Its been some time since I did some research. So I hope I'm posting in the right section. Last year when my Mother died, I noticed on her birth certificate that her father, Harold Swallow was listed as a Temporary Clerk, Air Ministry in 1942. It wasn't until I visited Bletchley that I noticed there was a 'Y' Service Station in Harrogate (Forest Moor), very close to where he lived , now my grandfather was a signaller in WW1 and spent time in POW camps, so he would have known Morse Code (and maybe some of the encryption used in WW1) and would have had knowledge of German. He Moved to Harrogate from Coventry probably early in the war (I'm trying to find out the exact date), there was a similar establishment close by at Newbold Revel. This got me thinking, was my grandfather involved in the gathering of messages? After WW2 he set up a Radio / TV repair & Sales Company so he obviously had technical knowledge of the systems. My question is there any resources where I can check, are there any records of operatives etc
Interesting information. You might want to consider our sister forum as they tend to concentrate more on the UK. Good luck in your search.
I had the pleasure of working and living in Harrogate for 4 years. Absolutely lovely. Forest Moor, on Day Lane, which is just down the road from RAF Menwith Hill, was a communications support facility for the Ministry of Defense since WW II. Weirdly it was run by the Royal Navy, but I'm not sure how long that was. I heard that the MOD was considering closing Forest Moor. It's up on the ridge above Nidderdale vale looking towards Pately Bridge. What a great place to live.
