Research

Contributions to this page from Group members will be very warmly received. Any subject on a military theme.

Have you been doing some research into an aspect of military interest? Does it cover a number of pages which makes it too large to be submitted for inclusion in the Newsletter? This page is where group members can publish their research. 

You might have carried out some detective work on an item you have acquired, or followed up an interest in a subject and would like to publish your findings. Group members can submit their work (text and images) as a file and make it available to others via a link on this page. Authors will have their work credited and it will remain their own, but otherwise you will be submitting it solely for the benefit of others to read and perhaps learn something. 

Email your document via THIS LINK, in PDF format please, to me, Ted Gray, (if you can't save it as a PDF then send it as a Word document, I will do the rest). I will upload it and readers will then be able to download your story from a short description on the page.

To get things started, Roger Negus and I have already uploaded some documents (below). We have been working on a number of projects relating to Peterborough during both World Wars. This might give you some idea of what can be done, but it does not have to be this long, it need not have images, or could be all images. It's up to you.

Removal of Iron Railings in Peterborough in the Second World War. David Gray - This is a short history of how the railings in Peterborough were removed for salvage during WWII. I have carried out a survey of quite a few locations and added photographs showing where the evidence of removal still exists. Many walls had their railings cut off or simply pulled out and the walls still remain in many locations.

Discovery of a new WWII building in Peterborough and the struggle to get it Grade 2 Listed. David Gray - A few year ago I stumbled across a WWII 'shelter' on one of Peterborough's main roads which had previously been obscured by undergrowth. This tells to story of my research into what it was, lots of photographs, and how I set out to try and get this very rare building, Grade 2 Listed in order to protect it.

RAF PETERBOROUGH (Westwood). Roger Negus - Local civilians identified as being employed at RAF Peterborough in September 1939 through research carried out in the 1939 Register. Roger will be continuing research on this subject and will be updating this research as and when he discovers more information.

Peterborough Wireless Station in WWI and After. David Gray - The story of Peterborough's mystery wireless station, its contribution to the destruction of the Zeppelin menace in WWI and how it helped with experiments in the atmosphere after the war.

Walter James GARFIELD Roger Negus - The story of a recipient of the Battle of Britain clasp - A tribute from his 1st cousin, once removed, that he never knew. Walter was captain of a Blenheim IV, Serial Number L9451, Code Number WR-V which failed to return from ops.  

Geoffrey Norman RACKLEY Roger Negus - The story of Pilot Officer Geoffrey Norman Rackley, who was killed in action on 22nd June 1944.

Paying for WWII David Gray - Have you ever wondered just how the British Government physically paid for all of the military hardware it ordered from British companies in WWII? They didn’t just send a man round to the factory with the cash in a bag! Quite often they didn’t have the money anyway. This is the story of how Britain paid for its weapons.