-Caveat Lector- http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000927104956079&rtmo=Q0H3O0mR&atmo=gggggggK&pg=/et/99/10/27/nsoe127.html ISSUE 1615 Wednesday 27 October 1999 The trick factory that dealt in death By Philip Johnston A FORMER hotel in Hertfordshire was transformed into one of wartime Britain's most secret locations, inventing gadgets for the sabotage activities of the Special Operations Executive in occupied Europe. The Frythe in Welwyn Garden City was the headquarters of Station IX, where some of the most effective - and oddest - equipment was devised for use by the SOE's network of secret agents. Papers released yesterday to the Public Record Office in Kew give an insight into the secret war waged by Station IX and the bewildering array of exploding devices it produced. At the beginning of the war, the SOE's weapons efforts were concentrated on Station XII, based at Aston House near Stevenage. It was concerned with developing sabotage devices and training saboteurs and a disused chalk pit nearby was its testing ground. Station XII's cover was as a Signals Development Branch of the War Office. Time fuses were therefore designated as "signals relays", incendiary bombs were "signal flares" and demolition charges were "sound signals". In 1941, production was concentrated at Station XII, while research and development were split off and moved to Station IX in Welwyn. Despite the invention of ever-more fanciful gadgets, Section IX had its deadly serious side, providing devices for blowing up the infrastructure of occupied Europe. The percussion welmines - "wel" for Welwyn - were invented there and used to devastating effect by resistance saboteurs across the Continent. One report said: "Without adequate weapons the effective conduct of subversive operations can be rendered futile and useless. At the same time, weapons must be of the highest quality and reliability; a man has only one chance." The percussion welmine, the magnetic welmine and the jettison head welmine were all developed by Station IX, as was an overhead wire cutter for damaging telephone wires. Collapsible bridges, silent motors and smoke boats were all developed there. Engineers also produced a submersible, powered canoe for use in attacks against unarmoured shipping, as well as a folding motorcycle for air drops. Inventors devised a one-man submarine that could be operated by a driver after only a few hours' instruction and could carry explosive charges 400 miles. One of the most important inventions was the pencil detonator, with a time delay that could vary from 10 minutes to a month. Acid was placed to eat through a piece of wire of set thickness and when the wire broke it released a spring that detonated the bomb. However, carrying and delivering a bomb in occupied Europe was a hazardous task, and this was where Station IX's camouflage section came into its own. Many of its devices were produced by a sub-station known as Station XV based at The Thatched Barn, a former road-house on the Barnet bypass north of London. Its exploding bicycle pump could even inflate tyres. A hollow brass cylinder filled with explosive and fitted with a pull switch was pushed inside the barrel of the pump. The piston rod was shortened, but air could still be pumped into the tyres. When it was needed as an explosive device, a safety pin hidden under a brass name plate on the side of the pump was removed. "The enemy's pump is replaced by the explosive one and his tyres deflated. When he uses the pump, the device operates." Plaster vegetables and fruit were used to conceal ammunition and incendiary material. Vegetables such as swedes and parsnips were deployed in Europe, while pawpaws and pineapples were among those used for the Far East. Other camouflages used for explosives included incendiary cigarettes, explosive coal, explosive oil cans, wooden road blocks filled with plastic explosives, explosive wood fuel, exploding Chianti bottles complete with raffia covers, and exploding clogs. Imitation rusty bolts were produced that were in reality bridge limpet bombs. For Japanese soldiers keen on collecting mementos, death could lurk in a booby-trapped Chinese stone lantern or a Balinese carving. They were sold to troops ready to embark by native dockside agents disguised as hawkers. Exploding food tins were left in damaged houses to tempt enemy troops. They blew up when the lids were prised open. Camouflage was also used to hide wireless sets. Bunches of faggots, blocks of granite, bathroom scales, car batteries and vacuum cleaners were all adapted to carry radios. Among the more devilish inventions was incendiary shaving foam. "A shaving brush handle is hollowed out and filled with the pure metallic sodium. A small hole is bored in the stub of the brush to allow water to seep through and when the brush is used the sodium is ignited by contact with the water." Incendiary soap operated along the same lines. "A hollow cast is made of a cake of soap and the cavity filled with metallic sodium. When the soap covering the sodium wears thin through use, moisture seeps through causing it to ignite and burn fiercely. This device can cause a great deal of injury to hands and face." The SOE also developed a face cream that could be used to frost glass or sabotage optical equipment. It came in collapsible tubes packaged to look like the popular German suntan cream Pigmentan. Agents were also given an incendiary attache case that would destroy its contents unless opened properly. To disrupt road traffic, the SOE produced more than 185,000 exploding tyre bursters disguised as horse or dog droppings and to make the enemy soldiers' life uncomfortable, itching powder was developed to be sprinkled on uniforms sent to the laundry. Agents were given instructions in how to make themselves appear ill to get off work for air drops or to avoid helping the enemy war effort. Taking dried seeds of the corn cockle mixed with coffee brought on diarrhoea and gargling a solution of mustard and swallowing a pinch of gunpowder gave a realistic impression of a throat infection even when examined by a doctor. To this day, The Frythe has retained its association with invention: it is a research and development centre for SmithKline Beecham, the pharmaceutical group, which employs about 500 staff working on new medicines. -- ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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