now the name is absurd to us, who are so used to movies with hidden microphones and little receiving chips in the ear and detectives sliding out of shadowy corners and tailing criminals, but during the second world war the midget recorder was a real technical innovation that changed the face of war reportage and made possible the work of the professional war correspondent.

p.s. i find the war reporting unit's list of midget recorder issue very moving. (on midget recorder page, scroll down to nearly the end)