New book reveals how ‘Q Branch’ booby-trapped everyday items such as toothpaste and sauce bottles

A new book says British spies in World War II were kitted out with exploding rats to destroy German factories, detonators stashed in tubes of toothpaste and booby-trapped soy bottles. Photo / 123RF

James Bond would rarely take on a mission without first visiting Q Branch to pick up his array of exotic gadgets.

But decades before 007 first wielded a laser watch or an exploding pen, Britain’s top spies were being kitted out with tech that might have left Ian Fleming’s fictional hero stunned.

They included exploding rats used to destroy German factories, detonators stashed in tubes of toothpaste and booby-trapped soy bottles that blew up when opened by chefs on Japanese supply ships.

The lethal gadgets of the real-life Q Branch, dubbed the Camouflage Section, are described in a new book by historian Craig Moore.

“James Bond has Q Branch to supply him with ingenious equipment to use on his missions,” Moore said. “During the Second World War, Secret Operations Executive (SOE) field agents had the Camouflage Section.”

The unit recruited the brightest individuals from several professions to make exploding devices for secret agents operating in Nazi-occupied Europe.

The book says there was almost no everyday item which could not be turned into a concealed weapon, with explosives hidden in wine bottles, books, logs, food tins and bicycle pumps.

One of the most effective devices was an exploding dead rat which, when shovelled into boilers, put German factories out of action at a crucial stage in the conflict, according to the book.

Only 150 such rats were created. However, Moore said the Germans believed there were thousands, forcing the Nazis to divert vital resources to hunt and check rodents left around factories.

An SOE officer posing as a student purchased the rats, claiming to need them for experiments.

The rodents were then skinned, packed with plastic explosives and sewn up. Agents would then place the booby-trapped vermin among coal beside a boiler in factories targeted by Allied intelligence.

The idea was that when the dead animals were spotted, they would immediately be tossed into the fire, causing them to explode.

The Germans caught wind of the plot after reportedly seizing a number of dead rats before they could be used.

This sparked a major search operation for rodent saboteurs, with Nazi intelligence believing hundreds of rats to have been scattered across the Continent.

“The trouble caused to them was a much greater success to us than if the rats had actually been used,” the SOE concluded in a report.

Daniel Craig as James Bond.

In Asia, tins of fish oil or soy sauce, which had a secret bottom section with explosives hidden in them, were smuggled onto Japanese supply ships.

When the tins were cracked open by ship chefs, they would explode, sinking numerous vessels in the final months of the war.

The Camouflage Section also hired make-up artists to create elaborate disguises for agents so they could avoid being rumbled when undercover in occupied Europe.

Harley Street plastic surgeons went to the drastic lengths of breaking noses and jaws to alter operatives’ appearances before they went behind enemy lines, helping agents to blend in with crowds.

Tailors and dressmakers made clothes in the European style, as British garments had different collars and button arrangements.

Other Camouflage Section members forged papers and documents so that those stopped by the Gestapo could slip through without being exposed.

The organisation worked alongside MI9, which produced escape and evasion gadgets for agents, including pen daggers.

Fake rocks were made which could puncture tyres. Such was the attention to detail, geologists were hired to ensure the bogus stones matched local rocks, appearing like sandstone in Italy and limestone in parts of France.

Codename Station XV

The unit was based in The Thatched Barn in Borehamwood, just north of London.

The building was originally purchased by Billy Butlin, the leisure park tycoon.

However, the site was requisitioned by the SOE during the war before Butlin could develop it.

The Thatched Barn had previously been the haunt of film stars, owing to its location near the Borehamwood studios.

It had an elaborate dining hall and a heated outdoor swimming pool.

The building was given the codename Station XV. Many former studio workers joined the team to help develop some of the camouflage techniques employed to keep agents hidden overseas.

The clandestine operation was overseen by the larger-than-life Colonel J Elder Willis, a former film director.

After the war, the Camouflage Section was dissolved, but not before its work was collated in a secret document.

That document remained classified for 30 years and, since then, has remained under the radar for half a century.

Moore has transcribed its entire contents and published them in full for the public for the first time in his new book, Exploding Rats and Devious Devices.

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