Newsletter 4th March 2007
To members and friends of SCUs. I hope many of you will join us on April 29th.
All interested folk are welcome but remember that unless exempt there is an entrance fee at the gate. The Trust has very kindly let us have the Music Room and facilities free of charge. You are, of course, at liberty to visit the museum at any time during your stay.
This may be my last offering before April 29th at BP. Those who cannot make it will receive a newsletter containing an account of the proceedings]. Bob/Noz
Snow, you may remember, was the Welsh electrician; probably the first WWII agent in Britain. We were never very sure of his allegiance or principles as he appeared to offer his services to whoever paid him best. Agents (spies etc) were not usually of the ‘Raffles’ type but ex-convicts or persons of dubious character. Garbo and Tate were exceptions. At the time of this entry Snow was in Portugal in touch with his German controllers. 22nd March 1941 (Liddell diaries volume one) There has been some rather disquieting news about SNOW. It seems that the Germans were not satisfied with his traffic and went for him. He evidently felt himself cornered and admitted that he had been operating under duress. In spite of this he alleges that he been given a sum of £!0,000 and a new contract. This seems very curious but there is no chance of getting at the facts until he returns and we are expecting him back next week. In the meantime CELERY is apparently making his own way back by sea. SNOW has suggested that he aroused suspicion through obtaining a passage so easily on the aeroplane. I am disinclined to believe this as he had very good commercial reasons for travelling. There is also the rather curious fact that at one moment he wanted his wife and child to join him in Lisbon. It may be that he has lost his nerve. The whole thing is rather unfortunate but it was bound to come to an end sooner or later. We shall have to get other strings to our bow. There is rather reassuring news about TRICYCLE, formerly SKOOT. He is to come here on a special mission instead of going to America. It is possible that he is required here in order that he can take SNOW'S place and that this is why a change has been made.
[The following extract from the BP Archives was sent to me by Mike (G1YVR)].
It is strange that for quite a while after our first reunion at BP in 1997 the guides there had absolutely no knowledge of the part the RSS played in the input to BP and had never heard of Oliver Strachy. It was always the custom for governments, and especially ours, never to admitting having a secret service, and treasury funds for the same were not questioned in Parliament]. I have been going through some of my references and found this one that may be of interest.... hope I have not sent this one before! [Mike] December 1943 Abwehr Codes. Some of the hand codes of the German military secret service, the Abwehr, were first broken back in 1940, and a team under Dilly Knox carried out the breaking of the Abwehr Enigma codes in the autumn of 1941. (It was the last major contribution of the great veteran code-breaker before he died of cancer in February 1943). Now 89 strong, the ISOS under Oliver Strachey is continuing to break the hand-codes, and ISK, 86 strong, under Peter Twinn is regularly breaking the Abwehr Enigma codes. Because of the unusual turn-over pattern of the wheels of the Enigma machine used by the Abwehr, the ISK team now has two special bombes to help them with this work, known as the ‘Funf’ type; (those who remember their Tommy Handley ‘ITMA’ broadcasts will recognise the origin of the name). Their work is always of value for the insight it gives into the German spying activity. But now it has become invaluable by showing the German concerns about future Allied operations, which provides the basis on which deception campaigns can be built. The seeds are now being sown that will flower in the very successful deceptions before the landings both at Anzio and in Normandy. From the BP Archive via G1YVR [What more evidence is required to show the significance of RSS intercepts? How sad that so many of those devoted operators were unable to know the contents of this extract.]
I apologise for the diversion below; the extract from reader’s Digest but knowing a little about vampire bats it bowled me over]. OTTO THE VAMPIRE BAT came flapping in from the night-his face covered in fresh blood-and settled on the roof of the cave to get some sleep. Soon, all the other bats smelled the blood and hassled Otto to tell them where he got it. He hissed at them to go away and let him get some rest. But they persisted, getting increasingly excited at the prospect of a feast. "OK, follow me," he said and flew out of the cave with hundreds of his fellow residents behind him. Down through a valley they went, across a river and into a forest. Finally, he slowed down and the other bats milled around him, tongues hanging out expectantly. "Do you see that large tree over there?" he said. "Yes, yes!" the bats all screamed, whipping themselves into a frenzy. "Good for you," said Otto, " 'cos I blooming didn't."
Tail End.
I have just discovered that the Eddystone Users Group has been reorganised and now has a web site where all the information on the famous Eddystone receivers is to be had FREE. All the magazines are there from 1932 to 1947 for downloading exactly as copies of the original books appeared. You will find my Short Wave Two in manual number 4. 1938. (About 20GB per copy) We are reminded about the Purchase Tax imposed after the war to help to pay for the most expensive war in our history. Eddystone receivers were classed as domestic and attracted the maximum tax (60% of trade price) hence whilst I was working at Webbs Radio I paid around £50 for the S640 model. A few weeks later this was reduced to half this. The reason was the conclusion of a two year battle with the treasury to get communication receivers relieved of tax as they were not for domestic use. Removing the speaker from the cabinet did not convince the authorities but eventually it was accepted that the inclusion of a BFO (beat frequency oscillator, necessary for the reception of most Morse signals) would qualify for tax free status. I am surprised that all the big makers of domestic receivers did not immediately incorporate BFOs. This site is a mine of information and the authors are to be congratulated. (www.eddystoneusersgroup.org.uk) or just search eddystone users group.