Alex Mayer

Alex Mayer

Labour — Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard

Speaking in the House of Commons on 6 May 2025

Debate

Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary

Contribution

Eighty years ago, celebrations broke out across the country that were spontaneous, joyful and often very noisy. There was a group of people, however, who were not talking loudly about the work they had done during the war. Some were based in Leighton Buzzard, in a place called Q Central. It was a secret communications hub and at its height, more than 2,000 people— predominantly women—were working there, running the largest telephone exchange in the entire world. Many in the constituency and further afield think that more people need to find out about this contribution. Lots of people know about the neighbouring secret work at Bletchley, but Leighton Buzzard’s contribution has not been recognised for too long. I am proud of the work of a local historian called Paul Brown, who has been bringing that secret work to the public’s attention.

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