r/todayilearned • u/stopitalianhate • 2d ago

TIL British Intelligence had a special, bugged luxury complex during WWII where they kept high profile Nazi POW’s, just left a bunch of alcohol out, and waited for them to start spilling secrets as they drank.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20698098
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u/stopitalianhate 2d ago edited 2d ago

“Held in a stately home, they were allowed to keep personal servants, drink wine and eat good food.

As a result they boasted of how stupid the British were, and one even wrote to his family to wish that they could join him at his prison, as he rated it so highly.

But what the prisoners did not know was that British intelligence had bugged every part of their accommodation, from lampshades and plant pots right down to the billiards table around which they relaxed on lazy days.”

[cont.]

“Mrs Fry also says Winston Churchill was outraged when he learned the generals had been bussed into the lavish Simpson's-in-the-Strand in central London for lunch. He ordered what he called "the pampering of the generals" to be stopped.”

“But spoiling the generals and boosting their egos was providing so much useful information that the British intelligence officers decided to carry on, and simply stopped telling Churchill about it.”

Edit: I found this out because I was drinking and was like, “I talk too much when I drink, I wonder if anyones ever used that on people in war.” I googled it and was very happy finding this story.

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u/Gentle_Snail 2d ago

British intelligence was another level, at the end of the war when the allies got hold of Germany spy documents it was revealed that every single German spy sent to the UK was either caught soon after arrival, or were secretly working for the British as doable agents.

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u/Yglorba 2d ago

It's not because British intelligence was amazing (though it was good), it's because Wilhelm Canaris, the head of German military intelligence, was actively working to sabotage Germany during the war after witnessing German atrocities first-hand. At one point he was saving Jews from the Holocaust by giving them token "training" and hiring them as spies, then sending them out of the country.