Secret WW2

1st June 2025, 10 am to 5pm – 1940s Tempsford Event, Stuart Memorial Hall, Tempsford, Beds. Excellently organised by Tempsford Museum and Archives, three of the four speakers (the fourth was SOE historian Mark Seaman) were either Friends or Supporters of Secret WW2: Sheryl Green (re Tangmere, the Special Duties squadrons and the secret agencies they served); Clare Mulley (re Agent Zo who was dropped from Tempsford); and Paul McCue (re SAS Operation Bulbasket – the op’s advance recce team were dropped from Tangmere). Secret WW2 had an information stand which was well-visited and the entire day was hugely successful and well-attended. Particularly welcome were Peter Verstraeten from Belgium and Cécile Coolen and Bill Beauclerk from France. Readers are reminded that the village hall also houses Tempsford Museum and Archives which are open on the first Sunday of every month, except January, at 2pm - www.tempsfordmuseum.co.uk.

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Many Happy Returns today for the 100th birthday of our Honorary Life Veteran - Jack Mann. Jack is the last surviving veteran of the Long Range Desert Group and one of the few remaining members of the SAS of WW2. In the SAS he served as a radio operator (he originally came from, and later returned to, the Royal Signals) with the regiment's Special Boat Squadron - later Special Boat Service. We are very proud to have Jack's support for our Network.

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The SOE (Special Operations Executive) arms and equipment resupply mission took off from Rivenhall, near Chelmsford, on 2 November. As the Stirling neared its drop zone, it was struggling to cope in the bitter cold and thick snow showers. Wing Cdr Surplice ordered the six men aboard to bail out and the icebound plane smashed into the mountain. "Mr Thronsen said: 'Sqn Ldr Kenneth Bolton, Pilot Officer Robert Chapin and Warrant Officer Robert Dalton landed in a snowstorm and got together almost at once and were soon joined by Lt Michael Hicks, the SOE liaison officer at Rivenhall [who had also been on the plane]. "The evaders wandered around for a couple of days in the wilderness until they found a cottage, put a fire on and someone from the resistance found them." "The other two survivors were not so lucky; they were captured and imprisoned by the Germans ….