Remembering Bedfordshire’s contribution to the war on V E Day

The 8^th May marks the 75^th anniversary of V E Day, also known as Victory in Europe Day. As many of the events that were planned to commemorate this have now been cancelled or postponed, we thought we’d spend some time remembering the contributions made by Bedfordshire during the war effort.

Bedfordshire’s towns and villages might not have had the destruction that nearby London did or the code breakers that Bletchley Park over the border did, but there was still plenty going on in the region. For instance, those that worked as codebreakers at Bletchley Park had to graduate in Bedford first.

Bedford was a hive of activity throughout the second world war. The English School for Cryptographers was based in Bedford and those that did well there were then sent to Bletchley Park to work. One such code breaker who studied in Bedford was Leo Marks who invented codes that could not be broken and revolutionised the security of Britain’s cyphers during his time working on codebreaking.

Another notable name from Bedford who contributed to the victory that was celebrated on V E Day 75 years ago was Captain Clarke. He along with Stuart Macrae created the Limpet Mine and the Great Eastern, a rocket propelled tank bridge.

It wasn’t all inventions that was going on in Bedford at the time either, the BBC relocated to Bedford in 1942, broadcasting from the Corn Exchange, though all they gave away was that they were coming from “somewhere in England.”

When V E Day actually happened on 8^th May 1945, the Bishop of Canterbury’s  V E Day address was done so from St Paul’s Church which is also located in Bedford.

Luton was another town of historical importance during the war. Many of the largest buildings and factories were camouflaged and used to help hide notable people. The Churchill Tanks were also manufactured in the town and the man himself spent a lot of time there, notably at Luton Hoo Hotel.

We’ve already mentioned the work that was done at Bletchley Park, but there was also some codebreaking going on in Dunstable. The Meteorological Office there helped to crack the Enigma Code and helped figure out the date of the D Day landings. Twice a day, young men were sent between Dunstable and Bletchley Park with codes that needed breaking that day. The town was also the base for the printers that would create forged documents for spies and the Sugar Loaf pub in the town was used as a base for taking prisoners of war and defectors before they were moved on to other places in the UK.

Much like in Luton where hotels and other buildings were requisitioned to store important people, the Paris House in Woburn was named as the safe house for the royal family should the mainland be invaded. In addition to potentially hosting the King, it was also used by the intelligence department and housed a number of important people including France’s General De Gaulle and members of the SS who were acting as double agents.

So there you have it, plenty of things to think about this VE Day!