Its 150-ish objects, including gadgets, official documents, film and photography, uncloak both well and lesser-known stories, such as Noor Inayat Khan – the first female wireless operator sent into Occupied France. “We wanted to show that wars are not always fought and won on battlefields or in boardrooms,” says co-curator Michelle Kirby. “So much happens in the shadows.”
Since Maskelyne published his memoir, it has repeatedly been suggested that he exaggerated his individual contributions, though critics’ claims – and Maskelyne’s, for that matter – have been difficult to prove. “One of the fascinating but complex realities we’ve had to carefully navigate,” says Kirby, “is that the truth of the specific involvement of people behind military deceptions is often difficult to confirm.”
How his career change came about
Maskeylyne was almost 37 when war was announced. The scion of magician aristocracy – his grandfather invented the levitation trick and became famous for exposing fraudulent spiritualists – he volunteered for the Royal Engineers. The techniques of popular magic could be used for camouflage, he said, and he proved it to doubtful officers by conjuring a German warship on the Thames from a cardboard model and mirrors.
