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| The
Battle of the Atlantic |
"As many Merseyside men - and women - will tell you, this city
made a key contribution to victory in World War II.
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| Derby
House - home of Western Approaches |
Merchant
shipping based here kept the nation supplied with food and raw materials.
Combined
Operations, which was responsible for control of the Western Approaches,
was moved in l941 from Plymouth to Derby House, part of Exchange
Buildings.
This
move was instigated by Winston Churchill.
The
complex - which was known locally as the "Citadel" or "Fortress",
was designed to be bomb proof and gas proof, with a 7ft. thick roof
and 3ft walls, and 100 rooms covering an area of 50,000 square feet.
The
Royal Navy, Air Force and Royal Marines worked jointly to monitor
enemy convoys and "wolf packs" of submarines which threatened to
bring Britain to her knees in the early part of the war.
Probably
the most important area in Western Approaches was the decoding room,
in which the ENIGMA DECODING MACHINE was kept. This machine
had been recovered from a sinking U boat, along with the code books,
but tragically the sailors who saved them were lost.
The
main operations room contained giant maps of the North Atlantic,
the Western Approaches and the British Isles, upon which convoys
and wolf packs were plotted with Wrens
moving them around, using large mobile ladders.
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WREN's
at the plotting table.
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Sir
Max Horton - at his desk which looked out to the Plotting
Room.
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Communications
consistently came in and out of Derby House.
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The
most famous event in Western Approaches history is probably the
hunting down of the Bismark.
Sir
Max Horton, commander in chief of the Western Approaches from l942,
is buried in the Anglican Cathedral. "
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