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November 2024
The crews of RAF Bomber Command had one of the most hazardous jobs of the war. Flying by night to their targets in occupied Europe, they were alone and vulnerable to the prowling German night-fighters.
Helping them reach their targets was one of the least-known, but most significant achievements of the signals intelligence operation at Bletchley Park. Analysis of the night-fighters’ communications revealed priceless insights into the German defensive system – and how it could be evaded, outwitted and ultimately manipulated.
In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham tells us about one of Bletchley Park’s most important contributions to Britain’s total war against Nazi Germany.
Many thanks to Mr Lindsay Spence for voicing our archival documents.
Image: Herbert Olivier, Operations Room: Bomber Command Conference. Oil on canvas, 1944. From the Collection: Air Historical Branch, MOD, on long loan to the RAF Museum as part of the Second World War Official War Artists’ collection.
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #BomberCommand, -
October 2024
The crews of RAF Bomber Command had one of the most hazardous jobs of the war. Flying by night to their targets in occupied Europe, they were alone and vulnerable to the prowling German night-fighters.
Helping them reach their targets was one of the least-known, but most significant achievements of the signals intelligence operation at Bletchley Park. Analysis of the night-fighters’ communications revealed priceless insights into the German defensive system – and how it could be evaded, outwitted and ultimately manipulated.
In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham tells us about one of Bletchley Park’s most important contributions to Britain’s total war against Nazi Germany.
This episode features the following Veteran from our Oral History archive:
Sir Arthur Bonsall
Many thanks to Dean Annison & Mr Lindsay Spence for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024. Staff of Bletchley Park night fighter section in 1943. L-R standing: Pat Smith, Edith Davidson, Janet Smith, Florence Brooke, Vincent Chapman. Seated: Molly Blakeley, Catherine Payne, Brenda Gough. Front: Joy Parker, Jeanne Phillips.
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #BomberCommand, -
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September 2024
The Government Code and Cypher School employed thousands of people during the war. These varied from Cambridge dons who had broken codes in World War One to machine workers with very specific skills, to female conscripts from the three armed services.
How did all these people know what to do? As usual at BP, the answer is a complex one: a mix of training courses (some well organised, others less so) developed as the organisation grew exponentially as the war progressed.
In this month’s ‘It Happened Here’ episode we are joined by Bletchley Park Historian Dr David Kenyon to explore the varied experiences of new recruits finding out how to do their job – sometimes on an organised course, sometimes learning on the job, and sometimes literally making it up themselves.
This episode features the following Veterans from our Oral History archive:
Betty Webb
Iris King
Joan Joslin
Many thanks to Sarah Langston for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©Will Amlot for the Bletchley Park Trust 2024
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August 2024
Hut 6 was the section at Bletchley Park which broke the German army and air force Enigma ciphers. Historical accounts usually focus on the early part of the war, when a small and inexperienced team was established in a newly-built wooden hut.
But by 1944 Hut 6 looked very different. It was a hardened unit of several hundred people, supported by cutting-edge technology. Hut 6 personnel had honed their methods through bitter experience against Enigma ciphers which continued to increase in both number and security.
Recent research into Bletchley Park’s unique collections has revealed more about how this vital section worked. We have discovered how they kept the intelligence production line running despite fighting a daily battle not just against the ciphers, but against the dangers of inefficiency, poor morale and organisational friction.
For this episode Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham is joined by Bletchley Park digitisation volunteer (and all-round brainbox) Craig Heath to take a detailed look inside Hut 6.
Many thanks to Sarah Langston and Joel Desborough for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©The Registration Room in Hut 6, Block D. Reproduced by kind permission, Director GCHQ.
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July 2024
In early 1942 one of the most disastrous defeats of the war saw British forces pushed out of Burma, now known as Myanmar. Two years later, the multi-national Fourteenth Army, the ‘Forgotten Army’, had learned to fight and beat the Japanese, inflicting their largest defeat of the war at Imphal and Kohima, and was poised to begin the reconquest of Burma.
This turnaround had much to do with bitter experience gained in close combat, and superb logistics, but an important element was detailed intelligence, which allowed the Allies to seize control of the skies and control the battle below.
In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham leads us through the transformations at Bletchley Park, at signals intelligence centres in South-East Asia, and on the front lines, which turned defeat into victory.
This episode features the following from our Oral History archive:
Pat Johnston
Stephen Freer
Edward Simpson
Mary Every
Eric Rhodes
Image: © The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Public Domain)
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June 2024
To commemorate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, we are releasing 3 special episodes to tell the full story of The Longest Day. This third part is a brand new episode looking beyond the beaches.
Bletchley Park made a vital contribution to the planning and preparation of D-Day, but the landings were only the beginning. There would be another three months of hard fighting in Normandy before the German forces finally cracked, and France could be liberated.
Ultra intelligence from Bletchley Park gave crucial support to Allied commanders throughout the battle. But knowledge rarely translated directly into action. Those generals and airmen faced with the mammoth task of orchestrating a modern all-arms battle had to balance numerous competing priorities, of which intelligence was rarely the most important.
In this episode, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham has delved into the detail of five turning points, to explore exactly how – and how far – Bletchley Park contributed to Allied victory in the Battle of Normandy.
Many thanks to Joel Desborough for playing the part of our RAF SLU Officer.
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024
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June 2024
To commemorate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, we will be releasing 3 special episodes to tell the full story of The Longest Day. This second part is a complete remastering of our original Overlord episode with the addition of much new content.
80 years ago today, more than 150,000 Allied troops were boarding planes, gliders and landing craft as they prepared to invade Fortress Europe in Operation Overlord, the Normandy Invasion. Meanwhile, 200 miles away in the Buckinghamshire countryside the Codebreakers of GC&CS were also ready and waiting.
Naval Section spent the day decrypting German messages and forwarding that vital intelligence to Allied commanders, in many cases only two and a half hours after the German operators had sent them.
Today at Bletchley Park our Archive holds hundreds of these handwritten decrypts and using a selection of these we tell the story of The Longest Day. Our Research Officer, Dr Thomas Cheetham & Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon will be your guides, with the help of 12 of our Veterans’ memories from that eventful day.
This episode features the following from our Oral History archive:
Margaret Bryant
Colette Cook
Jean Tocher
Pat Davies
Norah Brierley
Eric Dodd
Stanley Clegg
Kenneth Case
Gordon Rosenberg
Jimmy Thirsk
Aileen Hasdell
Pam Harding
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024
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May 2024
Over the next 6 weeks, to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, we will be releasing 3 special episodes to tell the full story of The Longest Day. This first part is a complete remastering of our original Tide of Victory episode with the addition of much new content.
This first episode takes us to the south coast of Britain which, in May 1944, resembled one huge army camp as over 2 million men waited for D-Day. In the Buckinghamshire countryside the staff at GC&CS carried on feeding detailed and crucial intelligence to the Allied forces that would play an integral part in the success of the upcoming Operation Overlord.
The Western Front Committee was established at Bletchley Park in October 1942 and for the next 18 months built up a comprehensive picture of German forces in the West, recording every unit, its location and its strength.
From February 1943 the committee began to produce reports of which over 450 pages are now held in our archives. Head of Content, Erica Munro and our Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon use these to illustrate how the various departments, using multiple sources, came together to create the vital information that the D-Day planners needed, in some cases even leading to last minute changes. Meanwhile our Research Officer, Dr Thomas Cheetham brings us the full story of a temporary Y Station set up at Bletchley Park just for D-Day.
This episode features the following from our Oral History archive:
Vera Bartram
Pat Davies
Edna Garbutt
Enid Wenban
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024
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April 2024
Women were the backbone of Bletchley Park during World War Two. At its peak in January 1945, the workforce was 75% female, but even at the start of the war, women comprised a significant portion of GC&CS’s numbers. Women were recruited in a variety of ways, but a significant quantity of them, particularly early in the war, were selected direct from prominent universities such as Oxford, St Andrews and Cambridge.
Over the last few years, a team of members of Newnham College Cambridge have been researching the women from their college who worked at Bletchley Park and in other wartime roles. They have discovered, astonishingly, more than 70 students and alumnae were recruited to BP. After close collaboration with the team at Bletchley Park Trust, a new exhibition presents their findings and reveals some hidden histories.
In this episode, recorded at Newnham College, Bletchley Park’s Head of Content, Erica Munro, meets the three women behind this new research and we visit the exhibition to find out more about their discoveries. Dr Sally Waugh, Dr Gill Sutherland and Newnham College Archivist Frieda Midgley share what they’ve uncovered, and what surprised them, about the Newnham women who worked at Bletchley Park.
This episode features our Oral History recordings of three of those Newnham women:
Sister St. Paul
Elisabeth, Lady Reed
Mrs Brenda Lang
Image: Reproduced with the permission of Dr John Clarke via Kerry Howard from her research into the life of Joan Clarke.
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March 2024
Bletchley Park is famous as the home of World War 2 codebreaking. But what was there before the Government Code and Cypher School moved in? Who built Bletchley Park, and what remains of the pre-war country estate?
In this episode, Research Historian Dr David Kenyon and Head of Content Erica Munro examine the people who made Bletchley Park their home prior to World War 2. Sir Herbert Leon and his family bought, expanded and lived in the now-familiar Mansion, stamping their individual style on the design of the building and the estate. Surviving historical records shed an intriguing light on the Leons, their philanthropy, interests and impact on the local community.
We also hear from Professor Abigail Green of Brasenose College, Oxford University, an expert on Jewish Country Houses, to discover more about the social context of the family who ‘made’ Bletchley Park.
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024
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February 2024
In 2023, Bletchley Park Trust completed its biggest refurbishment project to date – a £13 million, three-phase project, to open up wartime buildings at the heart of the site for the very first time.
The final phase saw Block E, once the wartime Communications hub of Bletchley Park, transformed into two new resources – the Block E Learning Centre – which includes eight learning spaces able to accommodate learners from primary school pupils to students in higher education – and the Fellowship Auditorium, a state-of-the-art, 250-seat, presentation and event space.
In this special episode, we join Lily Dean, Learning Manager, and Vicki Pipe, Head of Audiences and Programmes, as they give us tour of the new spaces, and reveal the inspiring activities learners can enjoy as part of our award-winning learning programme. Dr David Kenyon, Research Historian, and Dr Thomas Cheetham, Research Officer, also bring to life the wartime and post-war history of this once closed off building.
Image: Learners in Block E ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024
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January 2024
Eighty years ago, in January 1944, the first Colossus computer was delivered to Bletchley Park. This machine and the nine that followed it have acquired legendary status within the story of World War Two codebreaking. The machines have also been described as the world’s first large-scale electronic digital computers – direct precursors of the digital world in which we live today.
But in 1944 the computer age still lay far in the future. These machines were built for a specific and vital purpose, to assist with the breaking of the wireless messages of Germany’s senior commanders, enciphered using the Lorenz cipher machine and known at BP as ‘Tunny’.
What role did Colossus actually play in the breaking of Tunny? The Colossus machines were members of a wider family of machines, and the Newmanry – the department in which they operated - was only one of several teams at Bletchley Park, all of whom were crucial to the successful breaking of the cipher.
In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park historians Dr Tom Cheetham and Dr David Kenyon are here to place ’Colossus in Context’ and examine where exactly these machines fitted into the effort to break Tunny.
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©Crown. Reproduced by kind permission, Director, GCHQ
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Colossus80, -
January 2024
Eighty years ago, in January 1944, the first Colossus computer was delivered to Bletchley Park. This machine and the nine that followed it have acquired legendary status within the story of World War Two codebreaking. The machines have also been described as the world’s first large-scale electronic digital computers – direct precursors of the digital world in which we live today.
But in 1944 the computer age still lay far in the future. These machines were built for a specific and vital purpose, to assist with the breaking of the wireless messages of Germany’s senior commanders, enciphered using the Lorenz cipher machine and known at BP as ‘Tunny’.
What role did Colossus actually play in the breaking of Tunny? The Colossus machines were members of a wider family of machines, and the Newmanry – the department in which they operated - was only one of several teams at Bletchley Park, all of whom were crucial to the successful breaking of the cipher.
In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park historians Dr Tom Cheetham and Dr David Kenyon are here to place ’Colossus in Context’ and examine where exactly these machines fitted into the effort to break Tunny.
This episode features the following contributors from our Oral History Archive:
Jerry Roberts
Betty Webb
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Colossus80, -
December 2023
Eighty years ago this month Britain was marking its fifth Christmas of the war with still no end in sight. D-Day still lay in the future and the campaigns in Italy and on the Eastern Front ground on.
However on Boxing Day 1943 the Royal Navy achieved a significant, if grim success over the German Navy, sinking the Scharnhorst, one of the few last remaining large warships in the enemy fleet. This victory would help to secure the safety of Allied convoys to Russia for the remaining 18 months of the war.
The codebreakers of Bletchley Park played a key role in helping the navy to locate Scharnhorst and were spectators on the final battle via German messages read in Naval Section at BP.
For this It Happened Here episode we are joined by Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon who’s recently published a book on the subject entitled, Arctic Convoys; Bletchley Park and the War for the Seas.
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson & Sarah Langston for voicing our archival documents.
Image: © Bundesarchiv, DVM 10 Bild-23-63-46 / CC-BY-SA 3.0
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, -
November 2023
For our tenth anniversary episode, E141 “Security & Insecurity”, we discussed one of the most important factors in wartime codebreaking – secrecy. We looked at its effects on operations at Bletchley Park and the lives of those who worked there.
We had so much to talk about on that occasion that we didn’t have the chance to explore beyond the bounds of Bletchley Park. However, as signals intelligence travelled to the battlefronts where commanders made life-and-death decisions on a daily basis, security was a bigger problem than anywhere else.
In this follow-up episode, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham is again joined by a special guest, former GCHQ Departmental Historian Tony Comer, to discuss the problems of security in the field. We’ll hear how the safe use of Ultra intelligence required good planning, flexibility and, most of all, trust.
Many thanks to Owen Moogan & Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2023
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #GCHQ, -
October 2023
The fight up the Italian peninsula involved some of the most arduous battles of the war for Allied soldiers, but they were being supported at every stage by intelligence from Bletchley Park.
Ultra intelligence helped inform Allied strategy in Italy, kept commanders constantly up-to-date about enemy forces, and sometimes proved the difference between victory and defeat on the battlefield.
In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham will tell us how this difficult and inconclusive campaign can also be seen as one of the most successful of the war for Bletchley Park.
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Very special thanks to Lowden Jim for his recording of The D-Day Dodgers. His work can be found at www.youtube.com/Lowdenjim
Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2023
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September 2023
The annual Bletchley Park Veterans’ Reunion is one of the highlights of our year. A chance to welcome back those who worked for Bletchley Park during World War Two, and thank them for their service. This year’s reunion saw 17 Veterans return to enjoy a very special afternoon tea in the Mansion.
In this episode, we bring you highlights from the day as we caught up with Jean Cheshire, who lived at Bletchley Park with her parents and siblings during the war, as well as Veterans:
Carol Broughton
Alice Wolynskyj
Ruth Bourne
Charlotte ‘Betty’ Webb
2023 marks 10 years of the online Bletchley Park Roll of Honour, and we also bring you a short interview with our Oral history Officer, Jonathan Byrne about its ongoing significance.
You can also enjoy an interview with Sue Litchfield, Database & Membership Manager, who has been involved with reunions since 2005, and Iain Standen, CEO of Bletchley Park Trust, who talks about why these events are so special.
Image: ©Will Amlot for the Bletchley Park Trust 2023
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August 2023
This month we examine the often-overlooked story of GC&CS’s work on diplomatic codes and ciphers.
This vital work predated work on military codes, beginning when CG&CS was created in 1919. Work continued throughout World War Two, with some staff eventually leaving Bletchley Park to carry on as the Government Communications Bureau in Berkeley Street London.
In this special episode our Research Historian Dr David Kenyon is joined by GCHQ’s Departmental Historian Dr David Abrutat, to discuss all things diplomatic and beyond.
This episode features the following contributors from our Oral History Archive:
Sir Arthur Bonsall
Stephen Freer
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: ©Crown. Reproduced by kind permission, Director, GCHQ
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #GCHQ, -
July 2023
In 1943, when the guns fell silent in Tunisia, a lull fell over the war in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the work of the intelligence services continued unabated. An Allied amphibious assault somewhere in the Mediterranean was inevitable. The question for the Germans was “where?” – and the Allies were eager to supply the answers. But how much could the Allies mislead the enemy, and how far could Bletchley Park prove those deceptions were working?
When they came, the landings in Sicily in July 1943 marked the opening of a new front against the Axis in Italy, with far-reaching strategic consequences.
In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham leads us through Operation Husky, and Bletchley Park’s role in its execution and success.
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: © US Army Green Books (Public Domain)
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, -
June 2023
Who chose Bletchley Park – a vacant estate in Buckinghamshire – as the wartime home of the Codebreakers? That decision was made by the man in charge of the Secret Intelligence Service, known as ‘C’ – Admiral Sir Hugh Sinclair. A very public man with a very secretive profession, Sinclair was widely-known and well-respected. He passed away just a couple of months after World War Two began in 1939, but his influence was far-reaching.
Bletchley Park Trust is proud to be displaying, for the first time, a collection of medals awarded to Sinclair throughout his life. This recent generous donation, from members of his family, forms this year’s ‘Object in Focus’ exhibition. The display is an opportunity to reveal a lesser-known character in Bletchley Park’s story, and a chance to honour this important and charismatic individual.
In this episode, we will be speaking to Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham and award-winning author Mick Smith to find out more about ‘C’. We’ll also hear from Exhibitions Manager Erica Munro about the new exhibition, and meet members of Sinclair’s family to uncover more about the collection of medals on display and the family history.
Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by kind permission, Director GCHQ
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