Standing in a field called The Leys, to the south of All Saints Church where the village Alms Houses are located, and looking around, you may be able to spy a piece of secret WW2 history. Look closely and just visible are the foundations of a what would have been a wooden shed and a brick building in which wireless operators transmitted top secret messages to allied forces and agents in occupied Europe.
Listening stations
Listening stations
Calverton village and its surroundings played an important but secretive role in communications during WW2.
Whaddon Hall is two miles south of Calverton and served as headquarters of Section VIII (Communications) of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, or MI6). At Bletchley Park, operators and codebreakers gathered information by breaking encrypted radio communications. Top secret messages were then sent to officers in the field in Europe. The two radio stations which stood at Upper Weald and Nash, and the transmitting station at Calverton played vital roles in these important lines of communication.
The radio stations would have been tucked away under trees and against hedgerows to ensure they were hidden and inside these, radio operators would be working in shifts to ensure the stations were active 24 hours a day.
Can you find any traces of them?
Walking around the area, you may be able to find the concrete foundations for some of the huts and the brick buildings which housed the generators.
More information
For more detailed information, see the MK Heritage website and an archaeological report available for download.
Bletchley Park film
During lockdown in 2020, Bletchley Park published rare film footage donated anonymously of Whaddon Hall giving an insight into the life of some of these SIS agents.
Listening / Podcasts
- For greater insight into the lives of these radio operators, listen to the Bletchley Park podcasts.
- Living Archive has a collection of oral histories relating to Bletchley Park.