ON Thursday, April 28, the Cleobury Mortimer branch of the Royal British Legion had an interesting all-day coach outing to investigate some aspects of the Secret War. After leaving Cleobury at 8.15am, the first stop was Chicksands, near Bedford.

This was a Second World War RAF station where German wireless signals (including those encrypted on Enigma machines) were intercepted and sent to Bletchley Park for possible decoding. The station continued to be used by the US Air Force as a listening post until 1995, but is now the headquarters of the British Army’s Intelligence Corps.

The site is only open to the public by special arrangement, but its museum provides an excellent introduction to the world of covert operations. Its collections encompass photoreconnaissance, codebreaking, the special operations executive and intelligence, with material from the late 19th century to the end of the 20th century.

After a lunch stop near Kettering, visitors went to the Carpetbaggers museum – housed in the control buildings of a Second World War airfield at Harrington – from where the US Air Force flew hundreds of Carpetbagger missions to supply arms, equipment and personnel to the French Resistance.

The staff of the museum made us very welcome and were keen to share their specialist knowledge and show off their extensive collection of material. We left soon after 5pm.

The branch is looking forward to the next event on its calendar, which is May 11 when Hobson’s Brewery launches its latest beer Old Comrade as a tribute to the branch’s 90th anniversary this summer. Cleobury may then be the only RBL branch with its own beer. New branch members are always welcome. Call 01299 270110.

MARK BLADWIN