1940s WARTIME EVENT GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY 2016

We all took a nostalgic journey back in time to wartime Britain,

 as the 1940s came to life thanks to the many costumed re-enactors at Great Central Railway, Leicester!

There were lots of exhibitions and demonstrations including a static Spitfire display

and of course there were rides on the steam trains to enjoy.

Great talking to the re-enactors and a lovely weekend at Great Central Railway!

#1940sevent  #ww2re-enactors  #GreatCentralRailway

THE CHINDITS IN BURMA AND THE FRIENDSHIP THAT HELPED ALF AND NORMAN SURVIVE.

To try to combat Japanese controlled Burma during WWII, a special operational force was created, known as the "Chindits."  Prior to their mission in 1943 they were trained in jungle warfare to withstand the difficult terrain and physically demanding conditions they were to encounter.

Troops and supplies were to be dropped by airplane. Norman Fowler and Alf Nicholls were with the fifth column, rifle platoon 7, led by Lt. Phillip Stibbe. Column 5 successfully completed their task on the 6th March which was to destroy a railway bridge at Bonchaung.  The fighting continued and eventually the fifth column was weakened, by the fierce battles they endured, and also having received just 20 days of rations in the 80 days they spent behind enemy lines. Alf and Norman were captured by the Japanese on the 11 May 1943 and sent to a prisoner of war camp. The friendship that developed between Norman and Alf was to be a source of strength and survival during their gruelling years in Rangoon Jail.  Their friendship continued after the war.
Kathleen, Alf's wife and his son Kevin are planning to write about Alf's experiences in Burma during WWII.

www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/4905/chindits-of-Burma
www.chinditslongcloth1943.com.

Thanks to Margaret Woods for her help with this story.
The picture is from a re-enactment at Tutbury Castle 2015.
#ChinditsBurma ,  #WWII, #Chindits,  #WhitchurchHeritage, #OldRectory, #listeningstation

BANTOCK HOUSE MUSEUM 1940s WORLD WAR WEEKEND 2015

Bantock House Museum and Park travelled back in time with a weekend of wartime nostalgia on the 5th and 6th of September!

There were plenty of 1940s #re-enactors and visitors wearing themed costumes at this lovely Edwardian house and parkland and everyone got into the spirit of the time and joined in with the dancing!

In the tractor shed, Home Front re-enactors are seen here (pictured below) visiting a  #Ystation display (wireless station) showing the work of radio interception during #WWII.

With lots of #vintage shopping for the enthusiasts, a scale model aeroplane and 1930s Hornby train exhibition, #1940s picnic and land girls display, this was an entertaining weekend at this scenic venue!

THE RADIO SPIES AND THE WAR OF THE WIRELESS - WWII

Hidden away in lowly lit rooms, wearing headphones and with heads bowed, the radio spies silently worked. At the same time, the people of the Home Front unaware of this clandestine activity were also tuning in to their wireless sets. Motivated by inspiring and patriotic speeches from their wartime leaders they were busy with war work and defending the Home Front.

The radio interceptors were chosen for their agile minds, ability to work at speed, and also for the stamina required to work exhaustingly long shifts. At home and abroad the radio spies listened to the German transmissions, writing down morse code.

These coded transmissions, sent by the Germans, encrypted by Enigma machines, and received by the listening stations were sent to Bletchley Park. Once decoded they gave valuable information about bombing targets and invasion plans. Some Y stations, or Wireless Intercept stations, using direction finding, identified the position of German U boats. Voluntary Interceptors were also used. Radio hams, often with their own receivers, were secretly working from their own homes, and no one knew, not even their families! The work of the Y stations and Voluntary Interceptors was kept top secret.

In France, British planes dropped secret agents and spy suitcase radios to assist the work of the French Resistance.  Messages or instructions were relayed to the Resistance via news broadcasts.

In 1980, the truth about the work of Bletchley Park was revealed, although the contribution made by the radio interceptors is still to be fully acknowledged. Churchill's network or web of radio spies helped to shorten the war and save thousands of lives.

Source
Manpower - Ministry of Information -  published 1944 Alabaster Passmore and Sons, Ltd.
The Secret Life of Bletchley Park Sinclair McKay
The Secret Listeners Sinclair McKay

Churchill, Bletchley Park, the Radio Spies and "The Imitation Game"

Churchill's experiences during World War One had prepared him for the national web of secrecy and espionage needed to help defeat Hitler in World War Two.  This included Bletchley Park and it's famous code breakers. Also, the radio interceptors or radio spies who were based at listening stations throughout Britain, listening and writing down enemy morse code transmissions which were sent to Bletchley Park for decoding. Further support came from the Voluntary Interceptors, who were recruited early in the war, radio hams with the expertise and often their own radio equipment needed to listen in to enemy transmissions.  They also worked in secret, often from their own homes, the other occupants of the house unaware of their activities.

"The Imitation Game," a new film starring Benedict Cumberbatch is a bio-pic of the work of the mathematician Alan Turing at Bletchley Park, decoding the information from the radio interceptors and working with colleagues to develop the "Bombe" an early computer to assist with and speed up the process of code-breaking. The success of Bletchley Park saved over three million lives and helped to shorten the war. The  work and accuracy of the Y Service or listening station was also vital. For example, a listening station at the Old Rectory, Whitchurch, Shropshire intercepted foreign diplomatic transmissions from the Japanese Embassy in Berlin to Japan, giving detailed information about German defences in northern France in 1943. helping with the success of D-Day. The importance of safeguarding "Ultra" the intelligence received from Bletchley Park and of keeping Germany unaware of our ability to break the Enigma code is well known, but Churchill's vast network of secrecy also extended to the homefront with the British people's contribution, well aware that "careless talk costs lives."