Bletchley Park

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

November 2019    During WW1 the United Kingdom had two separate cryptographic organisations, the Navy’s Room 40 & the Army’s MI1(b). Both had major codebreaking success during the conflict but it was decided that after the war that they should merge.    On the 1st of November 1919 the Government Code & Cypher School or GC&CS was created. Best known for its work during WW2 at Bletchley Park, after the war its name was changed to one more familiar to us today GCHQ.   To mark the anniversary, a special event was held exactly 100 years later with past and present members of staff and representatives of the other Five Eyes Intelligence Services from around the world.   We’ll hear from GCHQ’s current director Jeremy Fleming as well as memories from the staff that were specially recorded for the event.   We catch up with Bletchley Park Veteran Betty Webb who shares her pride at being part of the organisation and talks about the changing role of women in defence with her guest Retired Colonel Ali Brown.  

October 2019    “Gas masks are to be taken” so ends what seems a rather mundane government memo dated the 2nd of August 1939. It importance becomes apparent when you discover this was the Move Order sent to the staff of the Government Code and Cypher School.    As Hitler threatened Poland it seemed another war in Europe was inevitable, so it was decided the staff of GC&CS should move to their War Station in the Buckinghamshire countryside. With hindsight we now know that over the next 6 long years, Bletchley Park would become a codebreaking factory, but what were those Early Days really like?   In this “It Happened Here” episode, our host, Erica Munro & Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham take us back to August 1939 and through documents held in the archives tell the story of the arrival at Bletchley and dispel a few myths along the way.   Special thanks to Mr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.   In memoriam, Jane Fawcett MBE (1921–2016) FO Civilian Hut 6   Image courtesy

September 2019    By early September 1944, with the Normandy Campaign behind them, 6 Allied Armies were racing across Northern France and into the Low Countries. Ahead of them the remnants of the German Army were retreating to the borders of the Fatherland. To many on the Allied side it seemed that a bold action was all that was needed to finish the war by Christmas.   The plan called for a carpet of paratroopers to capture and hold bridges along a 64 mile road, allowing an armoured spearhead to reach its goal of the bridge at Arnhem. If successful this would leave the route to the industrial heart of Germany, The Ruhr, wide open.   For this “It Happened Here” episode, Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham has been looking in detail at the entire operation, including Bletchley Park’s contribution, to tell us if it always was going to be just A Bridge Too Far.   Special thanks to Mr Ben Thomson for playing the role of our Hut 3 Intelligence Officer.   In memoriam, Eileen Younghusband BEM (1921-2

September 2019    Each year, to mark the arrival of the first Codebreakers at Station X in 1939 we hold our Veterans Reunion. This year it was made more poignant as the date fell on the 80th anniversary of the invasion of Poland.    The Reunion is always a very special day for us at Bletchley Park as it gives us the chance to thank our Veterans for their service. For the Veterans it is a chance to meet old friends, reminisce and tell stories of their time here.    This is the podcasts 8th reunion and this year we were lucky enough to sit down with four of these amazing people to have a chat. Many are accompanied by their families and for them it can be very emotional as for the first time they get to hear in detail what their relation did during World War Two.   Christine Brose set this year’s record for travelling to the reunion, coming with her two sons from Tasmania. She insists she “didn’t do anything important” but at age seventeen in 1941 she ended up working in Hut 8 Naval Section under Hugh Alexander.

August 2019    In earlier episodes this year we have concentrated on the preparations for, and the events of D-Day itself, the 6th of June. However D-Day was only the beginning of the Normandy Campaign.   The Allies had to face an enemy determined to throw them back in to the sea and it led to some of the bitterest fighting that Western Europe saw in WW2. It would eventually, after three months, end in a massive victory for the Allies and the liberation of Paris at the end of August 1944.    In this “It Happened Here” episode, we see how Bletchley Park continued to contribute to Allied success. We’ll find out how the nature of this contribution changed from one of supporting the planning of future operations, to one of supporting an ongoing battle.    Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Thomas Cheetham has been exploring the role of ULTRA intelligence in this crucial campaign.   #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #DDay75, #BletchleyParkDDay

July 2019    Most people now know of the work carried out by Tommy Flowers and his team that ultimately led to the design and construction of ‘Colossus’, the world’s first large-scale electronic digital computer. Flowers worked for the General Post Office at their Research Station at Dollis Hill but that work was just one part of the connection between the GPO and the Codebreakers at Bletchley Park.    With the opening this year of our new exhibition, D-Day: Interception, Intelligence, Invasion, that link with the modern GPO, British Telecom now called BT, continues.   In this episode our research historian, Dr David Kenyon, sat down with the Head of Heritage and Archives for BT, David Hay, to talk about our shared history.   Also in this episode we bring you something very special indeed. In 1981 at the modern equivalent of Dollis Hill, Adastral Park, Tommy Flowers and some of his original team gave a talk about their wartime work and thanks to BT we can bring you highlights of that reunion.     BT is the So

July 2019    In this It Happened Here episode we leave the invasion of Western Europe and return to the hard fought battles of the Italian Campaign.   Since first invading in September 1943, Italy had been anything but the “soft underbelly” that Churchill had called it. Finally in the spring and summer of 1944, after months of being held back by German forces defending Italy, things started to move.    With the eyes of the world on Normandy the men fighting their way up the boot of Italy felt they had been forgotten back home, but they were not by codebreakers at Bletchley Park.   Our research historian, Dr David Kenyon, will be your guide to the vital support GC&CS gave to the Army’s on the Italian Front. It would be their hard fighting that would ultimately lead to the capture of the first of the Axis Capitals, Rome.   We also look at the absolutely enormous offensive launched by the Soviet forces in late June 1944, Operation Bagration.   Very special thanks to Lowden Jim for his recording of The D-Day