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Old 27th May 2020, 12:54 pm   #28
dave walsh
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ramsbottom (Nr Bury) Lancs or Bexhill (Nr Hastings) Sussex.
Posts: 5,814
Default Re: Code-Breakers:Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes

Hi John. There should be other threads on this subject. From the seventies onwards, so called "urban myths" circulated re war time equipment going into abandoned mineshafts etc [in Staffordshire for example!]. Some information came out via the late Chas Miller's Radiophile magazine. It didn't seem likely but why would they do it anyway? We didn't really know anything about Land Lease arrangements then or that there was an agreement requiring a re-balancing of the market by destroying existing goods.

This would be similar to later arrangements in British Librarys when perfectly good stock, bought under special purchasing deals, had to be remaindered. [Fortunately I was living with a Librarian then so I had access to the books due to be pulped.] There was always scepticism when the dumping of equipment subject came up [on here as well] but the Land Lease explanation seemed feasible. If you can find the Biography of Ken Russel-Film Director, sadly no longer with us as well, he describes doing National Service in the 1950's. His unit is taken to Salisbury Plain where hundreds of vehicles are lined up, full of brand new equipment. The men are issued with crow bars and told to smash everything up [in not very delicate terms] by their Sargeant
when they are [understandably] a bit puzzled.

One of the best stories is about a scrap dealer buying valuable aluminium cases [for next to nothing] used to parachute in equipment! When they are opened they contain brand new AR88's in their protective packing

Aub not only did the Germans have 7 different Code Groups who disagreed [as Dave Moll said] I was amazed to hear that they, literally, fought each other-amazing Hopefully that's the correct use of "literally" for a change!

Dave W
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