Dr Helen Fry gave a fascinating and very engaging talk on the Royal Pioneer Corps last night at the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust.
The event was sold out and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing about this part of our Kitchener history. I will let you know when the Wiener tells us that the talk has been uploaded to their YouTube channel, so that Kitchener families further afield can also hear what Helen had to say.
Helen Fry has published widely in this area, and although she mentioned last night that a key book on this topic is now out of print (Update 2023: This link is now out of date – http://www.helen-fry.com/anglo-jewish-history/jews-in-north-devon-in-world-war-ii/), it can still be found secondhand online for anyone wanting to purchase a copy. For information on Helen’s other publications, she hosts a website with information about her books and other work here: http://www.helen-fry.com. This includes a book on the secret listeners – The M Room – and of course there was a secret listening post at Haig camp, which was just opposite Kitchener.
My own priority is to get a copy of London Cage. Those of you with families in military intelligence may well want to look this one out too.
If I hear about Helen giving other talks over the coming months, I will let you know, and if you’ve not heard Helen speak yet, I’d really encourage you to go along.
A quick reminder about an event being held as both commemoration and fundraiser for the Wiener Library. Given the library’s very generous support of the Kitchener group over the last year, it would be lovely if some of us could go along.
One of the Wiener’s posters advertising the November 1938 ‘Kristallnacht’ exhibition was defaced this week: a show of support for their tireless work to keep the memory alive and their important archives available would seem like a good response.
