Gadget Watch

Better than Q

It was like a scene straight out of a James Bond movie as British diplomats were accused of secretly contacting spies - using a fake rock.

But whilst this may have shocked some people, it is hardly a new phenomenon as secret agents have always used gadgets to help them in their work. From poison umbrellas to lipstick pistols.

Wristwatch camera: This cleverly disguised miniature camera, developed in Germany in about 1949, allowed an operative to take photographs while pretending to check the time. It used a circular piece of film with six exposures.

Lipstick pistol: The 4.55mm single-shot weapon disguised as a lipstick was used by the KGB and known as the "Kiss of Death". It was first detected at a border crossing in West Berlin and was one of the many ingenious ways of concealing weapons including torches, pens and the rectal pistol encased in rubber and hidden on the assassin's person.

KGB spy shoe: Used by the KGB in the 1960s, the heel was fitted with a radio transmitter, microphone and batteries. A maid or valet would plant the rigged shoes and activate the transmitter by pulling out a pin from the heel. The target would become a walking radio station, transmitting all conversations to a nearby monitoring post.

Tree stump listening device: A solar-powered listening device disguised as a tree stump was placed by the CIA in the woods near a Soviet military base to capture secret military radio transmissions.

Poison-tipped umbrella: The device made famous as the murder weapon which killed Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in London in 1978. He was injected with ricin while he waited at a bus stop, in an operation thought to have been masterminded by the KGB. Markov experienced a sudden stinging pain in the back of his right leg, but continued on his way to work. By evening he had developed a high fever and he died three days later.

Secret writing detection kit: To read secret messages, members of the East German secret police used ultraviolet light of different wavelengths in this kit, dating from the 1980s. Operatives were given pens containing special ink that would only fluoresce when viewed under UV lights of a specific wavelength - otherwise, the writing remained invisible.

Source: The Independent