This Christmas if you find yourself sitting around a Monopoly board choosing whether to be the top hat, the battleship, the Scottie dog or even the T-Rex, give a thought as to how Monopoly sets helped British servicemen, during World War Two, escape to freedom. In December 1939, three months after the start of World War Two, MI9, the branch of the secret service responsible for escape and evasion, was set up. Once POWs retrieved the escape kit from within, they were instructed to destroy the games in order to keep the Monopoly secret from the enemy. And the secret, though unfortunate for those of us who would love to see a “special edition” Monopoly game, worked. British historians estimate that Waddingtons Monopoly boards helped thousands of captured servicemen escape from their prison camps.

Source: The Times December 25, 2023 12:17 UTC