2014-06

Shhh ... Don’t tell
anyone!
Halfway through 1944 I received
my calling up papers so I said
my goodbyes to colleagues in
the solicitor’s office where I worked and
to family and friends.
Complete with travel warrant I set off
for London and its V1s and later V2s.
I had been told by letter to attend for
an interview at 55 Broadway and I was
given the floor and room number to go
to. However I still had no
indication of what it was all
about.
I had already made
up my mind that
I’d like to serve in
some capacity in
the WRNS or WAAF
but fate decided
otherwise.
I duly turned up
at the appointed
time and was taken
into a waiting room.
Then an officer arrived
and I was put through
what seemed like hours of
questions. I was then told to go away, get
some lunch and someone would come
and collect me later. I did just that and
sure enough a uniformed young woman
came and escorted me back to the
interview room.
After a short wait, I met an army
officer who informed me I had passed
the interview satisfactorily and had been
selected for the SIS (Secret Intelligence
Service). Now this really did astonish me!
I was instructed to report the next
day to another room on a different
floor. 55 Broadway at that time was the
headquarters of SIS. It was closed down
at the end of the war but what it was
then used for I have no idea. After that,
intelligence gathering with taken over by
government departments.
I was instructed to report to Broadway
next day. This was to be my work home
for the next five years or so until I asked to
serve abroad. It was here I learned what
intelligence with all about. The first and
most important lesson was to keep my
mouth firmly shut about work
at all times. This is
the first time I have
written or spoken
in detail about it
Consequently it has
been one of the
most difficult things
I have ever done.
In the course of
daily work I learned
several skills, one of
which was how to ‘tail’
or follow someone in
daylight and in darkness
and not be seen doing so.
This was rather fun and I learned
my way around parts of London as a
result. It was, anyway, a respite from
endless paper work which, even then,
plagued daily life.
I also learned how to make contact with
‘agents’, British and foreign, and how to
exchange information and documents.
Later in my work I was shown how
to deal with various codes from the
simple ‘one time pad’ to the much
more complicated ones, and how to
disentangle garbled ones. It was not
always easy but you had to do your
best as otherwise it meant the coding
department had to contact the sender and
request an ‘en claire’ repeat.
Working hours were long and not
improved by lack of sleep or by attacks
from flying bombs or ‘doodlebugs’. The
real and very frightening ones were
the rockets (V2s). If you heard a loud
bang you were alive! These were a
psychological war weapon used by the
Germans, but the RAF did a splendid job
bombing the factories in the cliffs on the
other side of the English Channel.
My off-duty home for working and
living in until VE Day was a female-only
hostel run by nuns. Girls from various
government departments lived there.
We all had our own room but had meals
together. We had to inform the duty nun
where we were going if we went out at
night – just like being in school again!
To counter the boredom of spending
nights in the underground shelter, I took
to going with friends when we had a night
off duty to Sadlers Wells Theatre where
various operas and ballets were staged..
Whenever the sirens sounded a light went
on and an illuminated notice informed
everyone that a ‘raid was in progress’.
We just stayed put – I certainly felt it was
better to die listening to glorious music
and singing than being in an underground
shelter.
On Sundays I went to a nearby church
at the back of Wellington Barracks which
was near to a London brewery whose
stables housed their strong and lovely
horses. These drays used to deliver huge
barrels of beer to pubs around the area.
So ends this period of my Intelligence
life. Please, after reading it do not ask
questions – just tear into small pieces and
eat it!! Enjoy.
Iris Roe
The Abbey Public House
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The Abbey. 944 Chesterfield Road, Woodseats, S8 0SH
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
Church Office: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA
Tel: (0114) 274 5086
email: office@stchads.org
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats
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Church Office: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA
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Tel: (0114) 274 5086
email: office@stchads.org
website: www.stchads.org