We sat down with Dr Helen Fry to talk about her passion for the subject of the spymasters, the secret listeners - and the super-classified goings-on behind the walls and under the floors of Latimer House…

De Vere: Tell us about your journey researching Latimer House and what initially sparked your interest in its history?

Dr Helen Fry: I first discovered the history of Latimer House because a former WW2 secret listener, Fritz Lustig, who asked me whether their secret work had made any difference to the outcome of the war. I promised him I would research the declassified files and find an answer. What emerged was beyond any of our imagination – Latimer House was at the centre of one of the most important wartime intelligence-gathering sites.

Fritz and the other secret listeners covertly recorded the conversations of German prisoners-of-war and some of Hitler’s generals after their capture and interrogation. The hidden microphones in their rooms were to gain intelligence for Britain and its Allies. I had already started a biography of Fritz’s commanding officer, Colonel Thomas Kendrick – a British MI6 spymaster and head of the wartime eavesdropping operation.  I was inspired to find out if their work had any impact on the war – and it certainly did. 

DV: What’s the most interesting piece of information you discovered during your years of research?

HF: I was fortunate enough to interview Evelyn Barron, a former Naval intelligence officer, who was stationed at Latimer House in the war. Aged 101 when I interviewed her, she told me that she and her female colleagues had a really unusual role – as they were the interrogators. Interrogation was a male world, and so the use of women was a new idea. Women were found to make very good interrogators.

The story of the code-breakers at Bletchley Park is well recognised and understood, but equally vital was the intelligence gathering at Latimer House.

DV:  In your opinion, what is the significance of Latimer House in the broader context of World War 2 history and why is it important to tell the story?

HF: The intelligence work at Latimer House during World War 2 cannot be overestimated. Its personnel gained masses of information on the German war machine, including information on Hitler’s secret weapon programme (V-1 bomb and V-2 rocket) and the atomic bomb. It is said that without the work at Latimer House and the code-breaking site of Bletchley Park, the Allies could have lost the war.  

For over 6 decades, the secrets of Latimer House were hidden as its intelligencers and secret listeners had signed the Official Secrets Act and could never speak about their work. Many had no idea just how important it was for the outcome of the war.

This has only become known now because of my research into the now thousands of declassified transcripts of bugged conversations in the National Archives. The story of the code-breakers at Bletchley Park is well recognised and understood, but equally vital was the intelligence gathering at Latimer House. The significance of the work of Colonel Thomas Kendrick and his intelligence staff, including the secret listeners, has now been formally recognised by Historic England. It is so vital to keep this story alive and De Vere Latimer estate is committed to doing that.  

DV:  You’ve authored and edited over 25 books, when you’re not working what type of books do you like to read to relax?

HF: I love a good spy thriller. My favourite spy writer is Frederick Forsyth whose research for each of his novels is so meticulous that I love to speculate on how much of the plot is close to reality and once real-life events. Like many members of the public, I am fascinated by that shadowy world of agents, traitors and spies.