Thread by @drtorhumphreys

🧵For all those interested in #SOE & #BritishEspionage #history, a visit to the red-brick #StErminsHotel in #London is a must. Situated in the heart of #Westminster, but hiding on Caxton Street, my map reading skills were sorely tested. Not till I admitted defeat, did I find it.

I wandered in - somewhat frazzled - declared my interest, & was swiftly treated to an impromptu tour by the munificent concierge. It began here: the grand staircase in the hotel lobby. The pictured door is said to conceal a secret tunnel that leads directly to #TheHouseofCommons.

'#MI5 & #MI6 each occupied a floor of the hotel during #WW2...' said the concierge. Indeed, #SIS made the hotel their Section D HQ, then #SOE arrived in the guise of the 'Statistical Research Department'. 'This way,' said the concierge, ushering me away from the lobby to this...

In a little nook, the glass-fronted cabinet of SOE artefacts is artfully curated. It's a smorgasbord of original WW2 SOE field equipment; a historical memory game for the SO(e) inclined; an apt memorial to the wartime past of St. Ermin's Hotel. 'I have goosebumps,' I said.

'Yes,' said the concierge, nodding benevolently.
I had this mini-museum, this cabinet of wonder, to myself, and I set upon each object with a photographic pounce.

And my goodness did I pounce...

saving the best till last: a #WW2 Pigeon Transport Box.

My debut novel, #NotTheWorkOfAnOrdinaryBoy will be published by @StairwellBooks next month on 16/03/2023 & features an elite carrier pigeon named Ethelred the Unready. You can preorder here:
stairwellbooks.co.uk/product/not-th… 🙏

As I reluctantly made to leave the hotel, I bid a fond farewell to the obliging concierge & was gifted a little booklet: The St. Ermin's Autobiography. You can find the text online: sterminshotel.co.uk/about/our-hist…

And more about the hotel's history here: thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/st-er…

#Visit