Escape and Evasion Compass Button

 The Escape & Evasion Compass Button was inspired by the ingenious, disguised compasses developed for Allied airmen and commandos during World War II. The British MI9 intelligence organization crafted a variety of clever escape tools which could be carried by aircrew in danger of being captured by Axis forces and were even mailed to prisoners of war inside care packages from fictitious charitable aid organizations.  Not to be outdone, the US War Department also created an agency dedicated to helping prisoners liberate themselves whenever possible. Designated simply as PO Box 1142 but known internally as the Escape Factory, the clandestine group was headquartered at Fort Hunt in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington DC.  Both organizations sent thousands of maps, compasses, and components for transistor radios hidden inside hairbrushes, decks of cards, hollowed-out baseballs and other disguised items to prisoners of war held all over Europe.  The Escape and Evasion Compass B