Historian Martyn Taylor explains how MI5 faked a wartime attack on Bury St Edmunds’ electricity supply
Later, in the pre-war years, a more efficient way of supplying power was developed, using Alternating Current from the National Grid. But, in August 1943, a mysterious explosion took place at the town’s generating station, a theory abounding that it was the work of either fifth columnists, spies or even double agents.
Although two Scotland Yard detectives attended, nothing further was done. It turned out that two loyal Norwegian agents, Helge Moe and Tor Glad - nicknamed Mutt and Jeff after two American inept comic-strip characters that ran from 1907 until 1983 - had come to Britain under the pretence of helping Nazi Germany and, to prove their worth, this act of ‘sabotage’ organised by MI5 was carried out.
The deception had begun in 1941 when Helge and Tor landed by rubber dinghy with sabotage equipment on a Scottish beach and at once gave themselves up as enemy agents. Subsequently, the information sent by these two loyal Norwegians was spurious, intended to lead the Germans down the garden path, especially after the agents were told to blow up an electric generating station.
Many years later, in 1985, the truth finally emerged when the then manager of that facility, Ray Stebbings, told a newspaper that a bomb had gone off on an unused condenser.
With the release in 2013 of previous classified government papers, it was stated that MI5 claimed that no German agents successfully detrimentally operated in Britain.
The photo is of a corporation junction box, on King’s Road /access to Waitrose supermarket, one of several boxes in the town centre.
Martyn Taylor is a local historian, author and Bury Tour Guide. His latest book, Going Underground: Bury St Edmunds, is widely available.