Henley Probus Club

THE 469th meeting of Henley Probus Club was held at Badgemore Park on January 11.

The chairman opened the meeting by welcoming members and then outlined the current thinking for events and guest speakers for 2022 following a questionnaire sent to members at the end of 2021.

He thanked the members for their responses and advised that a plan would now be put in place covering both activities.

The chairman then introduced the speaker Phil Mullins, who gave a talk on OSS Station Victor.

Phil, who is a former detective, had researched the details of the secret wartime radio station in Hurley.

He did this almost entirely in America and, in particular, examined the CIA archives in Langley, Virginia.

The OSS had maintained meticulous and secret records in their archive until these began to be progressively released at the start of this century.

The OSS, predecessor of the CIA, had requisitioned a number of properties and land in and around Hurley in the period 1943-1945 to conduct various highly secret intelligence activities.

Transmitting and receiving radio stations were set up in strategic positions outside Hurley while in the village itself the Olde Bell and Hurley Manor House were requisitioned for
messing and other “management activities”, including a meeting venue for the American president and the British prime minister who each had their own air raid shelters in the village.

The members thanked Phil for his presentation and the incredible research he had undertaken.

Henley Probus Club meets at Badgemore Park on the second Tuesday of each month. Meetings start with an informal gathering of members (plus visitors) for a discussion and coffee, with the formal part commencing at 11.30am followed by a lunch.

If you are interested in joining the club, please call Roger Griffiths, our membership secretary, on (01491) 575137 or email
regriffiths@waitrose.com or speak to any club member that you may know.

Roger Roberts