Ridiculous History CLASSIC: How the Monopoly Board Game Became a World War II Escape Kit
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Dec 13, 2025 Monopoly is a game that divides opinions, but during WWII, it became an unlikely escape tool for Allied POWs. Discover how UK licensee Waddington turned the board into a covert escape kit, complete with hidden compartments and silk maps. Learn about MI9's clever distribution methods through fake charities to get these kits into camps without Red Cross issues. Even the U.S. had its own version! This episode dives into the origins of the game and its surprising role in wartime, offering a fascinating twist on a familiar pastime.
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Board Game Meets Silk Map
- Waddington printed both Monopoly boards and silk maps, creating a perfect cover for escape tools.
- Christopher Clayton Hutton exploited this overlap to hide durable silk maps inside game boxes for POWs.
Clutty's Ingenious Conceit
- MI9 officer Christopher 'Clutty' Hutton conceived hiding silk maps in Monopoly boards to aid POW escapes.
- He leveraged a game's allowed delivery into camps and Waddington's silk-printing to smuggle escape tools.
Humanitarian Deliveries As Cover
- Geneva Convention and Red Cross deliveries allowed recreational items into POW camps, making games an ideal smuggling vector.
- MI9 created fake charities to donate rigged Monopoly sets and avoid implicating the Red Cross.
