Before the CIA and MI5, there was the "Department of Dirty Tricks."
During World War II, Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) and America's Office of Strategic Services (OSS) ran secret missions full of sabotage and shady methods. Nicknamed the "Department of Dirty Tricks," these guys were inspired by Sherlock Holmes and in turn inspired the James Bond novels. They used guns hidden in pens, conversation-recording watches, and even experimented creating exploding goat feces. Their work laid the foundation for modern intelligence agencies and rewrote the playbook for espionage.
Check out the men and their gadgets who were the closest we’ll get to a real life 007.
1
SOE agents in the Hautes-Alpes department
August 1944
2
OSS T13 Beano Grenade and compass
Hidden in a button
3
Westland Lysander Mk III
The type used for special missions into occupied France during World War II
4
William ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan
The head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
5
Dr. Stanley Lovell
Director of Research and Development for the OSS during World War II
6
Key with a secret compartment
Used for carrying secret messages or poison
7
Protona Microphone Spy Watch Recorder
Used to covertly record a conversation, the watch contains a wired microphone connected to a recording device or a small transmitter
8
The Assassination Lapel Spike
A decorative steel pin worn on the lapel of a jacket, but when fully exposed is a slender 4ins long dagger with a razor-sharp barb
9
An OSS Escape Utility Knife
The knife encases three small hacksaw blades, a tyre slasher blade and a wire cutter tool
10
Big Joe 5 Crossbow
A slingshot designed by the OSS for the purpose of covert and silent assassination
11
The Sedgley OSS .38
The Sedgley OSS combined a gun with a glove
12
Barbary sheep at the London Zoo
Lovell experimented with creating synthetic goat dung that would explode when stepped on or driven over by Germans in North Africa where goats are common
13
OSS caltrop designed by the Dirty Tricks Department
The caltrop was “the simplest weapon we ever made” according to Dr. Stanley Lovell. Caltrops were typically placed on roadways to slow attacking troops traveling by vehicle or animal.
14
The Stinger Pen Gun
Designed by the OSS, it fired a single .22 Short round, and users discarded it after it was fired
15
The Flying Dragon SAC 46
A dart gun designed by the OSS that propels a dart down a very long 32-inch barrel via a CO2 cartridge
