About the talk: A talk on 'Breaking the Code'
'Codes and ciphers have been a key element of warfare since time immemorial, when one side needed to send a massage without the enemy discovering the facts of what it contained . The counterbalance to this of course was for the other side to obtain the information sent by Breaking the Code. The gathering of the enemy’s intent was crucial to success, whilst maintaining secrecy, was all important. Both elements will be discussed during the presentation... and we will discover how both failure and triumph influenced the final outcome of the Great War in 1918
About the Speaker:
Lev Wood
is a member of the Staffs (North) and Cheshire (South) WFA Branch. He is a retired teacher and keen historian, and is co-author of a 2 volume history of 5th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment Territorial Force.
Lev’s family has a long history of 50 plus years service in the British Army, covering five generations, who all share the same name of Levison Wood.
This service commenced in 1892 when his great grandfather joined the local Volunteer Militia in Burslem. He saw service during the Boer War then continued until 1915 as part of the Home Defence Forces, and then in Ireland until 1920. A trophy bearing his name commemorating the visit of the Albert Edward Prince of Wales, in 1893, can be found in the Staffordshire Yeomanry Museum in Stafford.
His grandfather, however only managed just 3 months service on the Western Front fighting with the Royal Artillery until being medically discharged. Lev still has his Silver War badge issued to all service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness from military service.
His father fought in Burma with the Royal Welch Fusiliers during WW2 and was also part of the Occupation Forces in Japan until 1947 in a small town called Hiroshima. Lev is very proud to say that he has his Dad’s slouch hat decorated by his 36th Divisional badge.
Lev modestly reckons that he was the lucky one, who simply went to dig holes in Germany during the cold war with the 2nd Battalion, Mercian Territorial Volunteer Reserve.
The fifth of the generation was Lev’s son who was a commissioned officer, who joined the Parachute Regiment after leaving Sandhurst. He undertook a tour to Afghanistan in 2008 having spent time prior to that in both Iraq and Syria.
Staffs (North) & Cheshire (South) Venue
