Schools visiting the exhibition in Manchester can explore gadgets, double agents and secret operations until the end of August.
Spies, Lies and Deception is running at Imperial War Museums North at The Quays until 31st August, showcasing how the course of conflicts has been changed by acts of espionage and deception.
More than 60 items are included in the free exhibition, including gadgets, classified documents, art, film and photography, uncovering the extraordinary individuals who risked everything. It will unravel stories from the battlefields of the World War One through to the present day, from imaginary armies at D-Day to 1950s suburban spy rings and the recent growth of deep fake technology.
Amanda Mason, lead curator of Spies, Lies and Deception, said: “Deception has always played a key role in conflict. Whether we view acts of deception as something good or bad depends on whether we are the deceiver or the deceived.
“Lives are lost when information falls into the wrong hands and lives are saved by people whose stories often remain hidden from history. By exploring some of the most surprising and daring cases from the past hundred years, Spies Lies and Deception is a must-see exhibition for anyone who is interested in finding out the truth behind this secretive world.”
Stories of espionage
School groups visiting the exhibition as part of a self-led visit can explore elaborate plots, including the story of Operation Mincemeat, the bold World War Two mission which successfully fooled German High Command about the location of the next major Allied assault, by planting a body with fake military documents off the Spanish coast.
The exhibition showcases the specialist skills of writers, designers and creatives used to master the art of deception in conflict, such as Lieutenant Commander Norman Wilkinson, a marine artist who introduced Dazzle Ships during the World War One by creating a new type of visual deception, using patterns and contrasting colours to disguise their speed and direction.
Other ingenuity on display includes a box of matches specially adapted for writing secret messages; papier-mâché heads used to identify the location of snipers in World War One trenches; and decoy ‘Sneakers’ made by SOE (Special Operations Executive) in South-East Asia during World War Two to disguise the wearer’s real footprints.
Spies, Lies and Deception reveals the experiences of spies in the field and the cost of their actions. SOE operative Noor Inayat Khan was the first female wireless operator sent by SOE into Occupied France, where she successfully transmitted messages to London for four months before being betrayed, captured and executed.
More recent incidents on display include an interview with Bellingcat founder, Eliot Higgins. Bellingcat is an international collective of researchers which uncovered the real identities of those responsible for the Salisbury Novichok poisonings in 2018.
School visits
School groups from Key Stage 2-4 can visit the exhibition during a free self-guided visit at the museum. Younger pupils can embark on a top-secret exhibition trail, piecing together information to find out if they have what it takes to succeed in the world of spies.
IWM North also offers learning sessions exploring different subjects including the Holocaust, source analysis and remembrance.
For more information about the exhibition, visit www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north.
