Re: Fwd: Re: [BPARK] Naval "Y" station at Southwold?

Martin,

I am a member of Subterranea Britannica which is primarily interested in =
underground structure.  However, bunkers need aerials so in order to =
understand the function of a bunker we also have a limited interest in =
aerials.

I would like to repost this very interesting thread on the SubBrit =
members' forum.  Is that OK?

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Martin Postranecky=20
  To: BLETCHLEYPARK-0lvw86wZMd/[email protected]=20
  Sent: Monday, October 02, 2017 10:09 PM
  Subject: [BPARK] Fwd: Re: [BPARK] Naval "Y" station at Southwold?


  FYI....from Stuart Rayner :


  -------- Original Message --------
  Subject: Re: [BPARK] Naval "Y" station at Southwold?
  Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2017 19:18:26 +0100


  Thought it might be time to give you an update on the possible =
timeline
  of Southwold Y Station, particularly with the help of Ralph Erskine,
  also copied.

  The station was established either very late in 1940, or more likely
  early in 1941. The first Y Station at Dover was only established in
  September 1940 where the South coast Y Stations closest to the enemy =
on
  the continent were set up as Wrens became available from their =
training.
  A Wren Elizabeth Agar took over on relief command temporarily at
  Southwold in 1941. At this time the intercept station was at Stone =
House
  on Gun Hill.

  In conversation with a Wren who served at Winterton, just North of =
Great
  Yarmouth also in a cliff top house, ariels were everywhere on the roof
  and she said any German landing would immediately know the house was
  something special. I expect this was the same at Southwold. A Wren =
Sybil
  Welch who was stationed at Southwold identifies the problem of =
brushing
  off the inquisitive Naval or Army officer trying to find out what went
  on at the house with VHF ariels sticking out of it. With the =
foundations
  on the lawn, it is probable that there was a steel lattice tower in
  front of Stone House. A similar one can be seen in a photograph of =
Lyme
  Regis Golf Club, which was also a Y Station. These stations could also
  completee D/F by having a VHF ariel on the roof that could be turned =
by
  a wheel attached to a pole in the watch room. The present owner of =
Stone
  House will be looking to see if anything such as this remains in the
  loft, at present it is not known if such a fitting was used at =
Southwold!

  An interesting point from your perspective is that in 1942 or early
  1943, Southwold was also made a =C2=91noises=C2=92 station, together =
with Ventnor
  (IOW) and Abbotscliff (Dover). =C2=91noise=C2=92 stations were set up =
to
  investigate enemy radio transmissions that were not communications.
  Equipment at =C2=91noise=C2=92 stations covered the complete range of =
frequencies
  from M/F to UH/F and to D/F. One aspect of the investigations was into
  enemy radar transmissions. Identification was for the most part
  completed visually rather than aurally, using cathode ray tubes. This
  would have been instigated at Stone House initially.

  In June 1943 approval was given for the building of combined Y and
  =C2=91noise=C2=92 stations at Southwold, Abbotscliff, Vintner and =
Coverack to
  cover the French, Belgian and Dutch coasts. This would have been for
  the =C2=91new=C2=92 build at Easton Bavents. This also ties in with =
the Wren
  Margaret Smee who says "Once again a  new watchroom and tower were
  built, this time about two miles away from Stone House. Our numbers =
were
  augmented and I was promoted to Second Officer.=C2=94 Margaret was =
promoted
  to 2^nd Officer 1^st May 1944, so it is probable Easton Bavents was
  operational late 1943 or early 1944. It is also noticeable that the =
two
  huts in the Eason Bavents interior photographs are termed Y and N =
huts.

  I have written to the web site that has the recordings of the =
Southwold
  Y Station intercepts, identifying the =C2=91noise=C2=92 aspect of the =
Southwold
  intercepts, but have had no response as yet. I do not know if any of =
you
  have made contact with them?

  Margaret Smee was in charge of the Station until just after VE day =
when
  it was closed down. It is noticeable that the towers did not last long
  as they are not to be seen in the 1945 ariel photograph.

  Anyway, hope this fills out some of the history for Southwold Y =
Station
  and if any of you have further information then please let me know. I
  hope to visit the huts later this month with the farmer who owns them
  and will update anything we find. I think I have worked out that the Y
  Hut is the southern one from the interior photographs.

  Best wishes - Stuart


  > On 18 Aug 2017, at 10:42, Stuart Rayner wrote :
  >------------------------------------------------
  > All,
  >
  > I have been in contact with a previous owner of Stone House. He was
  > not aware of its secret past and says the house was renovated in the
  > late 40=C2=92s by his father. He could not remember very much, =
except there
  > were four large concrete foundations in the Northern part of the =
front
  > garden. They tried to pull these out with a dragline, he thinks with
  > equipment from building of the promenade but they failed to do so. =
The
  > foundations were left inplace and filled over, which is why that =
part
  > of the front garden is slightly higher. If you look at the latest
  > Google maps, these foundations can be seen in the corner. From the
  > close spacing of the foundations, I suspect these were for a free
  > standing lattice mast, similar to the ones in the photographs next =
to
  > the huts at Easton Bavents.
  >
  > Although not directly relevant to Southwold, but giving some
  > background to Y Stations, I came across two oral histories of =
serving
  > in Y stations in the Imperial War Museum archives. You may have
  > already come across them? Although RAF and Army stations they give =
an
  > indication of what went on at Southwold. There are others but they =
are
  > not unfortunately available on line.
  >
  > The first is an RAF interceptor who gives examples of German morse
  > transmissions and how the Germans tried to trick the Interceptors:
  >
  > http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80024562
  >
  > The second is from an ATS. I like the bit about dreaming in morse!
  >
  > http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80012971
  >
  > Regards - Stuart