More games that saved lives.

During World War Two, British Monopoly makers Waddington smuggled many useful items to POWs in their boxed games.

During World War II, the British secret service hatched a master plan to smuggle escape gear to captured Allied soldiers inside Germany. Their secret weapon? Monopoly boxes.

Real money, maps, compasses, files, and other items that helped POWs escape arrived without inspection by the German guards.

Wishing to hide this less-than-stellar upholding of the Geneva Convention, they happily welcomed Red Cross aid packages for POWs. So throwing Monopoly games into the care kits along with food and clothing was met with little scrutiny. Monopoly was already a well-known game throughout Europe, and the German guards saw it as the perfect way for their detainees to remain occupied for hours.

Makes me think of Escape from Colditz. The coolest fact is that Monopoly was so well-known that the Germans didn't even inspect them.