Directorate of Intelligence

Survival Hints: Allied Air Forces Directorate of Intelligence

Publisher Marketing: Modeled on the British escape branch M. I.9, the top secret MIS-X (Military Intelligence Service-X) organization gave U. S. and Allied service personnel formal training and special tools for escape and evasion. Their efforts helped those airmen who were evading and those who had become POWs. MIS-X craftsmen modified common items found in POW aid packages to conceal hidden maps, radios, saws, compasses, and money, among other things. MIS-X also employed the help of several companies, which inserted material as part of the manufacturing process. To avoid compromising genuine aid societies, MIS-X sent these items to POWs in parcels shipped under the cover of fictitious aid organizations. One of the products created by MIS-X in the South West Pacific Area was this pamphlet of Survival Hints. As one of the first efforts of its kind, Allied Air Forces HQ tapped into the wealth of survival and bushcraft knowledge being utilised in training by the Australian Army. US, Australian, Free Dutch, New Zealand and British aircrew all profited from training courses based closely on this pamphlet. Covering clothing and equipment, crash-landing and bail out procedures, contacting natives, Jungle travel, camping in the jungle, Jungle and sea foods, First Aid, Survival at sea, and more, the pamphlet was included in many aircrew survival kits along with the Australian Army pamphlet "Friendly Fruits & Vegetables."