Pictured at County Hall with the D-Day 80 commemorative flag are: Vice Civic Chairman Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal, (front left), pupils and teaching staff from Castle View Primary School, Matlock, and Civic Chairman Councillor Tony Kemp.
Pupils and teaching staff from Castle View Primary School in School Road visited County Hall in Matlock earlier this week to have a tour of the historic building and find out more about its role in the war.
The visit came in the run-up to D-Day commemorations which are now being held across the country to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944.
The D-Day landings, also known as the Normandy landings, were the largest seaborne invasion in history. The historic operation saw the Allied Forces mount a large-scale invasion of Nazi-occupied France that ultimately tipped the course of the Second World War in the Allies’ favour.
Castle View pupils were greeted at County Hall by Civic Chairman Councillor Tony Kemp and Vice Civic Chairman Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal, before their tour.
During the tour they were told about the history of County Hall during the war, starting in August 1940, when the Intelligence Training Centre moved to Smedley’s Hydro, now County Hall, from Swanage, and remained there until the end of the war in September 1945. The building was used to conduct war intelligence and interrogation courses.
In December 1942 the name of the centre was changed to the School of Military Intelligence, and a photographic interpretation wing was formed to house the School of Air Photography from Farnborough as their site became too small.
Following the tour and talks, the pupils helped to unveil the new flag to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, that is now being flown at County Hall from today (6 June 2024) until 13 June 2024.