Bury St Edmunds Guildhall to hold exhibition uncovering secret room that helped change the course of the Battle of Britain

The Guildhall in Bury St Edmunds is set to host a unique exhibition uncovering Bury St Edmunds’ connection with a top-secret World War Two operation.

The Ration Books to Rock 'n' Roll free exhibition will uncover the Guildhall Royal Observer Corps Operations Room - which helped changed the course of the Battle of Britain - and explore the local heroes who worked there.

The exhibition will be launched on Saturday with a variety of activities and talks set for the next two weeks.

Louisa Beattie, assistant manager at the Guildhall, said: "The Guildhall Ops Room is the only one of its kind left anywhere in the country.

"It’s all about the Royal Observer Corp who were the eyes and ears of the RAF during the Second World War.

"They were a civilian group, everyday local heroes, who spent six years at a plotting table or in outposts across the region spotting planes and saving lives.

"This is a story that has been left unsung for 80 years. It has been hidden behind this veil of secrecy and we’re declassifying it at this special exhibition," she added.

Louisa went on to say that it is brilliant the Guildhall can finally reopen and explore hidden local stories.

She said: "The Guildhall was renovated in 2018 and we were just getting on our feet when Covid hit the year after, so this is a way of coming back with a bang - reopening and celebrating a story that is still incredibly relevant today."

During the day of the launch there will be a screening of the documentary The Land Girls and Horses of Suffolk and in the evening a specially written drama by Bring Out Your Dead Productions, Forewarned, Forearmed, will be premiered.

The exhibition will be open from 10am to 4pm until April 10 with refreshments available at the Guildhall’s Tudor Kitchen.

As well as the Ration Books to Rock and Roll exhibition, there will also be related events at the Guildhall throughout the year.

"We've got another series of open days throughout the year on selected Sundays and they're going to go into a bit more depth about some of the things we touch upon in the exhibition. We're using those days to explore further.

"We're covering things like how the Ops room celebrated VE Day and exploring American connections with the American air bases and how that all fit in," she added.

The Guildhall are also looking for more volunteers to be ale to continue telling local hidden stories.

Louisa said: "We are a charity and we are pretty much run entirely by volunteers. We're really interested in hearing from people who want to get involved in the project and help build it in the future.

"They'd be helping at the open days, they might like to learn to give tours or to help behind the scenes developing displays and travelling exhibitions we're looking into.

"We just want to share the stories as far and wide as we can so we're looking for enthusiastic people to help with that," she added.

Tickets for accompanying Ration Books to Rock 'n' Roll events can be purchased here.

More information on The Guildhall Ops Room can be found on Bury St Edmunds Guildhall website.