These playing cards concealed something much more valuable than a winning hand.
RAF prisoners held in German camps needed reliable maps to plan possible escape routes. Maps were therefore hidden inside apparently ordinary objects and smuggled into camps through specially prepared parcels.
Sections of a map were concealed behind the removable faces of these cards. Once separated and assembled, they could help prisoners understand the surrounding landscape and plan a route towards safety.
The cards demonstrate the secrecy, ingenuity and careful planning that supported escape attempts during the Second World War.
