Sometime during the fall or
winter of 1951 the British Army alerted the Chicksands Station
Commander to expect a military exercise in a few weeks time for the
purpose of testing security at Chicksands. This type of exercise had
previously been conducted by British Commandos on USAF airfields such
as Lakenheath. It was reported that the Commandos were able to plant
a box marked "Bomb" on the wheel of a U.S. B-47 bomber
aircraft in less than twenty minutes without detection. All the while
the base and aircraft were under guard! Barry organized a normal
defense posture using both RAF and USAF troops. During planning, a.
suggestion was made that a radio receiver and radio direction finding
(DF) position might be helpful. Barry agreed. A covered 6X6 truck was
converted by installing 2 Collins 51.1 radio receivers plus DF
equipment along with a hotplate for food and coffee.. The truck was
positioned at the Y in the road south of tech site A where the road
divided and went on to tech site B. On the assigned weekend the
operation was manned by Captain Wiggins, Sgt. Deuster, Sgt. McMullen,
Sgt. Stinson and a radio operator. About 8:00 AM Saturday morning
the operator was monitoring the standard British radio frequencies.
He heard one chap calling another for a radio check -- without
success. Our operator scanned the frequencies above and below and
found a second bloke trying to call the first - also
without success. He DFed both signals. The DF indicated that one
transmitter was located west of Chicksands - the other north, but we
knew not where, having only a single
bearing to each. Sgt. Deuster went home and got his Zenith short-wave
radio that had a built-in loop antenna. By turning the radio and
using a hand held compass, he determined that one transmitter was
west of Chicksands on the road that ran between Bedford and Luton -
the other located on the road that ran between Bedford and Shefford -
north of Chicksands. He also learned that the infiltration teams were
dispatched with instructions to report progress over their
walkie-talkies. Our operator soon intercepted the walkie-talkies but
could not DF them because the walkie-talkies operated at a frequency
outside the range of the DF equipment. The Commandos reported
positions in code. Soon one Commando leader reported to the west
command post that he was
crossing a bridge at B-5. There was only one bridge west. The station
commander sent out a patrol and captured this commando team. This
same play continued throughout the day to the extent that all
commandos were in jail - the mess hall- by 9:00 PM Saturday night. A
good exercise - yes. Well, not really. Several events marred the success.
It was reported that one
farmer who lived near Shefford needed hay to feed his cows. The
farmer took his team of horses and wagon up the road past tech site A
to the hay located near tech site B. He loaded the hay and started
back down
the road. At three check points, the Americans required that the
farmer unload the hay only to find nothing. Unfortunately, on the
last checkpoint a Lieutenant ordered one guard to watch the farmer
and if he tried to escape to use his rifle butt on him. The farmer
reported this to his MP who discussed it in Parliament and that made
the front page of the London
Times. Don't know how the diplomats were able to settle this.
Unfortunately, an injury
resulted when an RAF airman running in the dark toward the Priory
fell into the ditch injuring his leg. He recovered in a few days.
Back to work. During a
"how-goes-it" meeting, probably sometime in late 1951 or
early 1952, a discussion ensued about the need for another
"Chicksands type" station and a second DF
station. What happened was a mystery at the time and remains a
mystery today. RAF Kirknewton was offered as a second site. Also,
about the same time, Captain Wiggins was requested to go to Whitehall
and meet an
official- name now unknown - to discuss a second DF site. He did, and
was given several Scotland site locations from which to make a
selection. This official also suggested that Wiggins
meet with another British man about DF sites. He did and was briefed
on DF site requirements -such as soil conductivity, the effect of
coast lines on radio signals, etc., about which Wiggins knew nothing.
However, this information became very useful as it helped make the
selection. A site selection team consisting of Captain Verploegh,
Captain Bobo and Wiggins made a trip to Scotland. RAF station
Edzell,near Aberdeen, was chosen for the DF site. Kirknewton was
looked over on the same trip. It looked acceptable. During a meeting
after the site inspection there was a meeting with several British
officials. The British were very hospitable and expressed their
desire for the Americans to come to Scotland. A woman, head nurse of
a local nurses school, impressed the team with her statement, "I
hope you Yanks come here and get some of the nurses pregnant so that
we have something to talk about." She was left with nothing to
talk about. The question remains: Were the British giving subtle but
remote guidance over this entire project?