Cunning plot to foil Hitler’s game with Monopoly money
THE wartime spy master said to have inspired James Bond’s “Q” had a stockpile of “Monopoly money” printed in case the Nazis flooded Britain with fake banknotes.
Games company Waddingtons was contacted as early as 1940 by the MI9 section of British Intelligence over the threat to the British pound.
The Leeds factory ended up on MI9’S radar when De La Rue’s factory was destroyed in the first big fire raid on London in December 1940.
The De La Rue plant printed Churchill’s favourite playing cards and banknotes.
Realising Britain was in danger of running out of notes,waddingtons bossvictorwatson liaised with rivals De La Rue. He agreed to pay rival staff to oversee the printing of notes in Leeds – which meant the company had the attention of the secret services.
When a Nazi plot to flood the country with fake notes came to light in 1940, M19 boss Clayton Hutton dispatched Ministry of Supply official Edward Alston to Leeds to check Waddingtons had the “right character” for espionage. Once satisfied, Alston was sent back to Leeds to swear in the firm under the Official Secrets Act.
Hitler planned to ruin the UK economy by dropping £134million in counterfeit notes all over the country to send inflation sky high and spark a cash crisis. The forgeries were perfect and in £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes at a time when £5 was the average weekly wage. The Bank of England was concerned that the operation would switch to the common 10 shilling and £1 notes, or to coins.
According to the National Archives, Waddingtons was asked to use its Monopoly money presses to print lower value
ACTOR Hugo Speer has revealed that hit filmthe Full Monty made people think he was a real stripper.
As the second series of BBC One’s police drama London Kills is released, Speer, 51, says he had the “longest period out of the work after Full Monty”.
In the 1997 movie, redundant workers in Sheffield become strippers to earn money.
Speer says: “I think people thought I was an actual stripper. I don’t think they considered the three-dimensional world of the actor. Because it was such a successful film they believed the characters. It was what it was, but fortunately I’ve been able to continue on working since then.”
Asked if he was “too good” as a male stripper, he replied, “I’m afraid that seems to be the case – but I’m not sure I could get away with it these days!”
He plays Det Insp David Bradford in gritty London Kills. He says: “I like the complexity of the character. It’s two dramas in one.the ongoing mystery of his dead wife, and the episodic murder investigation. It’s also shot in London, a real bonus.you don’t see a lot of that.”
● London Kills series 2 is on
DVD and digital tomorrow, along with the complete box set. notes. Records say: “Waddingtons was asked to produce low denomination banknotes valued 2d 6s and 5s to replace coins.
“This was an extremely high security operation with few people knowing about it. The notes never entered circulation and at the end of the war were destroyed.”
Yet the damage to British currency was already done, according to Dr Richard Dunley, of the National Archives.
An MI5 report from 1945 stated: “The German object of destroying confidence abroad in Bank of England notes has been achieved. At present no one will accept a Bank of England note in any neutral country of Europe except at a very large discount.”
Dr Dunley said: “The only remedy they suggested was the withdrawal of the old notes and the replacement with new currency. Over time this was what took place.”
MI9 boss Hutton, with a passion for theatre and gadgets, was a model for Q. His tricks included blankets with secret patterns that could be cut up to make Nazi uniforms.