Help

This Page lists requests for help from our members (and anyone else who may be able to give it) from various individuals and organisations. In most cases, the contact details of the person or organisation concerned are provided. In case of doubt, please contact our webmaster, who may be able to assist. If you respond directly to any request, please mention that you are doing so as a result of reading this page. Thank you. One permanent feature of the page will be a 'Lost and Found' section for members and others trying to find old comrades or to re-establish other links. Click here to go directly to this Section.

I have just received the following from Vince Wuwert of Toledo in Ohio, a veteran of the USAF Security Service, stationed at RAF Chicksands from 1966-68 with the 6950th SG. Any observations direct to Vince with a copy to the webmaster please. [Dec 2004]

[Ed's comment - It is not the intention of myself, Garats Hay website, or any member of Garats HaY Branch of The Royal British Legion to get involved in any legal dispute over this matter.]

I'm doing some research to refute some "allegations" of a writer named James Bamford. You have him listed on your GaratsHay web site as an author of Body of Secrets, the anatomy of the ultra Secret NSA. In his book he states in Chapter six that Chicksands, formerly a Y service Intercept station during W.W.II, was reopened in 1948 by the US Air Force for intercept missions. My contention and it is supported by the testimony of the late Ed Wiggins and a man named Ambrose Jackson, both of whom were there in 1950 when Chicksands was "opened" by the Americans that NO intercept capabilities could have taken place prior to 1950. There existed, from the testimony and writings of Mr. Wiggins, no camp infrastructure to support a mission. Mr. Bamford also states that the large ANFLR-9 antenna was erected in 1948, when in fact the Technology was not available until the mid 50's and erection of the antenna at Chicksands happened in the early 60's. My question is: Can any of your members recall the condition of Chicksands immediately after the war? And were there any American Air Force Security Service people doing intercept operations in 1948?

[Ed - A long and detailed reply has been supplied by one of our members, Mike Coleman, member of the Beaumanor Amateur Radio Society. Our thanks go out to him for this (21 Dec 04)]

The following has been received from Robert Connolly, and if anyone can help, please answer direct to him, copying me in on the answer.

" I live in Northern Ireland. My father was ex navy Y Services and although he told me very little about this service and his work, like most of those involved in Special Y Group, before he hied in 1972, he did mention that he was located near Loughborough. Among his personal effects I have since he passed away is a copy of "The Chronicles of St. Upid" written by Eric C. Millhouse and published by Blackfriars Press in 1946 This publication apparently began life as a handwritten item that the author states "just happened" and was in biblical format as the naval section was likened to the Children of Israel. The item was passed to a colleague and within a few days the author was surprised to see it typed and the colleague asking when the next instalment would be forthcoming. It was also in circulation among the naval section. I have my father's typed copies of the first three chapters. After about the third instalment, it was decided to have a regular instalment in the Beaumanor Staff magazine, and this publication is a hard-backed printed copy of all the instalments covering the period 1941 to 1945. It is all in biblical format and I placed it away safe, but that safe that I could not find it again until a few days ago, although I found my father's initial typewritten copies a few months ago and have been slowly reading.

I believe that this publication may be very rare and I certainly do not wish to part with it but have considered the possibility of maybe scanning it and producing it as a pdf file for use with Adobe Acrobat Reader, but I would need to consider the question of copyrights etc. If I could reproduce it without legal complications, I would consider making it available for a modest price and would like any income from it to go towards sustaining some aspect of the historical side of SYG, and preferably with a naval and Beaumanor connection, so that some aspects of the wartime SYG can be sustained for future generations.

As I have mentioned, my father died before I was able to find out any significant details of his wartime work, and in recent years I have begun researching WOYG. In my younger days I was fortunate to hhave visited Bletchley Park, once for interviews as a radio technician for the DiplomaticWireless Service, and later in about 1979, I was there for an Ait Traffic Control technical training course run by the National Air Traffic Services technical training school that was located there. So I had the privilege of being a member of Bletchley Park Club that was used by all the various departments located there

On 14 January 2003 I received a reply from a Mr Eric Dodd which I reproduce below:

"After reading the 'help wanted' message from Robert Connolly regarding his father and the Chronicles of St Upid, I thought he would like to know that I was stationed at Beaumanor on D Watch No 3 "Y" Wing ATS in 1946 and worked in the same set room as Eric Millhouse. I had a copy of his book which he signed but as often happens, I loaned it someone years ago and it was never returned. Fortunately I have Hugh Skillen's "Beaumanor Staff Magazine" and have made a copy of the Chronicles for my personal use. I would be very interested in obtaining a copy from him if he manages to get it reprinted. He says his father was a navy man, he must have been an EWA (Experimental Wireless Assistant) The EWA's were skilled wireless operators, initially male Civil Servants later joined by men from the Post Office,Royal Corps of Signals, and I believe, Royal and Merchant Navies and RAF. The ATS came later.

All this is described in "The Chronicles of St Upid" and some of the terminology must be unintelligible to any one who was not part of the signals community. "

Beaumanor |Defence

I have received a request for help from Austin Ruddy who is writing a book about the Home Guard of Leicestershire and Rutland. Seemingly there was a specialist 'Shock Section' which would have carried on fighting if the Germans had invaded the area. This section was made up of about a dozen young men under the command of an ex-Palestine police officer, Lieutenant WHITFORD. On several occasions from 1941 onwards, WHITFORD used his specialist Home Guard shock section to attack and test Beaumanor's defences by scaling the fire fences and lobbing stun grenades into the guardhouses, much to the annoyance of the Sergeant major in charge of the defences.

Does anyone remember this lieutenant or his section? Do you have any photographs which might cast any light on the subject? There is a section on this subject, with photographs, in Joan Nicholls excellent book, 'England Needs You' but if there is any more information you can give, please contact Austin on austinruddy@leicestermercury.co.uk or on telephone numbers 0116 222 4253 (work) or 0116 210 4142 (home). I would also appreciate your letting me know of any results.

202 Indian Special Wireless Section

If anyone knows what happened to the above section after Rangoon, can you please contact Dennis Underwood [2 January 2003]

Can you help about WWll Radio Security?

I have received an e-mail from Brian Body who said that his father Graham (Gerry) Body was an Inspector in the Radio Group, in the Engineering Branch of the Post Office South Western Region. During WW2 he was involved with Radio Security, including, he believed, locating enemy agents.

If anyone can provide any details about this activity, get it touch with Brian or let me know. [28 December 2002]

Can you help about New Zealand 'Y' sites?

We have had an e-mail from Robert Montgomery in New Zealand, and would like some help with the following:

"Hello, and greetings from Blenheim, New Zealand.

Discovered your intereseting website while looking for information on Y stations in New Zealand. We had five, the one I know about being the Radio Finterprinting Station at Rapaura, a few miles away from Blenheim where I live.

I am working on a history of wartime Marlborough (our region) which has brought this to my attention, and I have met two of the women who worked on RFP at the Rapaura Station.

I understand there were five Y stations in New Zealand during the War (I wonder if anyone knows where the others were), and we nearly brought about defeat in the Pacific soon after Midway; one of the despatch bags was inadvertently placed among mail-bags instead of going to the US by safe-hand courier, sent aboard a passenger ship which was intercepted by the Germans in the Indian Ocean. The mail-bags were seized before the ship was sunk, the significance of the code transcripts was recognised and passed to the German ambassador in Japan who passed it on to the Japanese High Command. They did not at first believe that JN25 had been broken but subsequently changed it anyway, which put back the whole progress of the Pacific War. There was a great cover-up to avoid New Zealand being discredited.

Is anything more known about this? is there a list of Y Stations which would include those in New Zealand?

Look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Robert E. Montgomery
77 Dillon Street
Blenheim 7301
New Zealand

Contact Robert directly
(2002)
Help on Berlin History Sought

Dave Haysom is researching a history of RAF work in Berlin and has asked if anyone can help him with answers to the following questions:

Does anyone recall the wooden structure perched on the roof of Hanbury Block at RAF Gatow - and might they have a photograph of the period when operations were based in the Block?

What is the definitive explanation for the Block being named 'Hanbury'?

Was an Army element of the Royal Signals ever present in Hanbury, and if so, when and for how long?

Was there an aerial farm on the opposite side of Trenchard Road?

Answers please directly to Dave by e-mail.
(Aug 01)

258 Signal Squadron?

Cliff Lord, who is a researcher into intercept history amongst other interests, has asked if anyone can confirm whether 258 Signal Squadron was a 'Y' unit. Archive research suggests that it formed in Germany and then disappeared from the order of battle after about only 12 months. If you can provide any insights or fill in the blanks, please contact Cliff directly.
(28 July 2001)

Australia Calling!

John (Zug) Zeller has asked anyone who may have served with Australian units in the Far East to get in touch. The units concerned include; 121 Signal Squadron at Chai Keng, 2 Squadron in Singapore or 693 Signal Troop in Labuan (Borneo) or Kuching.   Zug is a former Australian operator who spent a few years with British Y units in Singapore, Malaya and Borneo before heading off to Vietnam. He now belongs an association of past and present members of the parent unit, 7 Signals Regiment based in Queensland, Australia. The Association's members treasure their memories of contact with British and American colleagues and have many photographs ready for archiving. They would love to re-establish old friendships and share memories.

Commemorative Videos

This site does not normally accept 'advertising', but an approach has just been made by a lady, Carol Wallace, who not only asked very politely for a mention, but also believes that the service she can provide will interest some of our members. It specifically relates to the provision, on repayment of course, of video images of the resting places of old comrades and / or relatives within the Commonwealth Cemeteries (and others perhaps) close to the Normandy landing beaches. Carol will happily answer enquiries e-mailed to her at carolwallace.forgetmenot@virgin.net. If a direct approach is inappropriate, a website describing the services available can be reached by clicking here.

New Zealand Enquiry

Cliff Lord, Honorary Historian of the Royal New Zealand Signals, has asked for assistance in answering some historical questions on 'Y'. Firstly, does anyone have any information on Y units and their contribution in the Battles at Ypres in the First World War? Secondly, does anyone have access to information about which Y units were raised in WW2, with the dates of formation and disbandment if possible. This information is required to assist Cliff and a colleague, Dr Graham Watson, in researching a book on Royal Signals unit history. If you can assist with either enquiry, please respond directly to Cliff on e-mail by clicking here. In his e-mail correspondence Cliff also mentioned that New Zealand had an intercept unit within the Army Signal Company in Wellington during the Second World War. It intercepted Japanese KataKana transmissions, sending what could not be decrypted on site to Brisbane. Details of this activity can be read in the book, 'Swift & Sure: The History of Army Signalling in New Zealand' written by Laurie Barber and Cliff Lord himself. The book, published in 1996, is not easy to obtain, but details are provided in our bibliography.

Radio Researches

(June 2000) The Branch has received a request for assistance from a radio amateur who is currently researching war time memories for a university project, the results of which it is hoped to expand into a book in the not too distant future.   The researcher would be very interested in the memories of Y Service personnel - and particularly anything that can shed light on the work done by amateurs to assist the Service. (webmaster: It's quite well known, I think, that many amateur radio enthusiasts joined the Forces, but did any provide tip-offs or stand unofficial 'watches'?) If any one is able to contribute to the project they can contact the researcher by e-mail at anek@ndirect.co.uk - or by mail at PO Box 325, Stockton on Tees, TS20 1XL . The following website, which has some fascinating personal tales and excellent links to various sites, including a good recommended reading list, has also been created for the purpose of collecting war time memories - http://www.wartimememories.co.uk
Another researcher, Simon Anthony, has also asked for assistance. He writes, "I am currently carrying out research work, on Strategic Deception, for my Masters Degree at the University of Salford and am trying to find primary sources on signals interception of 'Operation Mincemeat', the ruse to deceive German Intelligence of the Allies true invasion plans for Sicily 1943. The plan involved planting the body of Major Martin, 'The Man Who Never Was' with the Spanish authorities. I am interested in any details about how British Intelligence were able to monitor German signals traffic concerning this operation to reduce the number of German troops defending Sicily". If you believe that you can help Simon, please e-mail him at S.T.Anthony@student.salford.ac.uk.

Wartime Wagon Plea

Frank Langfield, a gentleman who served in wartime 105 and 106 Special Wireless Sections in Africa and Italy, has asked if anyone is able to provide him with a photograph of the 'improvised' intercept vehicles used by his and other Sections in those theatres of war. He gave the following details of the vehicles he's interested in. The 'home-made' set vans were built in 1942 at Sarafand and Heliopolis from slats of timber recovered from crates in which aircraft parts had been delivered for assembly on site. The vans were ungainly square vehicles with storage boxes running both sides of the length of the roof. They were painted yellow for the desert (and remained that colour even in Italy) and mounted on 4 and 6 wheeled Bedford and Ford chassis, whichever came to hand.

It seems that, because of their sensitivity, no photographs were taken and none have been found in official records at the Imperial War Museum or the Museum of Army Transport. Frank, who is 85, is keen to discover whether anyone might be aware of any general photography in which they could have been inadvertently pictured. Pictures of column movement might include them, for example.(or does anyone have an illicit shot?)His particular interest is in the 4-wheeled version. He can be contacted by telephone at (0044)(0)117 965 0996 or by mail to Frank J Langfield, 19 Glenside Close, Frenchay, Bristol, United Kingdom BS16 2QY.