--- title: "This is how POWs got playing cards with secret escape maps for Christmas" description: "U.S. troops and their playing cards have a long history. A large chunk of deployment is spent killing time until the action starts – and card games have long been the weapon of choice for that mission." date: "2018-04-02" modified: "2023-12-25" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/this-is-how-pows-got-playing-cards-with-secret-escape-maps-for-christmas/" categories: - "History" - "War History" - "World War II" --- # This is how POWs got playing cards with secret escape maps for Christmas ![]() U.S. troops and their playing cards have a long history. A large chunk of deployment is spent killing time until the action starts – and card games have long been the weapon of choice for that mission. --- ![]() *Troops in WWI playing cards.* After more than a century, the U.S. Playing Card Company, manufacturer of playing card brands like Bee, Aviator, and Hoyle, is still the world's leading card company. In that time, the company has been very good to U.S. troops. Its original brands were decks of Army and Navy cards, later merged to one "Army Navy" brand, featuring military imagery. The USPCC even made a cheap deck so soldiers in World War I could easily purchase one for the battlefields. ![]() *An Army Navy deck (World of Playing Cards)* It was the company's signature brand, Bicycle, that did the most for troops in the field. During World War II, Bicycle [teamed up with British and American intelligence agencies]() to create a deck of cards that peeled apart when wet. The cards then revealed secret escape maps so downed pilots and captured soldiers could navigate their way back to Allied lines. ![]() *(Bicycle Playing Card Co.)* Once the map pieces were revealed, all it took was to assemble the cards in the right order to get the full map layout. The decks were given to POWs in Europe through the Red Cross' [special Christmas parcels](), which contained (among other things) a deck of playing cards. Cards were a common occurrence among troops, so they aroused no suspicion from the Nazi camp guards. Decks of these cards are said to have helped [at least 32 people escape]() from Colditz Castle and prompted some 316 escape attempts. No one knows for sure how many decks were produced, but the only two known surviving decks are in the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. ![]() *(Bicycle Playing Card Co.)* To commemorate its history, Bicycle created a [special "Escape Map" throwback deck](), complete with map artwork – no water necessary. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()