How Postage Stamps Played A Big Role During WWII Missions In ‘Operation Cornflakes’

The Operation Cornflakes campaign started in February 1945 and ran until April. Some twenty successful campaigns took place during those few months.

Most of us don’t really give stamps much thought. They are just something that we put on an envelope and hope that it arrives at its destination.

When you look at the history behind stamps, however, you begin to discover some rather interesting details. This includes a plan that got its start during World War II and was enacted by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Many of the German people were struggling during World War II and were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Nazi rule. According to Graham Beck, and his series on postage stamps ‘Exploring Stamps‘, it was a covert operation that ended up infiltrating the German Postal Service.

Photo: YouTube/Exploring Stamps

That plan, Operation Cornflakes, involves sending some anti-Nazi signals through the use of a publication, “Das Neue Deutschland”. In order to deliver those publications to German addresses, fake stamps were used that reproduced Hitler’s head on them.

Photo: YouTube/Exploring Stamps

The process was well-thought-out. The train carrying the original mail bags would be disrupted by an overhead plane. When the bags were scattered, then additional mail bags were dropped from the plane that included the propaganda. As the cleanup took place, the additional bags would be picked up, put onto the train, and delivered to German citizens.

Photo: YouTube/Exploring Stamps

The Operation Cornflakes campaign started in February 1945 and ran until April. Some twenty successful campaigns took place during those few months.

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