Concept

to explore the Second World War from 3 key perspectives:

• Fighting the war through intelligence.
• Refugees and their role.
• German PoWs in Britain - whose side were they on.

The lessons will explore the Second World War on the Home Front–but from a military perspective that does not involve physical combat. It will explore the different ways the war was fought and the different groups of people involved in fighting it. The significance of refugees as a group actively engaged with fighting Nazi Germany will be explored, also addressing the role of refugees in wartime, as well as combating the idea that the Jews did not fight back. Alongside these concepts, lessons explore loyalty in war time and German responses to the war they were fighting. The active role of women in the Intelligence Unit will be highlighted, revealing the nature of an inclusive conflict where everyone ‘did their bit’.

Overall learning objectives

Students will learn about:

• Aspects of the Second World War.
• The role of Intelligence and secrecy during the war.
• German and Austrian refugees and émigrés who fought for Britain.
• How wars are fought in more than one way.
• Aspects of the British Military on the Home Front.

Two or five-lesson series

The M Room can be taught as two lessons on ‘Intelligence Collection on the Home Front’ using lessons one and two below, or as a block of five lessons.

1. Lesson One: Different ways of fighting a war: Introduction to the collection of Intelligence during war time - a secret war.
2. Lesson Two: Different ways of fighting a war: The M Room - how the three sites operated and what they heard. Information about Kendrick.
3. Lesson Three: Who were the listeners?
4. Lesson Four: Listening to the PoWs.
5. Lesson Five: Keeping secrets in war time and afterwards; using other people’s secrets; the impact on history.