The Escape Factory: The Story of Mis-X

From Publishers Weekly
MIS-X was a secret agency of the U.S. WW II War Department assigned to supply "escape aids" to American POWs in Europe. Working with a counterpart British agency, MIS-X also coordinated escape routes. Shoemaker describes how Allied prisoners of war made use of the items provided by the "escape factory," but the most absorbing sections of the book reveal how maps, compasses, radios and other items were hidden inside softballs, bats, ping pong paddles, playing cards, packs of cigarettes and other objects, and smuggled into the stalags. A corporal at the time, Shoemaker was involved in the operation. One of his tasks was to obtain assistance of manufacturing firms in inserting escape aids into their products. A highly entertaining story about a unique wartime operation. Photos. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In MI-9: Escape and Evasion 1939-1945 ( LJ 11/1/80), M.R.D. Foot and J.M. Langley told how captured British servicemen were helped to resist and escape from POW camps. Shoemaker aptly describes America's counterpart effort, MIS-X, to supply prisoners with the means to escape from German POW camps and return home. Nearly all of MIS-X's materials and files were ordered destroyed at war's end. However, Shoemaker is able to tell much of the story from his own work with the group. MIS-X managed to get food, clothes, tools, radios, paper, and printing equipment to prisoners in Europe. Some flyers had learned a code to use in their letters home if captured and were able to provide useful information to U.S. officials. Well written and likely to be enjoyed by layperson or specialist.- George H. Siehl, Library of CongressCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


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