A nominal roll for Special Duties Operators has yet to be found. Could it still be “Top Secret”?
Thanks to Roger Parsons of Millfield School, CART has obtained a photograph of a Special Duties Operator in Somerset.
Code named “Chirnside 5” the wireless Out Station was in a chicken hut at Edgarley Manor Farm. Locally it is suggested a woman was the main operator. The couple are Kenneth and Dorothy Marsh. So was it Dorothy in charge of sending secret messages on the wireless?
Having married in Kuala Lumpur the couple lived in Federated Malay States (today Malaysia). During the 1910s and 20s they often travelled backward and forward from the UK, his occupation recorded as “Planter”.
On May 14th 1942 The Wells Journal ran an article on Kenneth Marsh and his farming methods which was broadcast by the BBC. The article records the Farm is predominantly rearing and selling poultry rather than selling the eggs. It also notes the feed is produced in vast sums from local food waste and army swill from military camps. This shows the Marshes would have frequently and freely travelled the area collecting waste and be able to monitor local situations if necessary.
www.staybehinds.com/station/edgarley-outstation
