Codes, ciphers and community - a chat with the Sutton Voices HR1 podcast

This month, Rev Paul Roberts joins the crew of the Sutton Voices HR1 Podcast, a community podcast from the Herefordshire village of Sutton St Nicholas.  Keith Lawton and Mike Winnell have recorded 33 episodes, winkling out the fascinating stories of local residents and cheering up the community in the face of relentless bad national and international news. 

Paul, Mike and Keith compare notes on podcasting and talk about the research work undertaken by Sutton Voices on men on the local war memorial and the men remembered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in the two village churches - St Nicholas' and St Michael's.  They also discuss the impact of acts of remembrance services in the village.

One man - Robert Garrard, who died with RAF Coastal Command proved a mystery, but the 1939 Register held the key to tracking down his link with the village.

Mike Winnell shares his literary creations - he has just finished his third novel spanning the 1930s and the Second World War.  The central character being a member of MI8, radio security.  HIs books Transmissions and To America are available on Amazon.

This leads the trio to talk about the importance of radio interception, code breaking and Bletchley Park.  Both Paul and Keith having links - Keith's through work with British Telecom and Paul, whose grandmother was a Voluntary Interceptor during the Second World War.  Keith also shares his father's experience during the Second World War, including having responsibility for 6,500 Italian prisoners of war in Egypt.