabric, by MI9 to facilitate the escape and evasion of British military personnel during World War II. It considers the creation of MI9 in December 1939, the rationale for the new military intelligence branch and the context of the history of military mapping on silk. The map production programme is described, together with its progress and the challenges faced. The various groups of maps are identified and described, together with the source maps on which they were based. This description is developed in nine appendices produced as an integral part of the research to provide a comprehensive carto-bibliography of the 234 individual maps which have been identified. Location details of extant copies in British map collections are also provided. The ingenious methods of smuggling the maps into the camps, with other escape aids, in apparently innocuous leisure items are described. The maps were then copied and reproduced to support the escapes. Coded correspondence with the camps is discussed, and a successful deciphering of some of that correspondence is provided. The implications for the escape and evasion programme were considerable, but so too were the implications of the passage of intelligence from the camps to aid the war effort, a factor apparently largely overlooked in previous studies of the wartime role of the intelligence branches. Three case studies are provided to demonstrate the role and importance of the contribution made by the maps to the escape and evasion programme. The conclusion assesses the significance of this little known episode in British historical cartography of the twentieth century which essentially provides the latest chapter in the story of military mapping on silk, and other fabric, through the ages. 5 6 Table of Contents List of Illustrations .............................................................................................. 8 List of Figures and Appendices ........................................................................... 9 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ 11 Author’s Declaration ....................................................................................... 12 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................... 32 Historical Background and the Creation of MI9 Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................................... 55 The map production programme and the compilation of a carto-bibliography Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................................... 90 Escape Aids and Communication with the Camps Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................... 121 Coded Correspondence Chapter 5 ....................................................................................................................... 152 A case study approach: Airey Neave and the Schaffhausen Salient Chapter 6 ....................................................................................................................... 175 Case studies: the Baltic ports and maps produced in the camps Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 192 Appendices .................................................................................................................... 215 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 269 7 List of Illustrations Illustration I: Ordnance Survey 1 inch map of the Lake District (Keswick)………42 Illustration II: part of sheet C………………………………………………………67 Illustration III: sheet A4 [Danzig]………………………………………………….67 Illustration IV: cover diagram of GSGS 3982 [Fabric]…………………………….71 Illustration V: GSGS 3982 [Fabric] 1:500,000 part of sheet L32/2 Konstanz…….72 Illustration VI: GSGS 4090 [Fabric] 1:100,000 sheet F31 West…………………..75 Illustration VII: [Series 43] 1:1,000,000 sheet 43B showing part of the large scale inset at 1:300,000 of the German-Swiss border……………………………………77 Illustration VIII: games box and playing cards……………………………………97 Illustration IX: artwork of a chess set………………………………………………99 Illustration X: drawing to show layered construction of a gramophone record……101 Illustration XI: map showing location of prisoner of war camps…………………..103 Illustration XII: purse and folded maps……………………………………………108 Illustration XIII: headed notepaper of one of MI9’s cover organisations………….112 Illustration XIV: receipt showing Oflag IVC despatch stamp……………………..113 Illustration XV: sheet Y……………………………………………………………156 Illustration XVI: sheet A1 Schaffhausen Salient (West)…………………………...157 Illustration XVII: Neave’s successful escape route………………………………..164 Illustration XVIII: Pesant’s sketch map…………………………………………….170 Illustration XIX: manuscript map of route from Biberach to the Swiss frontier……188 Illustration XX: manuscript escape map (left)………………………………………190 Illustration XXI: enhanced image of escape map (right)……………………………190 Illustration XXII: part of sheet A……………………………………………………190 8 List of figures Figure 1 coded letter...................................................................................................... 142 Figure 2 coded letter with hidden message highlighted ................................................ 143 List of appendices Introduction to appendices .............................................................................. 216 Introduction to Appendix 1 ............................................................................. 217 Appendix 1 ...................................................................................................... 219 Introduction to Appendix 2 ............................................................................. 233 Appendix 2 ...................................................................................................... 234 Introduction to Appendix 3 ............................................................................. 235 Appendix 3 ...................................................................................................... 237 Introduction to Appendix 4 ............................................................................ 245 Appendix 4 ...................................................................................................... 247 Introduction to Appendix 5 ............................................................................. 249 Appendix 5 ...................................................................................................... 251 Introduction to Appendix 6 ............................................................................. 253 Appendix 6 ...................................................................................................... 255 Introduction to Appendix 7 ............................................................................. 257 Appendix 7 ...................................................................................................... 259 Introduction to Appendix 8 ............................................................................. 261 Appendix 8 ...................................................................................................... 263 Introduction to Appendix 9 ............................................................................. 266 Appendix 9 ...................................................................................................... 267 9 10 Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people for the realisation of this long held ambition. To Professor Wendy Purcell, Vice-Chancellor of this inspirational University, for her belief and confidence; to Associate Professor Harry Bennett,