Jasper Maskelyne: How to escape and evade
In late 1942, Lieutenant (later Major) Jasper Maskelyne, a famous stage magician serving with the British Army in North Africa, joined the regional branch of MI9. This was a secret military intelligence department set-up to help service personnel evade capture and, if captured, to escape . MI9’s formal aims were to aid escapers by providing them with tools and training to escape; to train potential evaders to evade; to encourage secret routes along which either could travel; and to glean such intelligence as was in prisoner of war camps, or from escapers or evaders who made it home. Against these aims, Jasper played a key role. He trained frontline personnel on how to evade capture and to escape captivity, and he designed and issued escape and evasion devices to military personnel. A signed photo of Major Jasper Maskelyne, Royal Engineers (Source: Author ’s collection) Jasper was the ideal lecturer on this secretive topic. Lecturing to large groups of serv...