Spies, Lies and Deception At The Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum has a fantastic new exhibition called Spies, Lies and Deception, on until the 14th April 2024.

It is totally free and is all about secret agents, derring-do and intrigue over the last century.

With over 150 items, it is one of the biggest exhibitions the museum has ever done, it has been years in the making and is totally free to visit. 

I went along to the launch event last Thursday, here are some of my highlights!

The Gadgets

There is a room at the start of the exhibition with various gadgets used by spies over the years. What better way to start an exhibition.

Below is what looks like a lipstick, but all is not what it seems…

It is in fact a gadget given to female KGB agents during the Cold War. One twist of the lipstick activates a tiny hidden camera inside, taking a photo through a hole in base.

This box of matches has one match that can write secret messages. 

This is a suitcase used by Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent Roger Flouriot in 1944.

The Special Operations Executive was a highly secretive branch during World War Two, nicknamed ‘Churchill’s Secret Army’, that went behind enemy lines, worked with resistance movements and carried out sabotage missions. I have written a blog post on another site relevant to the SOE here. 

This is a hairbrush with a hidden compartment to conceal small items such as a roll of film.

Manipulating the Masses

I also really enjoyed a section on how the secret department known as the PWE (Political Warfare Executive) would produce and disseminate ‘black propaganda’ during World War Two appearing to come from the country it was targeting.

For example, fake ration cards were dropped by the RAF across the country to cause chaos and confusion. Another was a medical report that stated German wartime wholegrain bread was hazardous to health.

This is a poster entitled ‘Ten Rules For Safe Work’, that looks like a real poster but the red text encourages workers to work slowly and carry out other acts of passive resistance. It was aimed at socialist workers in Germany. 

Deception tactics

I found all the sections on the ingenious methods of deception used in the World Wars fascinating. 

This is a dummy parachutist.

Known as ‘Ruperts’, these little fellas were dropped behind enemy lines the night before D-Day along with a few special forces troops and pyrotechnics to simulate the noises and smells of battle. The idea was to draw away enemy troops from the Normandy beaches. 

Strips of aluminium foil, known as ‘Window’ were also dropped across French beaches to confuse enemy radar.

Below are RAF images of Hamburg during World War Two.

German camouflage teams had effectively moved a whole lake by covering it and building a roadway across an adjacent lake, therefore confusing the aim of Allied bombers. 

Fake body parts

This is a papier-mâché dummy head, made in World War One to attract enemy sniper fire. This one specifically depicts a British senior officer. Gurkha and Sikh heads were also made to confuse the enemy about which units were on the front lines and some were even fitted with cigarettes that you could smoke via a rubber tube. 

After being shot, the head could then be lowered slightly and a periscope used to look through the bullet hole and identify the location of the sniper. 

I loved this photo of a team of ladies making papier-mâché heads in France. 

Talking of snipers, this is a British sniper suit from World War One on display as well.

Another fake body part are these feet designed for the SOE in South East Asia.

They disguised the spy’s footprints to fool the Japanese into thinking they were a local’s instead. 

The Astonishing Personal Stories

The exhibition is also filled with lots of individual characters and stories including audio accounts, photographs, letters and artefacts to paint the picture of their involvement. 

Eddie Chapman for example, known as ‘Agent Zigzag’, was one of the most successful double agents of World War Two.

He was a safecracker, recruited by the Nazis in prison as a spy. He was then parachuted into Britain in December 1942 and very quickly offered to work for the British instead. 

This is the Iron Cross awarded to Eddie by the Nazis for his bravery in 1943.

He was questioned for weeks on returning to Germany but managed to convince them he had not been turned. 

It was not just the secret agents and front-line characters that were highlighted but also people like Florence Rees.

Florence worked for the Postal Censorship department from 1916-1919. She could speak French, German and three Scandinavian languages and was able to use her skills to check letters sent by German prisoners of war for secret messages and hidden codes. 

This is her notebook where she wrote down suspicious names or words. The phrase ‘little sister’ for example might refer to Ireland. 

This is an envelope that has been tested by the Postal Censorship laboratory with different chemicals to check for secret writing. 

How To Visit

As well as all the above there are sections relating to the Salisbury poisonings, Operation Mincemeat and the attempted assassination attempt on Theresa May when she was Prime Minister. 

It really is a fascinating exhibition. It is on until the 14th April, totally free and no need to book. You can find out more about visiting on their website here.

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