Description
Object description
Small collection relating to Allan Hardy's service with the Directorate of Clothing and Textiles (Section CT6c), Ministry of Supply, during the Second World War, a clandestine operation responsible for the procurement of material used by MI9 agents to aid escape and evasion, as well as for covert Special Operations Executive (SOE) activity on the continent.. The collection includes a paper telephone and address book (S.O. Book 136) in which Hardy has written the names, addresses and telephone numbers of numerous commercial suppliers and War Office contacts (including Charles Fraser-Smith), as well as the contents of Czechoslovakian tailors' labels paired with types of civilian clothing. Also included are two empty paper envelopes addressed to E D Alston Esq at the Ministry of Suppy, Directorate of Clothing and Textiles, C.T.6.c. (9 Park Place, Leeds), one of which is marked 'MOST SECRET' and the other of which is stamped 'M.I.9.'.
Content description
Small collection relating to Allan Hardy's service with the Directorate of Clothing and Textiles (Section CT6c), Ministry of Supply, during the Second World War, a clandestine operation responsible for the procurement of material used by MI9 agents to aid escape and evasion, as well as for covert Special Operations Executive (SOE) activity on the continent.. The collection includes a paper telephone and address book (S.O. Book 136) in which Hardy has written the names, addresses and telephone numbers of numerous commercial suppliers and War Office contacts (including Charles Fraser-Smith), as well as the contents of Czechoslovakian tailors' labels paired with types of civilian clothing. Also included are two empty paper envelopes addressed to E D Alston Esq at the Ministry of Suppy, Directorate of Clothing and Textiles, C.T.6.c. (9 Park Place, Leeds), one of which is marked 'MOST SECRET' and the other of which is stamped 'M.I.9.'.
History note
Allan Hardy, born 28 September 1909, worked for the Directorate of Clothing & Textiles (Section CT6c), Ministry of Supply, during the Second World War. Hardy, who was not passed as medically fit for military service, served as deputy to the Section's Assistant Director, Edward D Alston Esq, at its headquarters in Leeds (9 Park Place). He was likely chosen for the role due to his past experience as a buyer, gained through his pre-war ironmongery business, Allan Hardy Ltd, in Bridlington, Yorkshire.
Section CT6c was in reality a clandestine operation responsible for the procurement of material used by MI9 agents to aid escape and evasion, as well as for covert Special Operations Executive (SOE) activity on the continent. Alston and Hardy effectively served as intermediaries between commercial suppliers and these secret War Office organisations. The items they procured included silk and tissue paper escape maps, clandestine 'escape' compasses, European-style civilian clothing as well as counterfeit European and Asian clothing labels, counterfeit enemy clothing and insignia and a variety of other special devices. Among the Section CT6c's members was Charles Fraser-Smith, the likely influence for Ian Fleming's 'Q' in his James Bond novels (Fraser-Smith is listed in Hardy's phone and address book (Documents.27339)).