Western Front Association Milton Keynes Branch
Friday, 16th May 2025 from 7.30 to 9.30 pm
Wolverton Working Men’s Social Club, 49-50 Stratford Road, Wolverton MK12 5LS
Gordon Rogers’s talk will portray a riveting account of one of the most famous ‘back rooms’ of the Second World War – and of the men and women who worked for it.
Known as ‘Winston Churchill’s Toyshop’ by some of its critics, Department M.D.1. was conceived by Winston Churchill to circumvent the delays, frustrations, and inefficiencies of the service ministries. From a tiny underground workshop housed in the cellars of the London offices of Radio Normandie in Portland Place, and later from a country mansion in Buckinghamshire, came an astonishing array of secret weapons ranging from the ‘sticky bomb’ and ‘limpet mine’ to giant bridge-carrying tanks.
Gordon tells the story of this relatively unknown establishment, and the weapons it developed, which had such a destructive impact on the enemy. Come and find out why dog poo, dead rats, and lumps of coal go off with a bang!