Norfolk Nazi-hunter's unit recognised at last

From EDP24:

A member of a secret task force which helped to capture Nazi scientists for interrogation during and after the Second World War says he is glad the unit has finally been given the recognition it deserves with the publication of a new book.

5 Kings / 2 T Force, an army unit set up in the later stages of the war in 1945 to search for German military researchers and scientists, was responsible for bringing hundreds of Nazi scientists to the UK for interrogation, including nuclear scientists and the designers of hydrogen peroxide engines used in high speed submarines, jet fighters and the V2 missile. James Bond author Ian Fleming helped to set up the unit and even used it as inspiration for his novel, Moonraker.

One of those who served in T Force is 84-year-old Kenneth Moore, who now lives in Church Road, Bacton, and is chairman of the 5 Kings / 2 T Force OCA (Old Comrades Association).

He says the associations' 30 members are overjoyed with the publication of a new book, T-Force: The Race for Nazi War Secrets by Sean Longden, which details all about the secret task force and the work they did.

The members have also each received a certificate of commendation for their work in T Force, signed by Sir David Richards, the army's chief of the general staff. Mr Moore had originally worked as a gunner in the Royal Artillery and was sent to Normandy during the war.

After the D-Day landings, the gunner regiments were broken up and he was sent to work as a gunner with the 5 Kings/ T Force. He said:

We were tasked with searching, finding and evacuating anything of scientific nature, which included u-boats, radars, poison, anything which would have the slightest hint of having been a help to the Germans.

He says one of the most memorable things from his time with T Force was when they smuggled scientists out of Germany to be interrogated.

He said:

We would have a van which we packed inside with food and tins around the sides, and in the middle would be people. It would then be inspected at the port and checked over before we were allowed to continue.

During his time with T Force he went across the world, to places including Russia and Denmark. T Force oversaw the liberation of Denmark in 1945, after being under Nazi occupation for five years.

After the war Mr Moore remained in the army and later worked for NATO. In 1978, after leaving the army, he went on to work with the Danish Tourist Board as a liaison officer, before moving to Norfolk to retire in 1994.

This year the association is travelling to Germany and Kiel in Denmark in May, to mark the 20th anniversary since setting up the 5 Kings/ 2 T Force OCA and 65 years since they liberated Denmark. Mr Moore said:

It is so strange that some 60 odd years after the force was set up, what we did is only just coming to light. The members of the association are very, very happy. It is more than we expected to be recognised for what we did and to have that recorded in a book.

T-Force: The Race for Nazi War Secrets by Sean Longden, has been by Constable and Robinson and can be found at www.amazon.co.uk