In this engaging interview, Geoffrey Pidgeon explains how his father’s role in stores at Bletchley Park, combined with his teenage pastime of model building, led to a job offer with the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). After securing his parents' permission to leave school, Geoffrey accepted the offer. Initially joining the Communication Section, later known as Section VIII, he began working in the workshops at Whaddon Hall. At just 14, he was the youngest member of the team—and potentially the youngest in the entire SIS. This marks the beginning of an extraordinary wartime experience. Geoffrey eventually went on to work for the newly created Mobile Construction Team, installing wireless equipment in vehicles and aircraft to assist with the interception of enemy communications. His professional experiences, alongside his personal life in Stony Stratford, placed him in a unique position to witness and participate in the highly confidential world of wartime intelligence gathering. This enables him to provide a deeply insightful account of how wireless communication and its rapid development played a crucial role in the success of Allied operations, as well as the integral nature of the ‘Y’ Service and the work at Bletchley Park.

Following completion of an apprenticeship, Peter signed on as a regular in the Army for three years in 1951, because it meant he could choose where he wanted to serve. After training, he served in the Royal Army Service Corps as a driver. He tells of a posting to HQ Southern Command and from there being sent to Korea. Like many others, he explains that he hadn’t heard of Korea before this. Embarking at Southampton on the Empire Fowey, he and his compatriots travelled first to Japan. He recounts the journey from Japan to Korea, travelling through Hiroshima and seeing the crater, following which he was parachuted into Seoul. He was posted to the 26th Field Ambulance Division and drove both ambulances and transport. He tells of the poor conditions of the roads and the impact of the weather on their work, including that their trucks would freeze during the winter if not looked after properly. At the end of the Korean War, Peter tells of his brief foray into athletics, running for the battalion. He was then posted to Hong Kong. He expresses frustration at the lack of attention given to the Korean war in comparison to other wars.

Douglas Hassall shares how he narrowly escaped a death sentence after spending three and a half years as one of Japan’s prisoners of war during World War 2. Douglas accepted early on that escaping would be foolish as any escapees were executed; the camp being located in Vietnam also left the nearest allies 1100 miles away.  The Japanese employed beatings and other instantaneous punishments, something alien to a British soldier like Douglas, their neglectful medical care equally as shocking to him. Despite his horrible treatment Douglas highlights how incredibly lucky he was as the other camps had prisoners sleeping outside with no access to clean water. The few lenient guards allowed them to hold concerts and church services however over time the Japanese replaced them with cruel guards who murdered the prisoners’ pets.    Douglas got his first hint of freedom after a British interpreter secretly told him that allies were closing in, both of them unaware that Japan’s prisoners of war were all destined to die. Prison labour had halted and transportation of prisoners to the execution site had begun when the second atomic bomb fell forcing Japan to free everyone at the very last second.  Unfortunately Douglas’ release was bittersweet due to the plane transporting one of his friends back to England crashing killing everyone on board.