Harry Jackson

Harry described being recruited in a talk to Blyth Rotary Club. He said that he and Cookson were invited to  Newcastle’s Royal Station Hotel lounge to meet a man. They would identify him as he would be carry a newspaper under one arm, and have glasses with a string attached. On finding him they were invited to his hotel room. There he quized them about troop movements in the area, but the two men said that these were dangerous questions to be asking. Their contact smiled, impressed that they were security conscious and went on to recruit them to Special Duties. Jackson would be in charge of an area from Morpeth to Sunderland and Hartlepool. The identity of this recruiting officer is not known, but may have been Captain Michael Farrer. 

In the early stages of the organisation, the plan was that messages would be taken to the smithy run by Bob Potts. The need to show a horse would provide reason to travel there, and messages could be passed onwards. As it was realised how slow this would be in practice, it was decided to install wireless transmitters. 

He was asked to use his skills as part of Exercise Spartan, between 4 and 12 March 1943. This exercise was designed to practice an invasion of enemy territory, using Canadian troops as the attackers and the British as German defenders. Presumably Harry Jackson was to try and see what information he could learn of Canadian dispositions and report that back. In the event he found security good. One group of tanks was only spotted on the fifth occaision he passed them., so good was their camouflage netting at concealing their presence.

During the war his wife was quite unaware of his activities with Special Duties. He had to have excuses prepared as to why he might need to go out at 2 am to send or receive messages.