Christopher Hutton

Hutton's team identified suitable manufacturers for escape and evasion equipment and devised methods by which such aids could be sent to prisoner of war camps.

He faced government opposition to his attempts at publication due to the concern of his work revealing sensitive information but was eventually able to publish in 1960.

[9] On the formation of the Royal Air Force in April 1918, Hutton was appointed an RAF Staff Captain and served in Salonica (then a city in the Kingdom of Greece.

When Hutton began his MI9 duties, escape and evasion activities under Crockatt were based in Room 424 of the Metropole Hotel, Northumberland Avenue, London.

Brigadier Norman Crockatt headed MI9 during its existence and created its philosophy of "escape-mindedness" which became the focus of the training programme: it was emphasized that attempting to escape was the duty of every captured soldier[13] Crockatt allowed Hutton to decide how to organise his work and choose its priorities;[14][15] Alfred John Evans, another member of MI9, had emphasized to Hutton that the three essentials for an escaper are maps, compasses, and food.

Short of time, he arranged for sixth form students at Rugby School, Crockatt's alma mater, to write summaries.

Further help came from a colonel in the War Office who gave Hutton the script of a 1937 lecture by General Walther von Brauchitsch describing German experiences of running prison camps in WWI.

[17] Hutton's idea was that every serviceman should be issued with a compact map as one of three essential escape aids against the eventuality of being captured or shot down behind enemy lines.

This medium needed to be quiet to unfold, not prone to disintegration when wet, maintaining its integrity when folded at the crease line, and concealable as very small packages.

[8] A naval intelligence officer found a source of mulberry leaf paper, used in Japan, which had the texture of onion skins and excellent durability.

[20] Maps printed on mulberry leaf paper could be folded tightly and concealedd inside a chess piece or a phonograph record.

Hutton and two of Blunts Brothers' instrument makers, George Waterlow and Dick Richards, developed the idea of magnetised safety razor blades.

Hutton's autobiography Official Secret[26] includes diagrams of the following hidden compass devices: After the fall of France and the Low Countries, the priority for MI9 became support for RAF flights over the German-occupied territories.

[27] Crockatt approved of Hutton's work providing escape aids concealed in ration packs for flight crews but warned him that they would be "poaching" on the preserves of the Quartermaster-General.

After an RAF pilot who bailed out over the English Channel reported the contents of the ration pack had been spoiled by water ingress, the container was redesigned.

Hutton mentions "a tiny saw" among the contents of the RAF Ration Box Mk.II, but this must indeed have been very small to fit into the cigarette tin alongside other objects.

Some of Hutton's inventions and developments of existing ideas were either taken up in only relatively small quantities or dropped altogether, often at the behest of other branches of the secret services.

[40] The tactics and concealment methods were developed by Hutton's technical team in collaboration with selected suppliers of maps, compasses, escape packs, clothing and various games sets and sports equipment.

Following his interview request with more evidence supporting his claim that nothing unknown would be revealed, Hutton stated that he found the DMI's staff less cooperative.

He claimed he was given written permission on 31 January 1950 to give lectures on escape and evasion, including descriptions of the main tools such as maps, compasses, and altered uniforms.

[citation needed] His original idea for a book, written in the first half of 1950 and tentatively titled A journey has been arranged, included material on escapes during earlier conflicts as well as descriptions of his work in MI9.

Hutton's publishers were ordered to submit the draft to an Air Ministry Intelligence Staff committee, who forwarded it to the War Office.

"[citation needed] Hutton was issued a written warning about infringing the Official Secrets Act and was ordered to return all documents, lecture notes, and drafts concerning his military service.

Hutton alleges that around this time he revealed to detectives some letters showing that a selection of escape aids had been sent to Buckingham Palace for the private Royal Museum.

In November 1955 Hutton was telephoned by the military correspondent of the Daily Express who told him that a book entitled The Hidden Catch had just been published by an author named Charles Connell.

"[citation needed] Eventually, Hutton instructed a solicitor to try to determine the name of the Air Ministry official who had ordered the interventions.

He was interviewed by Air Ministry security officers, one of whom, Hutton alleges, said that in the defence of Crown Secrets even untrue "facts" could be stated.

Specific facts illustrating why the post-war security officials were uneasy may have been omitted, such as what he had already described on his lecture tours to the United States.

Hutton also makes no mention of Per Ardua Libertas, the catalog of escape and evasion tools that was produced for a visiting US delegation to Wilton Park.

A publisher's note states that "...it was obvious that here was a case in which we had a moral obligation to see that the author should, after years of frustration and disappointment, be allowed to tell his remarkable story and to receive recognition that had been denied to him by those who should have known better".