High Fashion Codes

German agents in the Second World War hid secret coded messages in drawings of current fashions, according to British records released today. The newly declassified materials give a number of different codes that the British were able to crack during the war.

LONDON (Reuters) - German spies hid secret messages in drawings of models wearing the latest fashions in an attempt to outwit Allied censors during World War Two, according to British security service files released on Monday.

Nazi agents relayed sensitive military information using the dots and dashes of Morse code incorporated in the drawings.

They posted the letters to their handlers, hoping that counter-espionage experts would be fooled by the seemingly innocent pictures.

But British secret service officials were aware of the ruse and issued censors with a code-breaking guide to intercept them.

The book — part of a batch of British secret service files made public for the first time — included an example of a code hidden in a drawing of three young models.

"Heavy reinforcements for the enemy expected hourly," reads a message disguised as a decorative pattern in the stitching of their gowns, hats and blouses.

The files reveal other ingenious ways spies tried to send coded notes through the post.

Invisible ink, pinpricks and indentations on letters were all used to convey details of troop movements, bombing raids and ship-building.

They hid codes in sheet music, descriptions of chess moves and shorthand symbols disguised as normal handwriting. Postcards were spliced in half, stuffed with wafer-thin notes and resealed.

Agents also used secret alphabets and messages which could only be read by taking the first letter of certain words.

Just about anything could be used to contain the secrets that agents wanted to transmit to the enemy. Of course none of that stuff is necessary today. If you want to send secret information today all you have to do is contact the New York Times.