Wednesday 26th June 2024
St John’s Place, Lower Road, Bemerton, SP2 9NP
7.30-9.30pm
During WW2, British intelligence bugged the conversations of German prisoners-of-war at three stately houses, including Trent Park in north London, and Latimer House and Wilton Park in Buckinghamshire. From 1942 Hitler’s captured Generals were housed in luxurious conditions and lulled into a false sense of security. They became unguarded in their conversations and inadvertently gave away some of Hitler’s most closely guarded secrets, including the V1 (‘doodlebug’), V2 and atomic bomb programme. For over 60 years the “secret listeners” (German-Jewish émigrés who had fled Hitler) never spoke about their work, not even to their families. They died, little knowing that they, alongside Bletchley Park, shortened the war. Having worked through the declassified files, historian Helen Fry sheds light on one of the greatest deceptions of WWII.
Historian Dr Helen Fry has written and edited over 25 books; primarily on the Second World War with particular reference to the 10,000 Germans who fought for Britain, and also British intelligence, espionage and WWII. She is the author of the bestselling book Women in Intelligence: the Hidden history of two world wars; and The Walls have Ears: The Greatest Intelligence Operation of WWII which was in the Daily Mail Top 8 Books of the Year for War (2019). Her other works include Spymaster: The Man who Saved MI6; MI9: The British Secret Service for Escape & Evasion in WWII and The London Cage about London’s secret WWII Interrogation Centre. She has appeared in numerous TV documentaries and interviews. Helen is an Ambassador for the Museum of Military Intelligence and a Trustee of the Medmenham Collection.
Entrance for members is included in your annual subscription. For non-members, entrance is £10 (cash, card or cheque) at the door.
There is a small car park and lay-by opposite St John’s Place on Lower Road (for approx. 20 cars). Parking is also allowed on single yellow lines on Lower Road after 6pm. Alternative car parking is available at The Clubhouse, Salisbury and South Wilts Sports Club (SP2 9NY) and a pathway connects to St John’s Place.