Bletchley Park

June 2015 This month’s episode provides a peek at a major new exhibition at Bletchley Park, about codebreaking during World War One. The roots of Bletchley Park’s codebreaking success in World War Two can be clearly traced back to WW1, when several of the key figures of the Government Code and Cypher School were already engaged in the business of snooping into the enemy’s communications. The Road to Bletchley Park traces the roots of this codebreaking powerhouse back one hundred years. The exhibition is now open and will be formally launched soon. Also in this episode, steep yourself in vintage style at the 1940s Boutique, as this most glamorous of days out makes a welcome return next month. We go back to the first Boutique day last year, meeting a mother and two daughters whose mother and grandmother had worked at Bletchley Park. They had a heartbreaking story to tell about the real cost of keeping the details of her work secret from her family. And we finish with a real treat all the way from

May 2015 First this month we talk to our official photographer Shaun Armstrong who’s pictures help to tell the story of our new exhibition; Bletchley Park Rescued and Restored. Shaun was on hand to capture images from the start of the £8 million phase one restoration project, right through to the official opening in June 2014 by HRH The Duchess of Cambridge. Sarah Harding, director of the 2nd series of The Bletchley Circle was one of last years speakers in our Bletchley Park Presents series of talks. After her sold-out talk Sarah and her sister Gillian sat down to tell us about more discoveries of their mum’s Bletchley Park past. Over nearly 3 years of the podcast we have had the honour to interview around 40 of our amazing Veteran’s so far. These interviews, along with the Official Oral Archive, are building an invaluable resource of first-hand history, for not just the listeners of the podcast but for future generations to come. It is 70 years since Victory in Europe and to pay tribute to all

May 2015 70 years ago on May the 7th 1945 General Jodl signed the unconditional surrender of all German forces in Europe. The next day then became Victory in Europe Day. In this clip we bring you some of the sounds from those two monumental days along with the memories of some of our amazing Veterans that we have had the honour to interview over nearly three years now. This clip includes, Betty Flavell (WRNS 1944-1945) Joyce Roberts (WAAF 1945-1947) Dot Tuffin (WRNS 1943-1945) Marigold Freeman-Attwood (WRNS 1943-1945) Picture: Staff of Huts 3 and 6 on VE Day ©Bletchley Park Trust #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #VEDay70, #Enigma, #WW2Veteran, #History

April 2015 This month we take you into our new Hut 12 Exhibit; Rescued and Restored, showcasing historical treasures found during the transformation of the Huts and Blocks. When conservation specialists were brought in to rescue fragile, derelict buildings as part of the much needed first phase of restoration, little could they know what they might find. In the cracks between roof beams in Hut 6 they discovered folded pieces of what appear to be scrap paper, with mysterious notes scribbled on them. Among them were the only known examples of used Banbury Sheets ever found. The system invented by Alan Turing was used to help deduce the daily Enigma settings, before the process was mechanised by the development of the Turing Welchman Bombe. Maths comes to life at Bletchley Park and that’s why the 2015 Milton Keynes Maths Challenge final was held there. Students from secondary schools pitted their wits against each other in a series of timed challenges. At the sound of an air raid siren, the groups dash

March 2015 This month join us on a very special tour of Bletchley Park, when more than twenty members of Alan Turing’s family gathered to pay tribute to his contribution to the war-winning intelligence that emerged from this unassuming country estate. It was a poignant visit for members of his family, some of whom had never been before and most who’d never met the man. Sir John Dermot Turing, a Trustee of Bletchley Park and Alan Turing’s nephew, took the opportunity to talk about exciting plans to tell the story of his uncle’s co-invention, in the newly restored Hut 11A. Find out what year six pupils from Greenleys Junior School in Milton Keynes thought of their free school trip to Bletchley Park, when they became the first school to take advantage of a pilot bursary scheme, funded by Winton Global Investment Management. Graham Moore has become a member of Hollywood’s most exclusive club, an Oscar winner. Graham won the little gold statue for his script for The Imitation Game, adapted from Andrew

March 2014 In this EXTRA’s episode we bring you highlights of bestselling author, journalist and TV presenter Ben Macintyre’s talk on his book ‘A Spy Among Friends, Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal’. Kim Philby was the most notorious British defector and Soviet mole in history. Agent, double agent, traitor and enigma, he betrayed every secret of Allied operations to the Russians in the early years of the Cold War. It is followed by the interview we recorded with Ben after his talk, that regular listeners will have heard in this month’s normal podcast, but we have added it here again for completion. This talk was given in our Bletchley Park Presents series last year. Our 2015 season of talks is about to begin, starting with Michael Smith in March and already confirmed for later in the year are Victor Madeira, Jerry White, Taylor Downing & Sinclair McKay with more names yet to be announced. For more information on these talks please go to www.bletchleypark.org and look in the What’s On se

February 2015 Bursaries for disadvantaged schools have Been added to Bletchley Park’s expanding education programme Winton Global Investment Management is funding a pilot bursary scheme to allow free school trips to Bletchley Park. Bletchley Park welcomes more than 9,000 schoolchildren every year to its thriving education programme. The bursaries will be available to schools which might be most in need of financial support. Each bursary will cover the cost of coach hire and 40 children attending two workshops during their time at Bletchley Park. The first school to participate in the scheme was Greenleys Junior School in Milton Keynes. A group of year six students were given a Codes and Ciphers workshop, tried their hands at operating a real World War Two Enigma machine and toured the uniquely historic site. Victoria Worpole, the Bletchley Park Trust’s Director of Learning and Collections, says “These bursaries will help enormously by making exciting an

February 2015 This month best-selling author, journalist and TV presenter Ben Macintyre talks to us about his latest book, A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal. Ben spoke to us after his sell out talk last year in our Bletchley Park Presents lecture series. Tickets are on sale now for the 2015 talks which already includes Michael Smith, Victor Madeira, Jerry White, Taylor Downing and Sinclair Mackay, with more speakers to be announced soon. Then we bring you this month’s main event. In The Debs of Bletchley Park and Other Stories, best-selling author and Bletchley Park’s chief historical advisor, Michael Smith, reveals the secrets held for at least 30 years by women including a former ballerina, a convent girl and a student of German literature as well as the debutantes of the title. Seven of those stalwarts of secrecy gathered in the Mansion at Bletchley Park to tell the world’s media. Kerry Howard & Podcast Producer Mark Cotton spoke to three of them, Jean Pitt-Lewis, Margaret Mor

January 2015 The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch & Kiera Knightley, has been nominated for 8 Oscar’s Best Picture Benedict Cumberbatch for Actor in a Leading Role Kiera Knightley for Actress in a Supporting Role Directing Film Editing Music (Original Score) Production Design Writing (Adapted Screenplay) The 87th Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on February the 22nd 2015. Trailer, Music & Picture: © Black Bear Pictures/Studio Canal #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #AlanTuring #ImitationGameUK, #Oscars2015

January 2015 This month we are celebrating a cast of thousands who all made Crucial Contributions. Back in November, the families of the three Polish codebreaking geniuses, whose work proved invaluable in the breaking of Enigma, visited Bletchley Park. We take a look ahead at what’s new in 2015 with Bletchley Park’s Director of Learning and Collections, Victoria Worpole. A memorial plaque has been unveiled at the site of Bletchley Park’s largest outstation at Eastcote, where Bombe machines were housed & operated by over 800 Wrens during WW2. There representing Bletchley Park were Oral History Officer Jonathan Byrne and Podcast producer Mark Cotton. After the ceremony, they chatted about what’s been a bumper year for the oral history project. Finally this month, listen in to when we took Bletchley Park Veteran Rozanne Colchester into the newly renovated Hut 6 for the very first time. Picture: ©shaunarmstrong/mubsta.com #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #AlanTuring, #ImitationGameUK, #Pol

December 2014 Bletchley Park Podcast – 2014 Christmas Special. 2014 has been a landmark year at Bletchley Park. It’s seen the transformation of the site, returning it to its wartime glory with phase one of the restorations. Royalty returned with not one but two Veterans in the family this time, and the stranger than fiction story of Alan Turing hit the silver screen. Join podcast host Katherine and producer Mark as they take you on a virtual trip around the park and back through the year to hear Royalty, Hollywood Stars and of course lots of our wonderful Veterans. Many thanks to The Three Belles for the use of their music. Their charity single for The Royal British Legion can be purchased here: http://thethreebelles.com/christmas-single Thanks to everyone who took part in our show this year and thank you to our listeners. We will be back in the New Year with more stories from The Home of The Code Breakers and wish you all, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. P

December 2014 It’s been an extraordinary year at Bletchley Park and the icing on the cake would be to reach a record-breaking attendance level of 200,000 visitors before 31 December 2014. We can do it with the help of our listeners. The 200,000th visitor will be celebrated with prizes and greetings from Bletchley Park VIPs. Picture: ©mcfontaine #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #AlanTuring, #ImitationGame

December 2014 This month we again have more exclusive content for you from The Imitation Game. Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Alan Turing in the film, tells us about how nerve wracking, special and even ghostly it was filming scenes at Bletchley Park. We also take you to the opening of The Imitation Game, The Exhibition, which was held at the Home of The Codebreakers with a special screening of the film. BBC 3 Counties Jane Killick and our own roving podcast reporter Astrid Specht speak to some of the guests at the black-tie event, including David Broder, location manager on The Imitation Game and a long time champion of Bletchley Park. The Turing Test is an underlying theme of the film and it’s still confounding computer scientists to this day. For more than two decades Dr Hugh Loebner has turned that into a competition which for the second time was hosted at Bletchley Park. We find out why it is still important today from the organisers and one of the

November 2014 With only a couple of weeks till the UK release of THE IMITATION GAME, we can now bring you more exclusive interviews with the cast and crew. Our roving reporter Astrid Specht braved the rain with patient fans at The Odeon Leicester Square for the London Film Festival premiere last month. Podcast host Katherine Lynch sits down with Director Morton Tyldum, screen writer Graham Moore and actors Allen Leech and Matthew Beard. We also bring you what was a very special moment for all of us at Bletchley Park, when Katherine sat down to start her interview with the star of the film, Benedict Cumberbatch (hear all this interview next month). Finally, when Bletchley Park Historian and Guide, Joel Greenberg recently gave a talk on his biography of Gordon Welchman, there was a very special guest in attendance. Lord Asa Briggs served at Bletchley Park from 1942 till 1945, working with Welchman in Hut 6 and then later in Block D. He spoke to the sold out

October 2014 This month we come to you from the red carpet at The Odeon Leicester Square for the premiere of THE IMITATION GAME. The movie based on the life and work of Codebreaker Alan Turing was picked to open the prestigious 2014 BFI London Film Festival. To celebrate the film’s release in UK cinemas on the 14th of November, Bletchley Park will open a major new exhibition, taking visitors behind the scenes of this highly anticipated movie. We’ll bring you more on that next month, now, though, we can bring you exclusive behind the scenes interviews recorded during filming in the Mansion at Bletchley Park in late 2013. We first spoke to two members of the Turing family. Dermot Turing is a Bletchley Park Trustee as well as being Alan Turing’s nephew. His son, James, signed up as a supporting actor - once known as extras, for the film .We chatted to them both about what it was like to be involved in a film about the famous relative they’re both too young to have

October 2014 To celebrate the release of THE IMITATION GAME in UK cinemas on 14 November, Bletchley Park will open a major new exhibition, taking visitors behind the scenes of the highly anticipated movie. The exhibition will open on Tuesday 4 November with an exclusive preview screening of the film for a select audience at Bletchley Park. The same evening, this vibrant heritage attraction will preview a major new exhibition all about the making of the film, in the very room where the bar scenes were filmed. Sarah Kay, Bletchley Park’s Digitisation and Exhibitions Officer, says “THE IMITATION GAME at Bletchley Park Exhibition is an opportunity to not only provide our existing audiences the chance to see some of the film’s set dressing and some of the fantastic objects and documents created by the film’s art department. It is also an opportunity for us to reach new audiences of film fans who otherwise may not be familiar with the secret wartime work of Alan Turing a

September 2014 In this final highlight from last year’s sell-out day of talks, Codebreakers’ Legacy, Dr. Joel Greenberg talks about the vitally important work of another lesser known figure from GC&CS, Gordon Welchman. Welchman designed changes to Alan Turing’s Bombe Machine which was used throughout the war to find the daily settings for Enigma. He also drew up the organisational plan for Bletchley Park which ultimately would enable it to become a “Codebreaking Factory”. Joel is a Guide & Historian at Bletchley Park & undertook with the support of the Welchman family to write his biography; Gordon Welchman Bletchley Park's Architect of Ultra Intelligence which are available to buy at http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/shop/p.rhtm/130822/764256-Gordon_Welchman_Bletchley_Parks_Architect_of_Ultra_Intelligence_Joel_Greenberg.html If you would like to attend a similar event at Bletchley Park, then please go to http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ & look in the What’s On section.

September 2014 As part of our annual Veteran’s Reunion this year there was a fly past by a Hurricane of the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. 14,533 Hurricanes had been built by the end of World War 2, but sadly, today, there are only 12 still airworthy worldwide; only 6 of those in UK. The BBMF is proud to operate two of these historically important and rare aircraft. For more information on The BBMF please go to http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/ The beautiful picture accompanying this clip was taken by Bletchley Park’s official photographer Shaun Armstrong. Picture: ©shaunarmstrong/mubsta.com #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #BBMF, #Hurricane, #Merlin, #WW2Planes

September 2014 This month we bring you a special episode of the Bletchley Park Podcast, from the Annual Veterans' Reunion. 2014 is a landmark year for Bletchley Park, marking not only 75th anniversary of the Government Code and Cypher School getting its vital war work underway, but also the completion of £8 million worth of much-needed restoration, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. At this year’s reunion many of the Veterans saw those renovations for the first time. Bletchley Park's CEO, Iain Standen, brings the Veterans up to date on the work that's been carried out in phase one of the restoration of Bletchley Park and answers their questions about the future of the place that's so precious to them. We also talk to the official Bletchley Park photographer, Shaun Armstrong, about capturing history in the making. He's documented the entire restoration, Project Neptune, over the last two years and photographed one or two members of the Royal family along the way. Podcast Producer Ma

September 2014 As well as marking the 75th anniversary of the Government Code and Cypher School getting its vital war work underway, this year’s annual Veterans’ Reunion will give many their first chance to see how Bletchley Park has been transformed. 2014 is a landmark year for the Bletchley Park Trust, marking not only 75 years since the Codebreakers got cracking on the task of breaking enemy codes and ciphers, but also the completion of a much-needed £8 million restoration project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. At this year’s Veterans’ Reunion, many former workers of the Government Code and Cypher School will see the new Block C Visitor Centre, lovingly restored Codebreaking Huts 3 and 6 and the reinstated landscaped parkland for the first time. Visitors too can experience the World War Two atmosphere and feel what it was like for the thousands of men and women whose work at Bletchley Park and its outstations helped shorten the war, saving coun