Newsletter 15 - September 2003

No longer that I seem to have penned a few words than it is time for me to do so again. At least we have had good weather over the last few months.

On Saturday 30 August we had the summer general meeting at Chicksands. Present were 14 members and one guest. The numbers for meetings seem to have decreased recently. I am sure that with a membership of 413 we should be able to see more members present. Remember it is your Branch.

Harping back to the same old chestnut of committee members, we are getting perilously near to the point where we will not have a quorum when holding committee meetings. We were fortunate in one brave soul – Dave Street – saying that he was willing to put his name forward at the AGM as a Committee member. Well done, Dave.

Now a pat on the back for you all. Of our 413 members, 93% pay by Direct Debit, an increase over last year from 89%. 68% have completed a Gift Aid form, an increase of 2% over last year. These figures put us up at the top of the tree within the Legion and worthy of praise.

The Branch was able to contribute the sum of £1000 to the Poppy Appeal this year. This was a good effort and even more so since we do not have a consolidated collection. Mind you, there is no reason why individuals cannot help their local branches during Remembrance period.

Conference 2003 was held in Torquay over the May Bank Holiday and my wife Cathie, an Associate member of the Branch and I were the two delegates from Garat’s HaY. A report can be found elsewhere in this issue.

At the committee meeting on 30 August, a decision was taken to dispense with the Summer General meeting from this point on, mainly due to the lack of numbers. There will still be four Committee meetings per year, but two of them will be held electronically. What a wonder is the WWW and e-mails!!

Now our thoughts must turn to Remembrancetide 2003. I look forward to seeing many of you in Loughborough and Woodhouse over the weekend of 8/9 November.

The Branch continues to increase in numbers, albeit only at about 1 a month – but this is against the current trend of The Royal British Legion as a whole, where members appear to be leaving! Indeed, as the Chairman may have already mentioned, 96% of our members pay by Direct Debit, the highest in any Branch. Well Done.

For those few of you who made the last Branch meeting, you will be aware of a major change in meetings of this Branch. Due to lack of response, age, travelling, etc., it has been decided to cancel the Summer Branch Meeting. There will now be only ONE Branch meeting per year, which will be the AGM at Loughborough over the Remembrance Weekend in November. The Committee will meet formally twice per year, March & November, with two further meeting arranged electronically.

However, I have one big plea from the heart. The Committee drastically needs new members. We are losing people, but are not replacing them. Your Committee is the “lifeline” of the Branch, and it is vital that we keep it going. The task of a Committee member is not an onerous one – more a voice and a say in the running of the Branch (unless you wish to become the Treasurer or Secretary!!). Please help us to keep the Branch functioning as it should within the guidelines of the Legion. It would be extremely disappointing, after all the hard work and your support, to see the Branch slowly diminish. PLEASE HELP US TO HELP YOU.

Whilst on the subject of Committee members, it would be remiss of me not to pass on the most sincere thanks of all Branch members, to Rod Maunder. Rod, the TRBL CFO for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, has been a Committee member of our Branch since its inception, the first year as its Chairman. He is resigning from both posts. Rod has provided unstinting support and valuable advice, and will be sorely missed. Rod, who lost his wife 2 years ago, is to join up with one part of his family in New Zealand. We all wish him the very best of luck in his new venture.

May I end by thanking all of you for your continual support. Keep the photographs and memorabilia coming in, it makes for interesting viewing in the Branch Photographs Albums. I look forward to meeting many of you at the Remembrance Weekend at Loughborough 8/9 November 2003.

Brave member Sgt Mike Frankish is participating in this event. Branch members who wish to support him should send a cheque to John Farrell, made out to the Poppy Appeal, endorsing the back of the cheque “Garats Hay Branch”.

REPORT ON THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2003

This location was a substitute for Cardiff, which had to be cancelled because of the unavailability of accommodation. This had been due to football fixtures. The conference took place over three days with the Standard Bearers Competition taking place during the Saturday morning. The conference itself opened at 1330 hrs on Saturday 24 May when there were 627 delegates present. This is the second year when we were able to send two delegates, and this year we were represented by our Chairman, John Clark and his wife Cathie, one of our Associate members.

ElectionsThe following had been elected to National Council by their regions:

The second preference candidate elected by conference to serve on the National Council was PETER CLEMINSON of Eastern Region.

The National President, Lt Gen Sir Roderick Cordy-Simpson, who was due to stand down at the end of the Conference, was elected to served for a further year to steer the Legion through the changes expected over the coming year.

Sir Roderick expounded on the reasons why Earl Hague started the legion in it's present structure, and asked if this structure is sufficient for modern society. Are we still man ol man's club? He paid tribute to all the collectors for TRBL and urged everyone to complete a Gift Aid form as this was worth 28 pence in the £ if you pay tax at the normal rate.

When talking about the membership, the President stated that this was dwindling, with the current membership under 200,000. 40% of that membership are Associate members and they cannot benefit generally from benevolence under our present rules. Because of the numbers available, it is likely that the number of Associate Members could rise in proportion to Ordinary Members.

The Chairman extolled the virtues of THE WAY FORWARD which is being serialised in the Legion magazine. One serious concern was the decline in membership where over the last 3 years we have lost 65,841 persons, of whom 56,441 were Ordinary Members. 40% of our members are over the age of 70 years. There will be some management changes in the near future with a Board of Trustees being elected. This would include 6 external specialists and 12 elected members (i.e. National Council). There would be an Advisory Assembly which would meet once per year, and would comprise 25 invited representatives from other organisations. To help the Board of Trustees on membership, a Membership Council would consist of 5 of the elected trustees and 5 County Chairmen.

Our new Charter has been signed by Her Majesty The Queen, but has not yet been implemented. This is due in the near future, but meant that the Charter Motions put forward during Conference would apply to the 1993 Royal Charter. Our assets have fallen in line with other large organisations. The increase in National Insurance means a rise of over £100,000. Our assets of £8.6billion have fallen. However fundraising is holding it's ground.

The Secretary General stated that the Legion had achieved the majority of last year's targets. There had been a fall in investments in line with the rest of UK companies. 5440 new War Pension cases had been taken on, and there had been joint caseworking with SSAFA caseworkers. £3.5 million had been paid out on Almonisation, and grants of £9.8 million had been made. Over the last 7 years, the sum of £1.7 million had been raised on the pedal to Paris and Brussels. The major downside was the decline in membership by 3.35%.

The treasurer presented the final accounts and explained various variances between the 2001 and 2002 figures. He announced that major changed will have to be made to Headquarters in the near future. A decision to move, stay and/or refurbish has not yet been taken. HQ was purchased for some £2.3 million and is worth at the moment £14 million. After a refurbishment of £3 million, the value of HQ should be in the region of £20 million.

Mr Tedder also gave a presentation on the National Memorial Arboretum with which the Legion is considering becoming involved. This, however, would be subject to two conditions - 1) a grant in Aid from the Ministry of Defence and 2) the current trustees and management team would have to resign to which they have agreed. Should the Legion not become involved with the NMA, the site may have to close.

Lord Bach of Lutterworth - Under Secretary of State and Minister of Defence Procurement.

Lord Bach, who was appointed in 2001 and who is an Associate Member of the Legion, spoke on the Veterans' Initiative and emphasised that charity is not a substitute for Government assistance. He also gave the Government's view that it did not accept the existence of Gulf War Syndrome.

Noel announce that the amount collected for the Poppy Appeal in 2001 was £21,454,947 and that the figure for 2002 (with one week to go before the fund closed) was £20,927,405.

Other speakers were the chairmen of SSAFA, The Women’s Section and of TRBL Scotland, and Lord Bach of Lutterworth, Minister of Defence Procurement.

(Charter Motions are worded to show all changes to all appropriate paragraphs in the Charter – most of these have been removed to save space)

1. Page 14, Rule 3(b), delete "and who has obtained an honourable discharge" Carried, 480 - 52

2. This Conference agrees that a new class of membership be introduced for Ordinary and Associate Members as "Members" and therefore confirms the Charter Motion set out in the addendum to this Agenda. Lost – no 2/3 majority.

"(c) (i) Any man or woman who served with the Mercantile Marine afloat in hostile waters and is in receipt of the relevant campaign medal.

(ii) Any man or woman who served as a full time member of the Allied Civil Police Forces.

(iii) Any man or woman who is entitled to the campaign medal issued to the Royal Navy, Army or Royal Air Force in direct support of, or under command of whom he or she was at the time"

4. Page 26, delete Rule 46, and substitute:

"The Annual Conference shall be held over a two-day weekend preceding the Spring Bank Holiday in every year, or at such time as the Annual Conference may decide, at a place normally to be decided by the Annual Conference four years previously." Carried, 383 – 180.

5. Page 26, Rule 47, in line 5 delete all after "Conference" and insert:

"Any Branch which has not, by the 31st day of March immediately preceding the Conference, submitted its receipts and payments accounts for the previous year and Form MS1 and affiliation fee for the current year shall lose its entitlement to send a delegate or delegates to that Conference." Carried, 398 – 117.

6. Page 10, delete Article 14, substitute:

"The Head Office of the Legion shall be located in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (excluding Scotland)." Carried, 422 – 115.

7. Page 11, Article 21, delete existing Article and insert:

"21. For the purpose of Articles 19 and 20 of this Our Charter a Special Resolution means a Resolution of:-

(a) the Annual Conference, on a motion of which due notice shall be given before the Conference and passed by a two-thirds majority of those present at the Conference, entitled to vote and voting by ballot and confirmed by a resolution of the National Council, or which due notice shall have been given to the members of the Council before the meeting at which the motion is to be considered and passed by a majority of two-thirds of those present, qualified to vote and voting. or

(b) the membership, if so deemed by the National Council, on a motion of which due notice shall have been given to all Members and passed by a two-thirds majority of those Members, entitled to vote and voting by postal ballot and confirmed by a resolution of the National Council, of which due notice shall have been given to the Members of the Council before the meeting at which the motion is to be considered and passed by a majority of two-thirds of those present, qualified to vote and voting." Lost, 84 - 452

"The Membership of each County/District Conference shall consist of two representatives from each branch in the County/District." Lost – no 2/3 majority

9. Page 19, Rule 11(c) delete "County and". For "levels" substitute "level". After "offices" insert "of County President and".(This would allow Associate Members to progress to the offices of President, Chairman or Vice-Chairman at National and County levels) Lost – no 2/3 majority.

1. This Conference deplores the Iraqi bias shown by some elements of the British media who reported from Iraqi dominated territory during the recent Iraq conflict. Lost.

Subject of Motions marked * is already Legion policy. These were proposed and seconded. No debate was allowed but a statement was read out on behalf of national Council before the vote was taken.

1. This Conference calls upon the National Council to increase the cost of tickets for the evening performance of the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall to £10.00. Carried. Amendment to £8 from York was withdrawn.

2. This Conference recommends that, in order to reverse the trend in falling membership, a national advertising campaign be launched, using television and national newspapers to inform the general public of our existence. Fell.

3. This conference considers that the amount of manpower and costs involved in producing per capita league tables for the Poppy Appeal are wasted and unnecessary and moves that they be terminated. Carried.

4. This Conference requests the Legion to scrap its policy that unassessed self-funding applicants for admission to the Legion's Residential Homes must have sufficient funds to pay the Home's fees for at least two years. Lost.

5. This Conference recommends that, in the event of regular and reserve British Forces deploying to the Middle East, welfare funds be made available through County Field Officers to help fund a range of activities designed to maintain the morale of the separated service families. Lost.

6. This Conference views with concern the evidence that Social Service Departments are referring requests for welfare assistance from ex-Service people or their dependants to The Royal British Legion Benevolent Fund and other military charities instead of dealing with them through Social Service channels. Carried.

7. This Conference resolves that the Annual Conference, with effect from 2007, will be held in alternate years in Blackpool and Bournemouth. Lost.

8. This Conference requests the national Council to review the decision of the 2002 Annual Conference on its refusal to accept the proposal to establish an outside, independent body in the setting of the annual affiliation fee. Lost.

9. This Conference resolves that using the £10.00 affiliation fee for 2002/2003 as the baseline figure, future increases in the affiliation fee over any rolling 5-year period should be capped at 5% above the accumulative rate of inflation for the previous 5-year period. Lost.

10. This Conference does not agree with the National Council's ruling that legacies, over £5,000, left to a specified Branch, be held in trust at HQ. Carried.

11. This Conference calls on delegates present to support the National Council in the task of reforming the Royal Charter to allow more democracy in the conduct of Royal British Legion business. Lost.

12. This Conference requests an amendment to Rule 46 in the Schedule of Rules to the Royal Charter, at page 26, so that the words "Annual Conference" where they appear for the second and third times are replaced with the words "National Council". Lost.

13. This Conference urges the National Council to look at other means of generating income for the General Fund other than by raising the affiliation fee. Carried.

14. This Conference requests the national Council to review the whole of the Legion Year taking into consideration dates and timings of (1) Financial Year (2) National and County Conferences with a view to relieving the heavy work load in the last three months of the year. Carried.

15. This Conference agrees that the take-over of the National Memorial Arboretum should be discussed by Annual Conference before the National Council makes a decision. Lost.

16. This Conference requests the National Council to allocate ten per cent of the affiliation fee of each Branch back to the Branch to assist in its normal running costs. Withdrawn – no proposer present.

17. This Conference urges the National Council to approach the Ministry of Defence, Honours and Decorations Committee, with a request that the decision to deny the award, granted by the Russian President, of the Arctic Convoy Medal to the surviving veterans of the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy may be reviewed. Carried.

18. This Conference urges the Legion to make representation to HM Government to increase the applicable amount to a more meaningful figure when assessing Income Support for the ex-Service community. Lost.

19. This Conference views with considerable concern the reported lack of resources, equipment and support given to Service personnel being deployed on active Service. Carried.

*20. This Conference requests that the National Council takes urgent action to campaign to remove all local authority assessment policies and procedures - contrary to statute law which discriminate against the United Kingdom and Overseas EU Elderly ex-Service populations who need care in the community and residential care home support. Carried.

21. This Conference urges the National Council to press HM Government to extend the grant in aid scheme for visits to War Graves to include sons and daughters of deceased ex-Service personnel. Carried.

22. This Conference requests the National Council to approach the appropriate government body to inquire why some Service qualifications such as Paramedics are not recognised in civilian life. Carried.

23. This Conference calls upon the National Council to approach the appropriate body with a view to amending the date of eligibility for the Northern Ireland Clasp for the General Service Medal from 1969 to 1964. Lost. There was a comment from the Ministry of Defence that HM Government chose August 1969 because this was when troops were first deployed to the Province in support of the Civil Power.

*24. This Conference is concerned at the poor response from HM Government to the plight of Service personnel suffering severe illness following Service in the Gulf

War and urges the National Council to press HM Government to take immediate corrective action. Carried.

25. This Conference requests the National Council to make representations to HM Government to review the method of deferring the payment of retirement State Pensions until the first Monday after the recipient's qualifying birthday, causing hardship to ex-Service personnel in the short term. Withdrawn.

26. This Conference requests the National Council to make representations to HM Government to review the method of paying Retirement Pensions in some cases up to four weeks in arrears from the recipients' retiring date, causing financial hardship to ex-Service personnel in the short term. Withdrawn.

LAST POST

It is with regret that we report the death of Peter Ashford. Peter was not a Branch member, but will be known my many as a friend and former colleague. A true gentleman in every sense of the word, Peter will be better known for his activities within the Intelligence Corps world, and as a member of the Cheltenham Branch of TRBL.

The Committee, 8 members and one guest met on Saturday 30^th August in the Social Club, DISC Chicksands, to receive and discuss various reports and issues. Membership is 413, and growing slowly. Our Financial Statement shows that even after donating £1000 to the Poppy Appeal we have nearly £2800 in the bank. We intend in future making a twice-yearly donation to the Poppy Appeal – this will be mentioned again at the November AGM.

Bill Cooper would like to hear from anyone who recognise themselves in the pictures below.

Geof Jones, now living in Florida, served with 376SU at Sai Wan in 1961/62. He would love to hear from anyone who served there or has any information about it.

We 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)

A series of events is being planned, including various parades and services, and a

Pilgrimage to Normandy, with Remembrance Services and Parades will take place 5^th – 7^th June 2004. Details from Normandy Veterans Assn, (020) 8907 9642

029 20 230216. We hear that the Newmarket Raceday raised nearly £25,000 for the Poppy Appeal!

9^th November. Members who wish to participate must contact the Secretary by 30^th September. They must be able to march at least 1 ½ miles, and stand in Whitehall for at least an hour, possibly in inclement weather. Groups should contact Cenotaph Events Office on 020 7973 7224/53 0r email singlott@britishlegion.org.uk

The Hotel has again been booked for that weekend. Rooms have been negotiated at a cost of £27.50 per person, bed and breakfast. When booking quote the Royal British Legion Garats Hay Branch and confirm by the beginning of October please.

On Saturday 8 Nov, the Annual General Meeting will commence at 1400 hours. Lunch prior to this can be taken as Bar Snacks in the main Bar. The Annual Branch Dinner is 1930 for 2000 hours, in the Charnwood Room. 3 courses at £17.00 which would include a 50p tip per person dining. Members to pay on the night.

On Sunday 9 Nov 03, members are requested to arrive at St. Mary’s – in- the – Elms, Woodhouse by 1030 hours for the Annual Remembrance Service. Medals should be worn, and serving members may wear uniform.

There is a change to the arrangements for Sunday, after the service. The Buffet back at the Hotel has been discontinued, due to lack of numbers. Instead, the Secretary will book (if necessary) Sunday Lunch at a local Public House (hopefully in Woodhouse Eaves). The cost should be between £6.00 to £10.00, members to pay their way. Members are to notify their request for this on the return slip at the end of the Newsletter.

UNIT HISTORIES OF THE CORPS (1920-2001) AND ITS ANTECEDENTS Cliff Lord & Graham Watson

I saw Mercury Barracks when it wasn’t there”! from Major G K (Keith) Rothwell.

After a Middle East tour the writer joined No 1 Wireless Regiment (it being redesignated 13^th Signal Regt some years later) in Nelson Barracks, Muenster. In 1952 it became known that the Regiment was to move to a new home in due course. Probably because I had only recently achieved SQMS, I became a supernumerary member of the QMs department in order to prepare for the new Barracks.

Bill Potesta was the QM and the CO was Peter Lonnon. On a cold winter day in 1953 the QM and I travelled by road (a considerable luxury in those days!) to Rothenbach for our first examination of the site. We were able to witness the last trees of the woodland site being felled and the builders busy laying their first levels. It was another first when we took rooms in the Gasstatte right on the frontier! Before returning we made contact with RAF Wildenrath and were able to arrange for accommodation there on future visits.

It took literally months to calculate and prepare the indents for Barrack Stores and Consumables, so that one soon became an expert in the wide range of scales and entitlements. The matter became even more complicated when the Establishment was amended, so that many calculations had to be revised.

With many interim visits there came the week in 1954 when the writer took over the Barracks and Married Quarters (56 – or was it 86?) from the District Works Office RE. With the RASC Barracks Services we had planned deliveries in logical order and established liaison with the Station Master at Dalheim. This small station lay several kilometres north of the Barracks and was reached by turning left out of the barracks and left again on to a rough un-metalled track.

The barracks taken over, we were joined by a working party of several NCOs and 30 men from Muenster, together with 6 Trucks GS 3-ton and 6 Trailers Cargo 2-ton. The first six rail vans arrived as planned and we then had to get cracking, as they all had to be emptied by evening, as they had to be removed to make room for the next day’s batch!

After about six weeks matters were so far advanced that the Squadrons could send down their own advance parties to take over their allotted accommodation. Simultaneously, the first Married Quarters were occupied, three families moving each day. And thus the Regiment began to come to life and an established feature of the landscape.

The site was remote but there was a bus to Roermond and also Moenchen-Gladbach. Often at weekends I was the only one left aboard the last bus when it reached Rothenbach, it terminating at the frontier. There were many “Wanderweg” in the surrounding woods, where one often came across a German Frontier Guard quietly observing the area.

The police force comprised one “Fritz” whose home and office was in Effeld and who attended emergencies on a noisy motor scooter! Liaison was not difficult, it merely needed a sufficient dose of whisky in the Sergeants’ Mess and problems were easily solved!

Sometime after the move the Regiment paraded for a visit by General ‘Windy’ Gale, then C-in-C BAOR, during which an unfortunate juxtaposition of the buildings created a strong echo of the band music. As Squadrons advanced to one end of the square, the echo became dominant and so the pace changed. There followed the unusual sight of each squadron marching to a different rhythm but to the same music!

(Editor’s note: Major Rothwell service began in 1943 at Douglas IOM, and included WW2 adventures with 110, 109 and 111 Special Wireless Sections in France, Belgium and Germany. After the war he served at Loughborough, Gluckstadt, Garats Hay and Cyprus. We hope he will share more of his memories with us in future issues.)

When I was a child the attic of our house was full of radio gear, my elder brother being one of the first radio amateurs or “hams”. When I was ten I made my first radio, a crystal set. When I was twelve I began to work after school in a radio shop run by my brother and at fourteen I left school to work full-time in the shop.

My spare time was also spent on making radio receivers and transmitters, and contacting other local enthusiasts, mostly on the VHF bands, then little used. At one time I broadcast music from an old gramophone on the same one-valve transmitter I used for Morse on the HF bands, and got a favourable report in a local newspaper. This would have been on about 500 mW input power, the antenna consisting of about 20 m of wire tied to the neck of a bottle and thrown up into a high tree.

Towards the end of 1939 the radio shop closed and we moved to a small workshop to make radio sets for amateurs and the component parts. Soon after the outbreak of war in September, through his amateur radio connections, my brother obtained contracts to make basic HF radio receivers for the RAF. An order for compatible transmitters followed.

Around autumn 1941 I had to decide which of the armed services I should join, because my work in radio manufacture, taking account of my age, would no longer be a “reserved occupation”. A Squadron Leader Maxwell Buckwell of the RAF, who used to visit to check on our progress on the contracts, recommended I should join the RAF. He had himself been a radio amateur and had belonged to the RAF Reserve. Max is briefly mentioned in Aileen Clayton’s book “The Enemy is Listening – The Story of the Y Service”.

Newbold Revel

So I joined the RAF as a Wireless Mechanic on the 2^nd of January 1942 and after only brief initial training I was posted directly with no technical training to No. 50 Signals Unit of the Y (Wireless Intelligence) Service at Newbold Revel, near Rugby where I found S/Ldr Buckwell was the CO.

The Unit’s function was interception of HF CW (Morse) traffic and there was a training school where operators were learning Japanese Morse, the Kata Kana Radio Code. In addition, a research and development section of three wireless mechanics was just starting up which I joined. The work was very varied. We designed modifications to receivers to improve performance, and we made a jamming device for some kind of enemy transmission. We worked on direction-finding (DF) and visited DF sites in various parts of the UK to do modifications or to check calibration.

West Drayton

In the autumn of 1942 I was posted to No. 1 Signals Unit, West Drayton where I worked in the Y Technical Development Section under W/Cdr Phillips. Initially most jobs were modifications to receivers of various kinds. There was a notable interest in LF reception - I modified a Hallicrafters SX 17 to cover 16 to 610 kHz and a RAF R.1080A to cover a band including the 500 kHz emergency frequency and also added a BFO for reading CW Morse. Another task was to modify the standard TR 1133/34 RAF aircraft VHF RT set so as to work on the different channels used then by the US Air Force.

In November we started work on direction-finding equipment in which the bearings of signals were read from a cathode-ray tube display. The advantage was in speed – the source of a very brief transmission could be found, such as the last call of one of our pilots before ditching in the sea, and, of course, short enemy messages. A system of this kind had existed in a mechanical form involving electric motors but was unreliable. Over some months we developed electronic circuitry that simulated the motors’ rotation of the goniometer, using pairs of pentode valves. I still have the now-ragged laboratory notebook in which I sketched the circuit diagrams of this and many other projects.

In the spring of 1943 it was found that the Marconi Company was working on an almost identical system and it was agreed to merge the activities.

Thus I found myself with two colleagues seconded to the then Marconi Research Laboratories in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, to continue work on the electronic DF equipment in a section under R.J. Kemp.

As an aside: after I was demobilised I returned in August 1946 to my brother’s firm and worked mainly on television receiver design. By 1950 I found myself Works Manager but wanted to return to electronic research and design. I contacted Mr Kemp at Marconi’s and I found that in the intervening years he had become the Director of Research. I started work in the Research Laboratories a few weeks later. I retired from Marconi’s at 65 in 1986. I became a Technical Adviser to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and retired again in 1998.

Sutton Valence – 365 WU

In March 1944 I was posted to Sutton Valence in Kent where a new mobile Y- Service unit, 365 W.U., was being assembled for service in Europe. The C.O. was again to be S/Ldr Buckwell. I was promoted to sergeant and my first task was to ensure that all the technical gear being delivered was correct, all of course, in vehicles. As far as I can now remember what we had were:

· Two 6-wheeled trucks each with 16 operator positions for “Y” reception. The receivers were American National HRO‘s with nine plug-in coil sets covering 50 kHz to 30 MHz. At that time there were no suitable British receivers available. There were also some Hallicrafter SX28 receivers for use above 30 MHz and some RCA AR88’s;

· Two transmitter vehicles, each with two SWB-B transmitters – these of course were for communication back to the UK;

· Two 6-wheeled vehicles each with two operator’s positions from which the transmitters were remotely controlled. They also carried transmitter spare parts;

· Two small vans each fitted with one 1154/1155 transmitter/ receiver set. There was room for other equipment. They had very robust telescopic antennas extending to about 40 feet and each had a portable 5.6 kW petrol generating set for power;

· Several trucks to carry our five 60-foot sectional antenna masts, guys, cable etc.

· A number of 3-ton trucks carrying the tents and all the other housekeeping gear etc., that a mobile unit has to have;

· A 6-wheeled vehicle to carry all our test and measuring equipment, technical spares and our photographic equipment;

· There were two motorcycle despatch riders, several little vans and a staff car.

Altogether we were equipped with technical resources far beyond those needed just for the interception of enemy HF CW messages. It was clear that the Air Ministry had provided for a mobile general-purpose radio intelligence capability. I do not know how many other units there were similarly equipped.

My crew consisted on average of two corporals (a wireless mechanic and an electrician), four LAC’s (three wireless mechanics and a wireless mechanic/operator) and an airman electrician.

Iver, Buckinghamshire

The assembly of the Unit being almost complete, 365 WU moved in convoy to its first operational site in Ritchings Park in Iver in April 1944. The receive antenna masts were erected about 120 feet apart and a support wire strung between them from which the antennas were suspended. The receiver vehicles were spaced in line between the masts. Within a few hours we were operational, some miles of Don-8 telephone cable having been run out to reach a connection point to our headquarters. . We operated 24 hours a day, the operators doing eight-hour watches. The transmitter site was established about half a mile away and it operated as an exercise only since we did not yet need long-distance communications.

It was soon found there was a need for the corporal wireless operator in charge of each watch to be able to listen to any receiver without leaving his position in the vehicle. We therefore designed, constructed and installed a system with a switch at the corporal’s position to select the receiver he wanted to monitor.

Intelligence matters

Security within the “Y” Service in my experience was excellent. Although being the senior technical NCO of the Unit, to this day I know almost nothing of the material that was intercepted and little about the decoding and encoding methods that were used. It was not difficult to deduce that interception was mainly of Luftwaffe ground–to-ground and ground-to-air traffic. I did know about “one-time” pads used for encoding and decoding messages to and from our headquarters and which I thought ingenious.

All the airmen involved in intelligence matters were Sergeants, all Acting except perhaps for two. This was of course for segregation. A great advantage of this to the six full sergeants of the Unit was that we had a very large and generously funded Sergeants’ Mess.

About June 1944 we needed more direct communications with our corresponding units in the US Airforce. Thus one of my LAC’s was sent on a secret mission to learn about the US coding/decoding machine that was to be sent to us. When the machine arrived we were only allowed to know how to operate it – all the maintenance manuals were top secret, only my LAC had access. The Type-X machine was, I can see now, similar to Enigma in principle but greatly refined and user-friendly, with many more permutation discs, simple to slip in and out. I had not heard of Enigma nor of Bletchley Park until they appeared in the news.

The V1 weapon

From the second week in June 1944 the enemy V1 weapon – the “Doodle-Bug”, a flying bomb, began to be launched against London and the South-East of England. It was driven by a basic impulse jet engine in which volatile fuel was fed into the tubular combustion chamber and then fired. The resulting explosions, about twenty a second, drove the aircraft forward. It turned out that it had a simple autopilot to keep it in level flight, at a set altitude and compass bearing. A timing device cut off the fuel and disabled the auto pilot when the V1 should have reached its target area so that it dived to the ground and its explosive, nearly a ton, went off.

We were instructed to investigate any wireless signals by which the flying bomb might be controlled. Radio beams at VHF, such as were used for specific targets by manned bombers, were unlikely since the hits seemed almost randomly distributed over quite wide areas. After careful searching we came across a weak signal in the LF band at, I think, 130 kHz. It was a wobbly signal, modulated mainly in frequency but also in amplitude. The sound of the modulation was exactly that of the V1 that we, like everyone else, had come to know. The signal gradually increased in strength as we listened, for a few minutes, then suddenly weakened and then disappeared. All of this was entirely consistent with the conclusion that the signal had come from a V1 flying towards us then exploding somewhere between. At Iver we were about seven miles west of Central London. Monitoring the frequency band showed that only a few V1’s put out a signal. It was subsequently found that only one in a firing of several V1’s was fitted with a transmitter.

The V1 transmitter would very basic because of the constraints on weight and power supply, and the vibrations from the engine would disturb its frequency and amplitude, as we had observed. The function of the transmitter was to provide a signal for direction finding. DF stations linked to the launching sites tracked the V1 so that the place where it fell could be plotted, and any necessary corrections, e.g., due to unexpected wind changes, could be made to the settings of the timers and autopilots of subsequent firings.

We sailed from Gosport on some LCT’s to the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanche in the first week of September 1944. We camped overnight in an apple orchard in Normandy and our convoy drove into Brussels the day after the liberation by British troops. We pressed on to the outskirts of Antwerp close to the enemy lines but were sent back by the Army.

We then took over the Belgian National School of Horticulture at Vilvoorde, a mile or two north of Brussels. We moved all our equipment indoors and strung our antennas from the tall chimney of the boilers that heated the greenhouses. We spent Christmas 1944 there. About then I was recommended for a Commission and flew to London for interview in an uncomfortable old Dakota. I failed the interview but I later discovered that had I passed I would have had to stay in the RAF for some time beyond my release date, and that in the Far East.

Whilst at Vilvoorde we had the only direct contact I can recall with another WU. One of the intelligence sergeants invited the sergeants’ mess of either 364 or 366 WU, I am not sure which, to a party at our mess. They must have been located nearby. Their number included a Czech WAAF sergeant with whom I subsequently corresponded and met once on leave in London.

The V2 weapon

As we now know, the V2 was a ballistic missile. Once launched by its rocket its target was determined by the initial force and the direction in which it was fired. It was not controllable thereafter. As casualties and damage caused by the V2 became significant we were asked to investigate any signals that might be used to control the weapon and it was thought that these signals could be in the UHF region. A special receiver for these frequencies had been delivered to us some time before, a prototype from the GEC Hirst Laboratories. It was decided to take the receiver in one of our

small T/R vehicles to the seacoast where reception of signals from a missile crossing to England might be optimum.

We drove to Blankenberge, a Belgian seaside resort, which a Canadian regiment, the Manitoba Dragoons, had just captured. The enemy had been driven to Zeebrugge about three miles further north. The Canadians had checked the pier and thought it safe from booby traps. So we set up our receiving gear at the end of the pier, a near-ideal receiving site. However, we could not find any significant signals. The Canadians told us that during the night the enemy on Zeebrugge Mole, a long breakwater some three miles away, armed with naval guns, had been light-signalling towards the pier. Perhaps they thought that we were some of their troops left behind. We returned to Vilvoorde. We know now that there were in fact no control signals associated with the V2 after launch. Also, that it was the War Cabinet that set us the task.

Heinsbeck, Germany

Our CO was eager always to get as close as possible to any interesting transmissions, so we moved in March 1945 in convoy across the border into Germany. It was a curious feeling, entering enemy territory whilst still at war. The CO and the Adjutant and I went ahead of the convoy to find a suitable site. Near a little near-deserted town, Heinsbeck, some forty miles into Germany, we found a level stubble field of about three acres surrounded by hedges and with a wood on one side. I was left alone to guard the site in case some other unit claimed it, whilst the CO and Adjutant went back to direct the convoy. I felt very vulnerable, having only my service revolver and a familiar Sten gun I had acquired at some time, and, on a sound in the bushes, I dropped to the firing position. Out came a red deer that ran across the field to disappear into the scrub on the other side. To my relief the convoy soon arrived and we put up our tents and our antennas and were operational again.

The war officially ended whilst we were at Heinsbeck. We listened to the German radio playing the most sombre bits of Wagner and we heard Hitler’s demise announced: “Unser Führer ist Gefallen”. Intelligence work continued nevertheless. Now we were able to move further into Germany without getting in the way of the Army and indoors and out of our tents. Our CO found us a castle.

Schloss Hasperde

In May 1945 we took over the Schloss Hasperde, a castle in an isolated estate twenty-five miles south-west of Hanover and five miles from Hameln on the River Weser, the Hamelin of the Pied Piper in Browning’s poem. The aged owner, a Baron, was living in a part of the castle with some old retainers. It had been occupied at one time by the German national railways training school so the accommodation suited us quite well. I still have a few photographs of the place.

The Baron was pleased to see us and said we Hanoverians should never been at war against each other. The local electricity supply was unreliable so we connected the castle to our diesel generators, which pleased the Baron even more. The work of the Unit continued as before but under cover. There was plenty of room for our receive antennas and for our transmitter site, nearly a mile away. About this time S/Ldr Burroughs became CO.

We found that we were the only “military” unit for miles around. The local people, mostly aged or otherwise not drafted into the armed forces, began to rely on us to keep order. Sometimes the bands of “displaced” people (the “DP’s”, many from Eastern Europe and who had been driven from their homes) became troublesome. We would then assemble an off-duty squad of wireless operators and others and we would march down the village street with our rifles and bayonets fixed. This worked. Our unit also in effect took over management of the brewery in Hamelin; the old men left to run it were getting senile. The beer was excellent.

“Griff”

In July 1945 we created a unit newspaper, “Griff”, which we had printed in Hamelin. I contributed a few pieces to the paper myself. It appeared about once a fortnight, the Christmas 1945 issue being the last. It started with eight and finished with 22 A4-size pages with pictures. Griff reached a circulation of some hundreds, including copies posted back to the UK. I still have original copies of nine of the eleven issues.

The end of 365 WU

The Unit was disbanded in February 1946. Some of the men, including me, who had been working on basic communications and not yet due for demobilisation were posted to Bentwaters, an airfield in Suffolk where a new Group Radar Control Centre, 2GCC/70 was being assembled for a site in Germany. I think most of our Y operators and intelligence colleagues not due for imminent release were sent to the Far East.

The GCC was soon in operation, not far from Hamm, in the Ruhr. It was a good, high site, giving the new 10cm radars: two PPI’s and two height-finders, a range of almost 400 miles. I had little to do myself except ensure that all the communications gear was working properly. To fill in time before my release I found it possible to get an amateur radio licence from the Allied Control Commission and was duly issued with the call sign D2AX. I built a one-valve (807) transmitter from RAF spares, moving the frequency control crystals into the 40m amateur band by carefully grinding them with toothpaste on the surface of a bathroom mirror. From my bedroom in the Sergeants’ Mess I contacted my brother by CW at home in the UK most mornings.

Together with some of my colleagues I left the unit in July to return to the UK for demobilisation.

The Desert Rats memorial is located on the A1065 in Thetford Forest Park, Norfolk. Work is currently being undertaken to expose for display the remains of the wartime

camp where they trained for the D-day landings. They would be pleased to make contact with “Y” people who served alongside them during their many exploits. Contact Mr G Cracknell, 22 School Rd, Foulden, Thetford, Norfolk. Tel 01366 328158.

Bletchley Park Trust offers Freedom of the Park to all who workrd there or at the Y Stations during WW2. Benefits include free entry to the Park for life, a certificate and pass, inclusion in the Roll of Honour, an occasional Newsletter, and invitations to special events and occasions.

If you qualify, complete the form on page 22 of this Newsletter and send it to Victoria Pether at The Mansion, Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, MK3 6EB

TRBL has teamed up with this scheme to help members find the best gas & Electricity prices. Approved by Energywatch, their recommendations are guaranteed to be accurate and impartial. For every enquiry they will donate £1, and if you do switch supplier they will donate up to £40 to the Poppy Appeal. SwithchandGive is simple – ring the Legion Members’ line on 0870 922 0817 or visit www.switchandgive.com and click on the RBL logo. There is no pressure and no sales person will call later.

This issue contains more fascinating items submitted by our members. My sincere thanks to them – keep them coming in please.

At a recent commissioning dinner at RAF Digby, some old and bold (mostly old) players decided to form a veteran Y team called The Old Crows. The intention is to play an annual game in Loughborough during the Reunion weekend. Any serving or ex serving “Y” associated personnel are invited to express an interest.

You must be over 35, have a sense of humour, and be able to walk, trot or stumble round a rugby pitch once a year.

This has now been delivered to the Legion and is effective from 30/5/03. copies are being printed and will be available on-line.

Homebase DIY is now stocking these seeds in their stores. £1 per packet, they can be sown during September and October, or from March to June.

We warmly welcome the following new members who have joined since the last issue.

Application for Freedom of Bletchley Park

Details of Applicant: Title……….Full Name……………………………

Address…………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………Post code……………….

Tel No………………….Friends Membership No if applicable…………

Brief description of wartime role (inc approx dates):-

British Legion

Garats HaY Branch

Branch Patron: Gen Sir Sam Cowan KCB CBE

Newsletter Number 15

September 2003