From the beginning of the war, the Royal Navy used their secret “Y” Listening Station on Sandybed Lane to eavesdrop on German naval communications. The old Sandybed station was replaced by a much larger one at Irton Moor in March 1943. Nearly 700 staff were employed by 1944.
Most of the German communication was encrypted in the Enigma code and then sent in Morse code. The Morse code was translated by the wireless operators at Scarborough and then sent by teleprinter to Bletchley Park, where they were very successful in decrypting Enigma. This helped Britain and its allies to win the war.
Wireless telegraphy work at Irton Moor was done by naval ratings and members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens).
Tragedy struck the Scarborough station in 1941. Twelve of the station’s Wrens were sent to Gibraltar on the civilian SS Aguila. They all perished when the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine on the 19th August, shocking the “Y” community in Scarborough.
