Sinclair McKay writes regularly for the Daily Telegraph and The Secret Listeners and has written books about James Bond and Hammer horror for Aurum. His next book, about the wartime 'Y' Service during World War II, is due to be published by Aurum in 2012. He lives in London.
'As McKay argues in this well-told story, the Y Service has been
"sadly and curiously" uncelebrated. Yet were it not for all those
encoded messages relayed with such care, the codebreakers at
Bletchley would have had little to go on. It was their efforts that
made the revolutionary leaps of Bletchley possible. They should be
commemorated properly as having played their parts in one of the
greatest achievements of the 20th century, he says. And he has done
them proud.'
'The Secret Listeners draws our attention to the important
contribution made by modest, patriotic men and women engaged in war
work where individual decorations were rarely awarded and secrecy
demanded that even their closest relatives were denied an insight
into their contribution to the Allied victory.’
‘Sinclair McKay has gathered together memories, from published
works and from interviews with surviving veterans. This book
is full of delightful episodes.’
'A fascinating read' ‘ McKay’ s focus is rather on the personal
experiences of the individual Y Service operators — it brings home
not only the reality of what these people were doing but also the
daily privations endured with remarkable resilience by so many in
that war. As with those at Bletchley, the silence of that
generation, their disciplined restraint for decades afterwards, is
as impressive as their achievements. They felt the powerful pull of
common cause and (mostly) had the privilege of knowing that their
contribution was significant. Awful as it was for much of the time,
for many nothing that followed ever quite lived up to it. We should
be grateful that the survivors are talking now.’ 'As McKay argues
in this well-told story, the Y Service has been "sadly and
curiously" uncelebrated. Yet were it not for all those encoded
messages relayed with such care, the codebreakers at Bletchley
would have had little to go on. It was their efforts that made the
revolutionary leaps of Bletchley possible. They should be
commemorated properly as having played their parts in one of the
greatest achievements of the 20th century, he says. And he has done
them proud.' ‘ Sinclair McKay has gathered together memories,
from published works and from interviews with surviving
veterans. This book is full of delightful episodes.’ ‘
Sinclair McKay’ s account of this secret war of the airwaves is as
painstakingly researched and fascinating as his bestselling The
Secret Life Of Bletchley Park, and an essential companion to it.’ ‘
Their contribution enabled the code-breakers to achieve their
break-through, something that, in turn, shortened the war and saved
countless lives.’ 'The veterans who monitored radio traffic and
transcrived Morse code are given full, overdue credit in this
intriguing book' 'Author Sinclair McKay has once again unearthed a
fascinating compendium of memories from surviving veterans whose
vital contribution to the war effort had been shrouded in secrecy.'
'The Secret Listeners draws our attention to the important
contribution made by modest, patriotic men and women engaged in war
work where individual decorations were rarely awarded and secrecy
demanded that even their closest relatives were denied an insight
into their contribution to the Allied victory.’ 'McKay’ s story of
the wireless interceptors is one of willing amateurs and gifted
eccentrics, of patience, accuracy, and endurance. A fine book with
a genuinely new angle on a familiar topic, full of vivid and
fascinating characters.’
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