WWII Secret Messages: How To Hide a Secret From the Germans
From Bloomin' Legends with Johnny Vaughan & Gavin Woods · 15:45
Show by Global
A letter that isn't what it seems, a matchbox that doubles as a writing kit, and a French poem on the radio that could send the Resistance into action.This is the Extra Legendary Bit, our Sunday supplement to wash down the main Bloomin' Legends: WWII - Impossible Missions episode with. In this bonus episode Johnny Vaughan and Gavin "The Woodman" Woods answer a question from Mark in Portsmouth: how on earth did people pass secret messages during the Second World War without the Nazis finding out?Forget Enigma for a moment. We're going undercover with invisible ink, disguised writing implements, psychological warfare and BBC radio broadcasts that sounded like poetry but carried messages for the French Resistance.What You'll Hear in This Episode:🕵️ The letter that wasn't what it seemed – invisible ink, innocent-looking family correspondence and the First World War origins of secret writing.🔥 Eddie Chapman and the matchbox spy kit – the extraordinary story of Agent Zigzag, the German agent turned British double agent, and the ingenious matchbox containing a specially adapted match that could be used to write secret messages.🚬 Cigarette papers and psychological warfare – how British intelligence disguised propaganda as German cigarette papers.📻 The French poem that helped signal D-Day – Paul Verlaine's Chanson d'Automne, broadcast by the BBC in June 1944. To most listeners, it was just a melancholy poem. To particular French Resistance networks, certain lines carried coded instructions ahead of the Allied invasion.If you love wartime espionage, ingenious improvisation, double agents and the sort of British cunning that involves turning a matchbox into a writing desk, this one's for you.Got a secret code of your own?📩 Send it to: [email protected] 📲 Follow us on TikTok & Instagram: @BloominLegends🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bloominlegendsListen to all episodes on Global Player, download the app, or visit www.globalplayer.comBloomin' Legends – WWII: The Impossible Missions is a Global productionExecutive Producer – Adem WatermanSenior Producer – Ben FaircloughLead Producer – Elena GuthrieProducers – Cassie Merrit, Jasmine Feldman, Sam Johnson & Onyi OlisaNew episodes are released every Wednesday & Sunday. Subscribe to never miss an episode!
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