History: This year’s archives are open, revealing lots of goodies from WWII. Here’s a good one via the BBC: 1940 ‘peas bomb plot’ on palace:
German saboteurs claimed they were planning to attack wartime Britain using exploding cans of processed peas, according to secret files. The MI5 documents show that three men who landed on the southern coast of Ireland in 1940 were found with four bombs hidden inside cans labelled ‘French peas’.
…. The three agents were landed by dinghy near Cork, but their exploits were shortlived. Their tactic, of asking the first person they met if they could be taken to the IRA, did not work.
The man took them to the police instead.
… The files show a close relationship between the Irish and British authorites, despite Irish neutrality. MI5 knew of the arrests and saw transcripts of the interrogations almost immediately.