Spy Radio Crystals Concealed in Czech Book

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RADIO CRYSTAL CONCEALED IN A CZECH BOOK

U.S. Army FT-171-B Signal Corps crystal holders

RADIO CRYSTALS
AND A SILK MAP
FOR THE CZECH
RESISTANCE
CONCEALED
IN A
SCHOOL BOOK

This is a very interesting lot that consists of two antique U.S. Army crystal holders of the type smuggled into Czechoslovakia for the Czech resistance during the Nazi occupation of the country during WW2, a British silk escape map of the type used by the SOE, and a book to conceal them in.

The book is a
simple, ordinary
5-1/4 x 7 inch,
346 page hard
bound copy of
CELIBAT
as published in
1929 by Julius
Albert in
Praha
(Prag, Prague),
Czechoslovakia.

From page 17 through page 328 each page has odd shaped holes cut into it creating cavities exactly the size and shape of the U.S. Army FT-171-B Signal Corps crystal holders held in them. The crystal holders are the type that plug into radio equipment as a means to change the radio frequency in kilocycles.

In addition to the crystal holders concealed in the book, there is a 17 x 23-1/2 inch British made two-sided multi-color silk escape and evasion map of Europe of the type issued to commandos and spies in service of the English Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) during World War 2.

The map is marked with the route, times and dates of the Operation Anthropoid, Silver A and Silver B agent insertions by parachute in Czechoslovakia.

The converted Halifax bomber carrying the three missions left Tangmere airfield in England before midnight on 28 December 1941, flying a relatively direct line to Plzen.

The flight overshot its drop zone but Czech agents Josef Gabcik and Jan Kubis landed near Pardubice early on the 29th and made their way into Praha. Eventually the two commandos tossed the grenade against the side of SS-Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich’s SS-3 Mercedes-Benz that took his life.

The map bears the names of both Gabcik and Kubis as well as the pilot of the Halifax, Flight Lieutenant Ron Hockey, in the same black ink used to mark the flight path.

Naturally, we can not guarantee that any of this material was ever touched by Gabcik, Kubis, Hockey or any other Czech SOE agent. We bought the lot in Praha many years ago, but that in itself proves nothing. The items may have been used as movie props or simply as a display for all we know.

We do know that all the pieces are from the time in question. The escape map is genuine sa are the book and the radio crystal holders. Together they are a fascinating group of relics concerning some of the most dramatic aspects of the Second World War in Europe. Fine condition.

This SOE / Czech spy material is**SOLD**.

Other Reinhard Heydrich material offered for sale on this website:

- Genuine oil painting of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich.

- Original September 1941 proclamation by Heydrich, death sentences for high treason.

- Völkischer Beobachter newspaper announcing May 1942 attack on Reinhard Heydrich.

- Framed material related to Reinhard Heydrich's life and untimely death.

- A stone piece from the church in Prague where Reinhard Heydrich's assassins died.

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