Fenny Stratford Repeater Station

The War Years

With the war clouds gathering on the continent and the Munich Crisis in 1938, steps were taken to safeguard vital circuits that passed through the station. Heavy steel shutters were installed on the inside of the windows, adjacent to Watling Street. Throughout the war, the building had a 24 hour guard with small bunkers built for this purpose. When the Government Code and Cipher School moved into Bletchley Park in August 1939, a 38 pair cable was initially laid from the repeater station to the Park for the necessary teleprinter and telephone circuits. These circuits were part of the Defence Teleprinter Network (DTN). This network had been set up by the Post Office in 1938 to provide a secure telegraph network for the Services.

Fenny Stratford Repeater Station c. 1950s. One of the wartime guard bunkers can be seen to the right of the entrance.

Two intercept huts were built on Watling Street, north and south of Fenny Stratford. The southern one was located approximately 4 miles from Fenny Stratford at the crossroads opposite The Fox and Hounds public house, and was known as the Sheep Lane intercept hut. Cables running along Watling Street were diverted into here. Further cables were laid to RAF Stanbridge, and the Political Warfare Executive establishments at Milton Bryan and Woburn.

The northern hut was located on Watling Street, just south of Denbigh railway bridge, about a mile from Fenny Stratford. Again the cables running along Watling Street were diverted into this building. Further cables were laid to Bletchley Park from this hut. Repeater equipment was also installed in these buildings. The purpose of these buildings was twofold:

1. To provide diversity to the many circuits feeding Bletchley Park, Woburn, Milton Bryan and RAF Stanbridge.

2. To enable circuits to be diverted out of Fenny Stratford in the event of it being destroyed by enemy action.

These two huts survived until the early 1960s, when they were eventually demolished. All traces of them have now gone.