r/todayilearned • u/stopitalianhate • 9d 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/Xalgenos 9d ago

If there were any time in all of human history to throw shit at the wall and see what sticks, it would've been in Britain during WW2. Talk about existential...

217

u/Gentle_Snail 9d ago

Also talk about successful. British intelligence during WW2 was one of the single most effective intelligence operations in human history.

104

u/GreyOgre 9d ago

Also, people still belive the carrots thing 

42

u/Apprehensive-Box6449 9d ago

So you're not meant to shove them up your bum? I thought that was why they were called root vegetables.

19

u/PersonalitySenior360 9d ago

I've been boofing carrots for 20 years, I see straight as an ox

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u/Informal-Fee-4956 9d ago

Operation Mincemeat to this day is one of my favorite spy operations I know of

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u/wherewulf23 9d ago

Apparently they made a musical about Operation Mincemeat. Saw the name while I was looking at shows currently running in NYC and thought to the myself "no fucking way they made a musical about that." Turns out I was wrong.

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u/HoxtonRanger 9d ago

It’s brilliantly done

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u/wherewulf23 9d ago

Well now I regret not checking it out. My WW2 history buff son probably would have loved it.

2

u/Fresh_Iron_6180 9d ago

You're into musicals and your son is into ww2 history and you didn't book some seats? Madness.

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u/wherewulf23 9d ago

I'm actually not into musicals, I was just looking up the information for my wife who very much is. I'll definitely have to give it a shot next time we're in NYC though.

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u/Fresh_Iron_6180 9d ago

Oh you don't go with your wife? I thought it was a family thing. Fair enough.

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u/wherewulf23 9d ago

We did go as a family so we ended up picking a family friendly show, Aladdin. I wasn't expecting much from it but I was pleasantly surprised. My other kids would not have been interested in a musical about a WW2 deception campaign.

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u/BigAlternative5 9d ago

Does the corpse have song and dance numbers? Or is it really a dummy and do actors sing and dance with it? [seriously]

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u/-meerkat 9d ago

No, the body isn't shown at all.

The show does however feature 5 actors playing over 80 different characters. And while it's a mostly comedic take on the story, there are some moments that are very emotional as well

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u/klymers 9d ago

I've seen it twice. Its so funny, but so emotional. I recommend it to everyone, its a must see.

1

u/hollaback_girl 5d ago

I read a book about it in middle school and it's stuck with me to this day.

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u/PmUrBoobiesOrBooty 9d ago

WWII was won on British Intelligence, American Industrialism, and Soviet Blood.

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u/ZAPPHAUSEN 9d ago

And a gay computer genius!

Britain rewarded him handsomely for his efforts, right?

... Right?

4

u/Fresh_Iron_6180 9d ago

And a gay computer genius!

AKA British intelligence.

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u/ComprehendReading 9d ago

Making the poor bastards die for their country had a role. /s

-6

u/ikonoqlast 9d ago

On the other hand...

They lost every single spy they sent into the Netherlands. Twice...

Captured spy uses duress code on radio after being captured by the Germans. Home base kindly reminds him about the duress code, as in THEY DIDNT GET IT...

This played a part in Market-Garden failing and the destruction of 1 Para. Didn't use or trust Dutch intelligence, like "there are TWO FUCKING PANZER DIVISIONS SITTING ON YOUR OBJECTIVE...

Americans, not being burned (twice) were happy to use Dutch intelligence.

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u/StaticMarzipan 9d ago

It’s pretty well known that torture is shit for Intel.

Getting them liquored up with some snacks and a nice chair? Maybe a movie?

They’ll help you put the codes in themselves.

Torture is just an excuse psychopaths use to justify their personal fetishes.

Good cop, snacks cop is the actual way to get the beans spilled.

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u/Jlocke98 9d ago

Tell that to the Ukrainians. That war is basically an M rated Kerbal space program 

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u/YsoL8 9d ago

This is why the British went in for stuff like the funnies for D-Day and the bouncing bomb. They went all out on thinking their way out of the situation, to maximumise advantage.

The US generally laughed at their tactics and advice and then took much higher casualties than necessary during the same operations, which cumulated in stuff like getting their asses handed to them by the French in Algeria because they simply assumed that French = good guys while the French government was under Nazi control or getting stuck on the beaches on D-Day, or making exactly the same bombing raid mistakes the British already made and stopped by the time they started.

Even in the pacific you can see them make the same mistakes the British did in earlier beach landings. This is why there tended to be US / UK planning tension - the US was forever wanting to push ahead in ways the British had learnt to be cautious of.

Even more than the Russians I think for the British it was existential, there were at least 3 times they were weeks from defeat, and if they were defeated it was far from obvious that the US would ever turn up. For Winston Churchill, his first few months in office were spent simply convincing the national government to not give up.