The secret life of Beaumanor hall
An article by Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers.
With kind permission of Beaumanor Hall.
DURING the Second World War Beaumanor Hall was the site of a vital wartime intelligence service, namely the War Office “Y” (wireless) Group or
W.O.Y.G. The “Y” Group was part of M18 Wireless Intelligence.
Beaumanor was a highly strategic Intercept Station (a fixed station) concerned with monitoring the enemy’s main channels of wireless traffic and communications.
The “Y” Intercept Listening Service operated from 1941 to 1945 and its wartime activities were as top secret as those at Bletchley Park.
Nowadays the code-breaking at Bletchley has become welldocumented but the contribution of the “Y” Listeners is far less well known or indeed recognised and celebrated.
Based in every theatre of war they intercepted and transcribed communications with a speed that few have ever managed since – enabling the code-breakers to turn the course of the war.
“Y” Stations were British Signals Intelligence collection sites used during World War II. These sites collected traffic in the form of morse code signals which were then passed for processing to the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park.
Having been trained to intercept German and Italian messages, locally the “Y” listeners were based in the grounds of
Beaumanor Hall.
The traffic was recorded by hand on paper and within 24 hours of receipt, sent to Bletchley Park by motorcycle couriers.
Bletchley Park has of late, received much well-deserved publicity but before the codebreakers could process the codes of the German/Italian war machine, the enemy’s radio traffic and communications needed to be monitored around the clock by the Listening Services – such as those teams of young men and, in the case of Beaumanor, predominately young women, working here in Leicestershire.
Throughout February and March 2017 Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers (LLLSV) presented an exhibition in the Library – The “Y” Listeners of Beaumanor.
The aim of the display was to showcase the local unsung heroes and heroines who had been stationed there.
Local Studies volunteers, carried out approximately two year’s research to prepare for the display.
During the course of gathering information, there was a sense of pride felt on behalf of those who were tasked with intercepting the German/Italian traffic. Their days were long and their working conditions poor – they performed a truly remarkable job.
Having signed the Official Secrets Act, it would be almost 50 years before the work of the “Y” Listeners would come to the notice of the public.
The Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers’ exhibition has now been reinstated at Beaumanor Hall – its rightful place – and is now included in the World War II Tour of the premises.
There have been numerous books written about Bletchley Park and the sterling wartime work that was carried out there but apart from Joan Nicholls’ book England Needs You. The Story of Beaumanor Y Station in World War Two, published in 2000, very little has been written about the local Interceptors without whom Bletchley could not have functioned.
By the end of the war, there were over 1,200 A.T.S women operators and 300 male civilians working at Beaumanor. It has been calculated that their work shortened the war by some two years.
Whilst attending the recent Remembrance Service at Queens Park in Loughborough, it was wondered who would be laying a wreath to acknowledge the work carried out by the Listeners.
After contacting various authorities,it was established that there is no Remembrance Service wreath laid on behalf of the Beaumanor “Y” Listeners.
It is to be hoped that one day this can be rectified.