WW2 Catalogue of British Spy Gadgets Discovered

It's as cool as you hoped

A rare wartime book documenting the ingenious James Bond-style gadgets invented by British 'spooks' to help prisoners of war escape has been discovered.

The 1942 classified catalogue contains the designs for the covert equipment including tiny compasses concealed in gold teeth and coat buttons.

Many of the inventions were the brainchild of Christopher Hutton - a real-life 'Q' from the James Bond movies - who worked for the government's little-known MI9 agency.

Less than 100 of the instruction manuals were printed and given to US intelligence officers who were lagging behind the British in espionage design after entering the war late.