Bletchley Park

June 2020    This week we return for the second and final time to the 2018 launch of Dermot Turing’s book, X, Y and Z: The Real Story of How Enigma Was Broken. It’s a story of international cooperation, spanning many years and for the first time tells of how the French, British and Polish secret services came together to unravel the secrets of the Enigma machine.   At the launch Dermot was joined by Nathalie Genet-Rouffiac, the Curator of Heritage for the French Ministry of the Armed Forces and GCHQ Historian Tony Comer. To finish this episode we have highlights from the Q&A Session that all three joined, which ended the day.   But first we return to Dermot’s talk. In the last episode we left the Polish Codebreakers, enjoying life, living in a Chateau, working for the French. He now completes the story of what happened to them following the Allied landings in North Africa in late 1942 as the Germans rushed to occupy Vichy France.   Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020   * Producers Note * While we are still

June 2020    The breaking of the German Enigma machine wasn’t just down to the Codebreakers at Bletchley Park and it didn’t start with the outbreak of World War Two. It’s a story of international cooperation, spanning many years and who better to tell it than the nephew of Alan Turing.    In this, the first of two episodes, we return to 2018 when Bletchley Park hosted representatives of the Polish Embassy in London and families of Polish codebreakers, for the launch of Dermot Turing’s book, X, Y and Z: The Real Story of How Enigma Was Broken.   Based on his own original research and newly released documents, both in the book and this exclusively recorded talk, Dermot tells the story of how the French, British and Polish secret services came together to unravel the secrets of the Enigma machine.    He is introduced by His Excellency the Ambassador of Republic of Poland, Dr Arkady Rzegocki.   Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020   #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, @PolishEmbassyUK

June 2020    This week we return for the last time to the Bill Tutte symposium that was held at Bletchley Park in 2017, the centenary of his birth.    In this episode we bring you the closing address of the day given by our then Chairman, Sir John Scarlett. But before that we have the final speaker of the day, the BBC’s Security Correspondent, Gordon Corera, here for the first time in full.   The work that Bill did at Bletchley Park would help lead to the creation of the cutting edge technology of the Colossus Computer. Therefore it was fitting that in his talk Gordon looked for the connecting threads between then and now, between maths and machines, computers and people.    Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020   #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, #Tunny

May 2020    We return in this episode to the Bill Tutte symposium that was held at Bletchley Park in 2017, on the centenary of his birth. Again we bring you one of the many talks given that day, but for the first time in full.   Bill Tutte’s breaking of the Lorenz machine led to the Codebreakers at Bletchley Park being able to read the messages being sent between Hitler, the German High Command and the Generals in the field. In his talk our Research Historian Dr David Kenyon, looked at why this was so important to the Allied planners. Focusing specifically on how intelligence derived from Tunny decrypts played a role in D-Day, he asked the question “How Fishy was Ultra?”   To find out even more about the work of The Western Front Committee and the planning for D-Day, why not go back and listen to Episode 88 The Tide of Victory, where we looked at this in even greater detail.   Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020   #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, #Tunny

May 2020    In this episode we stay with the attack on the Lorenz code that Bill Tutte played such an important part in, with a first-hand account.   Captain Jerry Roberts worked with Bill Tutte in The Testery cracking, what they called Tunny, the German High Commands code, used by Hitler & his top Generals. Jerry tells us what it was like to work in The Testery, why breaking Tunny was so important to the ultimate Allied victory and of his 3 Heroes of Bletchley Park.   Jerry’s was the last of a day of talks held in 2012 as part of the celebrations of Alan Turing’s Centenary. The introduction is by Lord Charles Brocket who acted as master of ceremonies for the day.    In memoriam, Captain Jerry Roberts MBE (1920-2014)   Image: ©mcfontaine   #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, #Lorenz, #Veteran

May 2020    In this episode we again return to the Bill Tutte symposium that was held at Bletchley Park in 2017, on the centenary of his birth.    As a member of the Bill Tutte Memorial Fund Claire Butterfield had by 2017 spent 4 years campaigning for more recognition for the little-known mathematical genius. For the first time we can bring you Claire’s entire talk that opened the day and in it she explores Bill’s entire life and work.     Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020   #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, #Tunny

May 2020 After more than 5 and a half years of fighting, 75 Years ago today the war in Europe officially finally came to an end.  To commemorate the day we present this special It Happened Here episode. Using archive recordings and interviews with our Veterans from both our official Oral History Project and nearly 8 years of podcasts, we hope to take you back to the heady days of early May 1945. 20 of our Veterans will share their memories, both happy and sometimes poignant, of what VE Day and beyond meant to them. Featured in order of appearance are: Betty Flavell Peggy Huntingdon Ron Unwin Joyce Spurr Tim Edwards Pamela Billinton Lady Marion Body Elizabeth Ruth Hughes Mary Sherrard Joyce Bogoni Betty Lawrie Eileen Younghusband Helene Aldwinckle Sheila Willson Walter 'Joe' Wright Margaret Thomas Jane Fawcett Elizabeth Marshall Stanley Clegg Marigold Freeman-Attwood We would like to take this opportunity to thank not just the Veterans of Bletchley Park and its Outstations, but all Veterans, for their ser

May 2020 Since first marching into Poland on the 1st September 1939, the German army had conquered most of Europe. But the tide had turned and, as April 1945 began, they were caught between the Western Allies and the vast Red Army of the Soviet Union. The inevitable end was finally in sight, but not before multiple surrenders were signed. For the Codebreakers of Bletchley Park, after more than 5 and a half years, their work wasn’t over. Not only did they have to keep supplying vital intelligence, but they also looked towards an uncertain future and the threat of a new enemy. It must have been satisfying for the night shift in Hut 6 on the 7th May 1945 as they secretly became some of the first people to learn that the war in Europe was at an end. With the help of archival recordings and Ultra decrypts from the time, Bletchley Park’s Research Officer, Dr Thomas Cheetham, guides us through the dramatic last days of the Nazi regime.  Very special thanks go to Mr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.

April 2020    Many of Bletchley Park’s senior early war staff had cut their codebreaking teeth during World War One. In 2015 we opened an exhibition called The Road to Bletchley Park which looked at the work of Room 40 and MI1B. So following on from our previous Intelligence Insight we will be sharing again some interviews with the families of these famous Codebreakers of both conflicts.   Dillwyn ‘Dilly’ Knox started World War Two as GC&CS’s Chief Codebreaker but in World War One had been one of the team that helped to break the famous Zimmerman Telegram. So first we return to 2015 when 14 members of his family paid us a visit and we spoke to his 4 grandchildren, Charlotte, Tim, Peter and the modern incarnation of Dilly.   The person credited with most of the work on the Zimmerman Telegram was Nigel de Grey. Again in 2015 we spoke to Michael de Grey about his grandfather’s work and he shared some amazing letters that Nigel sent him as a child. Then Michael’s brother, Anthony de Grey spoke about their fat

April 2020    Over the years we have been very fortunate to welcome the families of some of our more famous Codebreakers for a visit to Bletchley Park. The families always have such an immense pride in their ancestors and the work they did for GC&CS and it’s always an honour for the podcast to sit down with them for our listeners.   Following on from our last podcast, Invasion Norway, where we looked at the vital work Harry Hinsley carried out in the Naval Section, we go back to 2017 when two of his children, Clarissa & Hugo paid a visit with 3 generations of the family. They not only speak about their famous father but also their mother Hillary who also worked at Bletchley Park.   We will then hear from Gordon Welchman’s grandson Geoffrey on his first visit to Bletchley Park and how emotional it was for him.    Finally we sit down with Welchman’s biographer Dr Joel Greenberg, his granddaughter Jenny and two Veterans Jimmy Thirsk and Betty Webb as they discuss his wartime work and his book The Hut 6 S

April 2020  In early 1940, as winter turned to spring, the world waited for the ‘Phony war’ to end with the expected German attack in the west. But the leaders of both Allied and Axis forces were looking in another direction, to the north, to the snow and the steel, to Scandinavia. Meanwhile in a wooden hut at Bletchley Park, recent recruit Harry Hinsley was certain a German fleet was preparing to set sail, but how could he, a 21-year-old civilian in a highly secret department, persuade the Admiralty that he was right? In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode we explore the difficult start of Bletchley Park’s role in Britain’s war at sea. Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon will be our guide. As usual special thanks go to Mr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents. * Producers Note * We have had to record this episode remotely due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. This means that the audio quality is not to the high quality we would normally wish it to be. We hope our listeners will und

April 2020    2017 was the centenary of a relatively little-known genius who went straight from studying mathematics at Cambridge to codebreaking for the Government Code and Cypher School. The crucial role that Bill Tutte played in the attack on the system used by Hitler and his high command, Lorenz, not only broke it but also helped paved the way for the creation of the world’s first large-scale electronic digital computer, Colossus.   Finally Bill received the recognition he so richly deserved with a BBC Documentary, an exhibition at Bletchley Park and, on the day of his centenary, a symposium of talks about his life and work.   Here for the first time we can bring you, instead of just highlights, the entire talk and Q&A session from GCHQ’s shortly to retire Departmental Historian, Tony Comer. In his talk Tony looked at the fundamental changes that had happened at GC&CS to allow Bill Tutte to carry out his breath-taking achievements.   We have also included again the interview we recorded at The Nat

March 2020    Bletchley Park Museum is currently closed as a precautionary measure to help contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Our staff and volunteers like so many around the world are in lockdown, self-isolation or working remotely from home.   Bletchley Parks CEO Iain Standen said “This isn’t the first time that Bletchley Park has operated at unprecedented times of national crisis and it is the values of those that have and still work here – understanding, collaboration, integrity, perseverance, resilience – that we hold dear at this moment.”   While we can we will continue to produce our normal podcasts but in addition to that the Podcast Team have decided to bring you something each Friday for the next few weeks. With 8 years of content we will not only return to some gems from previous shows but also bring you things that have not been heard before.    For this first episode our producer Mark Cotton has dipped into the over 100 hours of recordings to bring you a selection of interviews that he

March 2020  As 1945 began, the Germans’ last roll of the dice in the Ardennes has failed. They were left to face the overwhelming force of men and materiel of the Allied armies approaching the Fatherland from all directions.  For the Allies in the west, the natural barrier of the Rhine River was all that lay between them and the open plains of Germany, and the last phase of the war in the west.  Meanwhile the Government Code & Cypher School at Bletchley Park were producing more intelligence than ever before, but for how much longer? We’ll find out how it was at this point that the Germans challenged the Codebreakers like never before.  In this It Happened Here episode our Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham will take us through the action on the front line and reveal just how difficult it was becoming to keep supplying actionable Intelligence in the last year of the war. As usual special thanks go to Mr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents. In memoriam, Eileen Younghusband BEM  (1921-2016)

February 2020    In contrast to its roots as a top secret organisation, the name of Bletchley Park is now recognised around the world. Sharing Bletchley Park’s stories with our audiences through education is at the heart what we now do here. Since first opening the site as a museum in 1992, educational programming has been a crucial part of the work of Bletchley Park Trust.    Our Learning team of dedicated staff and volunteers now welcomes over 35,000 visitors to the site each year and reaches even more through their growing Outreach and Digital programmes. Their workshops, tours and events have won awards at the national School Travel Awards and a prestigious Sandford Award in 2019.   A recent project, Challenge HQ, has seen Bletchley Park open brand new learning spaces on site to complement the increasing work done by this busy team. This gives us a perfect opportunity for our listeners to meet the Learning team and find out more about this exciting new project.   For the Bletchley Park Podcast, we brought

January 2020  80 years ago, in January 1940, British and French troops were freezing in their dugouts awaiting a German attack which would not come for several months yet; the so-called ‘Phony war’. Bletchley Park, by contrast was a hive of activity as efforts were made to break into German codes and ciphers, including the Enigma system, before the land war began in earnest. In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode we are guided by Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon through the evolution of this infamous cipher machine, and the international efforts which led to the unlocking of its secrets in January 1940. As usual special thanks go to Mr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents. Image courtesy of Vic Roberts. #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyParkEnigma80, #Enigma80

December 2019    During World War Two, 34 alumnae of St Hugh’s College Oxford ended up working at Bletchley Park and its Outstations and In March 2020 the college will be holding a symposium to celebrate them.    In this, the last of three episodes this month, our Oral History Officer Jonathan Byrne tells us how this has opened up a potential new source for us to discover more of our Veterans and to hopefully capture more stories before it is too late.   The rest of this episode is given over to the fascinating stories of Wenda Reynolds and Nancy Sandars two of those St Hugh’s College ladies.   Bletchley local, Miss Wenda Reynolds worked at GC&CS in both the Mansion and Hut 9 from 1941 till 1945.   Miss Nancy Sandars served first as a motorcycle despatch rider, and then joined the WRNS as a Y-Service Wireless Operator.   In memoriam, Miss Wenda Reynolds (1914-2017) and Miss Nancy Sandars (1914-2015)   Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2019   #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2

December 2019    After nearly 6 months of fighting from the beaches of Normandy, by early December 1944 the Allies’ front line stretched for 600 miles from the North Sea coast to the borders of Switzerland. The Scheldt estuary had finally been cleared, allowing the port of Antwerp to be opened and to start to ease their supply problems.    With one of the coldest winters on record taking hold and Christmas approaching many of the front line troops probably expected a respite for at least a few weeks. What they didn’t expect was for more than 400,000 German troops to come smashing through the Ardennes on a mission to recapture Antwerp and split the Allied forces in two.   Why was the Battle of the Bulge such a surprise? Was it Allied complacency or German ingenuity? In this “It Happened Here” episode, using contemporary archival documents, Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham, will try to answer those questions.   Special thanks to Mr Ben Thomson for playing the role of our Intelligence Officer

December 2019    At the end of each year we like to focus on the important work that our Oral History Officer Jonathan Byrne and his team of staff and volunteers carry out. The interviews they record not only help to build a better picture of the vital work carried out here during World War Two but also help us develop new ways to share those stories with our visitors, such as exhibitions, family activities and online resources.   In this, the first of three episodes this month, we catch up with Jonathan and find out about the presentation of France’s highest order of merit, the Légion d’honneur, to Bletchley Park Veterans.   We also introduce the newest member of Jonathan’s team, Oral History Assistant, Will Hankey who describes his passion for his work.   The rest of this episode explores the experiences of three of our Légion d’honneur recipients.   Mrs Helene Aldwinckle worked in Hut 6 and Block D (6) at Bletchley Park from 1942 till 1945.   RAF Flight Sergeant Gordon Rosenberg served in Special Liaison U

November 2019    In this month’s 2nd episode celebrating the anniversary of the creation of GCHQ, where better to learn more about those 100 years than in the heart of its current Headquarters.   We were given special permission to record within the walls of the famous ‘Doughnut’ building in Cheltenham. Our guide to those top secret corridors is GCHQ’s new official Historian David Abrutat.   With a century of codebreaking behind them, there is a rich history to dive into and it’s not just about Bletchley Park.   The team at today’s Bletchley Park have marked GCHQ’s Centenary with a new display called From GC&CS to GCHQ. We find out about some of the people and stories in the exhibition from Exhibitions Manager and podcast host, Erica Munro.   A very special thanks to GCHQ for allowing us to record this exclusive episode.    Image: ©Crown Copyright   #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #GCHQ100