George Baker

George Baker was local resident and thanks to his son, we have copies of his Stand Down letters, confirming him to be a member of Special Duties. He was a member of the Civil Air Guard immediately pre-war, owning his own plane, high speed motorboat and was a dealer in motorbikes. On the outbreak of war, he joined the RAF as a pilot instructor, but was released when it was proposed to send him to Canada, apparently relating to a clause for the Civil Air Guard, that meant they could not be deployed overseas against their will. George Baker was also keen on radios and was a regular at the Hotel, so had known Ted Harvey for some time. His son recalls that one of their battery charging banks was for car batteries, which they did not service, perhaps being used to charge batteries for the wireless at the Hotel. George was also appointed to train Fire Guards, possibly to provide cover for his activities with Special Duties. Conceivably he could even have been a third operator for the wireless.

His son recalls that on 5th June 1944, he took a phone message for his father as his parents were out. He was told it was vital he stay up and pass the message on when they returned. It was “Please reply to my letter immediately” and afterwards understood that this was a coded instruction regarding the invasion which took place the following day.