Home » History » Wartime 1939-1945

Equipment Types

Wartime 1939-1945

In 1940 first Edgar Lavington and then Paul Taylor joined the RAF as Volunteer Reserve (VR) Pilot Officers which entitled them to wear the coveted VR symbol on their uniform collars. (Those without the VR had been conscripted!)

Pamphonic Reproducers Ltd was mothballed at Banham’s Boatyard in St. Andrews Road, Cambridge under the watchful eye of the factory foreman, Arthur Henderson, who was not considered fit for military service. There are letters from Arthur Henderson reporting to Paul Taylor on service issues such as the large Pamphonic PA systems installed in various arms factories around the UK such as the BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Company) factory.

Paul Taylor (and Edgar Lavington) worked on the then secret radar, and when in London stayed at his parents’ grand London home at 56 Prince Albert Road (Regents Park), which continued to act as a spares department for Pamphonic while it was based in Cambridge during the war years. One customer remembers piles of spares in the ballroom.