The Radio Hide

At the time of the departure of the French contingent in May 1942, the French were in possession of three secret radio sets.
The first of these sets, christened ‘Authur 1’, had been smuggled in with the arrival of a group of prisoners from another camp earlier in the war. Until its discovery on 15th December 1942, it had been concealed behind a large map of Africa which hung on one of the walls in the French quarters. The ceiling of the room which lay behind this wall was at a lower level to the ceiling of the French quarters. This allowed access to the attic of the room behind the wall. This is where the set was housed. The discovery of this set was only due to a French collaborator who gave away the exact location of ‘Authur 1’ for his freedom.
The second of the French contingents’ radio sets had been smuggled into the castle in parts concealed in thirty-five separate parcels, received over a period of several months. With the departure of the French, and after some persuasion, this set was left for the use of the British. It was naturally christened ‘Authur 2’.
This set was concealed in what proved to be one of the most successful hides constructed in the castle during the war.

The large sloping roofs of the castle which overlooked the prisoners courtyard were 40 feet high in places. This allowed several floors to be constructed within the frame of the roof. However, the walls of these rooms did not run parallel to the sloped sides of the roof, but were vertical. This meant that behind the walls of these rooms was a small triangular space bounded by the three sides; slanting roof, vertical wall, and horizontal ceiling of the room below. The French radio was concealed in this space, above the French quarters on the eastern face of the prisoner’s courtyard.

Entrance to the hide was gained from the attic which formed the apex of the roof itself.
The hide contained the radio set, electrical lights to warn of an approaching sentry, switch gear for the receiver, earphones, a table, and two chairs for the radio operator and the shorthand writer acting as news-recording telegraphist. Dick Howe took on the role of wireless engineer, in addition to the responsibilities which were placed on him under his duty of escape officer during this period in the war.

The ingenuity of ‘Authur 2’ ‘s hide resulted in its successful concealment for the remainder of the war. The Germans knew that the British had a set hidden in the castle, but never found it. The arrogance of the British contingent was such that BBC news bulletins were read out daily at the evening meal, and openly discussed with the German guards. Towards the end of the war, as the allied armies swept east across Europe, the radio set allowed sweep-stakes to be held among the prisoners over which occupied towns would be liberated next.

Only in 1993, when builders were carrying out work on the roof above the former French quarters, was the radio hide discovered, frozen in time exactly as it had been left before the liberation of the castle on 16th April 1945. The hide was completely removed and reconstructed in the castle’s escape museum.