Rat bomb and killer pen in spycraft sale
A “RAT BOMB” to blow up factories in Nazi-occupied Europe is being auctioned, along with other weird devices used in cloak-and-dagger warfare.
British scientists stuffed dozens of dead rats with explosives, detonators and fuses to turn them into makeshift deadly devices.
The idea was for secret agents and resistance fighters to infiltrate armament plants and leave the rodents lying around in boiler rooms.
It was hoped guards would pick up the dead vermin and throw them in furnaces, triggering huge blasts and wreaking havoc with production.
The plan was abandoned after the first batch of 100 rat bombs was intercepted by Hitler’s forces in 1942.
But it did cause widespread confusion, as the Germans assumed thousands of others had been laid and went on an epic hunt for them.
Sabotage
Many were later mounted and used as training exhibits in German military schools.
The rare surviving example belonged to Jack Dickens, an agent in the sabotage and espionage organisation the Special Operations Executive.
It has a handwritten tag attached to it suggesting it was once used to train French police, though how this came about is not known.
The rat is estimated to fetch around £1,500 when it comes up for auction at London-based Bonhams next Wednesday.
Also on sale are assorted concealed weapons and other items of kit used by SOE agents.
They include an innocent-looking fountain pen which is actually an assassin’s metal spike used to silently overcome guards. It is valued at £3,000.
There is also a pocket-sized wooden coffin containing garrote wire for strangulation.
These were left on doorsteps as chilling warnings to any civilians thinking of acting as collaborators.
Also for sale are a suitcase which contains a radio transmitter, a pair of aviator’s goggles and a hefty set of bone-crunching knuckledusters.
There is also an Army-issue razor pack which held a hidden compass pointer on a thread and a silk escape map of western Germany, Holland, France, Belgium and Switzerland. This is valued at £1,200.
A Bonhams spokesman said: “The rat bomb idea never really took off.
“Not so many of them were made and the Germans intercepted those that were.
“Some of the disguised weapons are quite chilling when you look at them now.
“But they highlight the do-or-die nature of SOE agents who operated in Nazi-occupied Europe.”