# 52 Playing Cards and a Sun-Dried Map of German Territory **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52-playing-cards-and-a-sun-dried-map-of-german-territory/335006 "2005-12-10T04:34:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52-playing-cards-and-a-sun-dried-map-of-german-territory/335006/21 "2005-12-12T18:31:14Z")
Further to address the **OP’s** request for info on makeshift materials, impersonations, etc.: Colditz Castle in Saxony, Germay was home to a special “punishment” camp for officers; here were sent those who had attempted escape multiple times, or whose dossiers were marked as “anti-German.” The Germans developed this _Sonderlager_ on the principle of putting all the rotten eggs in one basket. In fact, despite being a stone 16th century fortress built on solid rock, the POWs managed to stage numerous ingenious escapes, including a tunnel that started in a [clock tower](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3132265.stm), impersonation of a particularly well-known German guard [Sergeant-Major](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/naziprison/cold_21.html), and of course, building the famous glider (which was never used for escape, the war ending before an opportunity presented itself). The Polish officers at Colditz (who were the first POWs moved to the castle) had already managed to lockpick most of the rooms, and had produced their own keys for many doors by the time the first British POWs arrived. Some of the most remarkable items produced by the POWs in Colditz include: A fully operational [typewriter made of wood](http://www.colditz-4c.com/tour/p11/p11.htm) (for producing fake documents); a sewing-machine made of wood (for producing fake German uniforms–photo on the same page as the typewriter), and fake official-looking rubberstamps, carved out of linoleum. These are remarkable works–they had to use the complex “Fraktur” typeface, and furthermore, had to be carved _in reverse!_ I’ve seen the original stamps from Colditz (in the collection of the Imperial War Museum in London), as well as the original plans for the glider. [The Colditz glider, its builders, and a flying replica.](http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Colditz-Glider/info/info.htm) A list of the more remarkable [escape attempts from Colditz.](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/naziprison/colditz.html) If you want the best reference on escape tactics, attempts, and the extremely clever ruses used by Allied POWs in Germany, you should seek out “Escape From Germany,” by Aiden Crawley (himself an ex-POW); this was originally an official report to the RAF, and was kept classified through the Cold War, as it was felt that the methods might still be of use. Finally, an excellently-researched web page about [the “Great Escape,”](http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gt_esc/index.html) which addresses many of the queries in the **OP** , and has the bonus of following up the murder of the 50 escapers with the story of how the Gestapo thugs were themselves hunted down after the war. ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52-playing-cards-and-a-sun-dried-map-of-german-territory/335006/22 "2005-12-13T16:49:49Z")
Thanks for all the great links, **Rodd Hill**. I’ve always enjoyed the escape stories from WWII and can’t believe I’ve never heard of Colditz Castle. I remember coming across a book of war stories when I was young and “the Great Escape” was among them. There was also another about some men who kidnapped a German general, and another about the body they planted with fake documents to mislead the Germans. I sure wish I could find that book again. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52-playing-cards-and-a-sun-dried-map-of-german-territory/335006/23 "2005-12-13T17:44:01Z")
Thanks, **Gulo**. The book you’re looking for is [The Man Who Never Was](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557504482/qid=1134495379/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-0770963-4059319?n=507846&s=books&v=glance), also a very fine British 1950s film. More info on [Operation Mincemeat](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/24/db2401.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/08/24/ixportal.html), the somewhat goulishly-named intelligence coup that floated a dead body off a British submarine with false papers. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52-playing-cards-and-a-sun-dried-map-of-german-territory/335006/24 "2005-12-15T10:43:05Z")
I was familiar with the story of _The Man Who Never Was_, but thanks, **Rodd Hill** , for the [link](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/24/db2401.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/08/24/ixportal.html) to the obituary of Bill Jewell, captain of the submarine _Seraph_ from which the body was launched. For some reason I found one of his other adventures hilarious: > [@](#): > > …the only man who could unite the French forces in North Africa was General Henri Honoré Giraud, who had escaped from German internment and was hiding in Vichy France. Jewell and Seraph were sent to pick him up, but Giraud refused to be rescued by the British - so an American, Captain Jerauld Wright, was placed nominally in command of Seraph; Jewell commissioned Wright as a Royal Navy officer using a rolled-up picture of a voluptuous nude torn from a magazine. > > For five nights the boat patrolled the southern coast of France until Seraph drifted slowly shoreward to rendezvous with Giraud, who was waiting in a small dinghy. Seraph flew the stars and stripes and, for several days, its ship’s company practised their best movie American, with cockney accents. Giraud was too proud to notice the ruse de guerre, though he thanked them all politely in English as he and his staff were transferred to a Catalina flying boat. ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52-playing-cards-and-a-sun-dried-map-of-german-territory/335006/25 "2005-12-15T17:03:20Z")
yes, all of the links you provided, **rodd hill** , are fantastic- i didnt want to ressurect the thread just to say it, but since it popped up again here goes… thank you! 😃 you are definitely the goto guy for these types of questions [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/52-playing-cards-and-a-sun-dried-map-of-german-territory/335006.md?page=1)