August 2025

On 15 August 2025 the UK commemorated the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, the day on which the surrender of Japan and the end of World War Two was announced.

This was a significant moment at Bletchley Park as it meant the end of almost six years of non-stop codebreaking and intelligence work.

For many it also brought an abrupt halt to years of training to learn Japanese and long journeys to reach postings in India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere in preparation for the upcoming invasion of Japan itself.

In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode we are joined by Bletchley Park’s historians Dr Tom Cheetham and Dr David Kenyon to discuss how the Japanese war ended and the part played by Bletchley Park and signals intelligence.

Our thanks go to Owen Moogan and Dr Ben Thompson for voicing our historical documents.

Image: Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri. Public Domain, United States Navy.

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #VJDay80,

July 2025

By late 1944, the tide had turned against the Japanese in south-east Asia, with the repulse of their attempted invasion of India. However, the multi-national Allied forces in Burma still faced enormous challenges if they were to retain the initiative, and push the enemy out of the country.

Every mile travelled from their supply bases, across barely-navigable expanses of jungle and mountain, exposed Allied troops to greater difficulties and risk of starvation and destruction. It was a struggle against the terrain and a race against time to liberate Burma before the arrival of the monsoon. In this struggle, intelligence and deception were essential weapons in the Allied arsenal.

In this It Happened Here episode, Head of Audiences and Programmes Vicki Pipe is joined by Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham to explore the 1945 battles for Burma and the race to Rangoon which formed the climax of Britain’s war against Japan.

This episode features Veteran’s Eric Rhodes, Roy Buckmaster and Dennis Underwood, from our Oral History archive.

Our thanks go to Owen Moogan and Dr Ben Thompson for voicing our historical documents.

Image: Oil painting of General William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim.

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #14thArmy,

June 2025

In May 1945 the Royal Navy fought its last surface action against the Japanese fleet, sinking the cruiser Haguro in the Mallaca Strait, off the coast of Malaya.

The successful location of the enemy ship was the result of signals intelligence. It was also a product of the sophisticated network built up by Britain, the USA and Australia after 1943 to intercept, decipher and distribute intelligence around the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, we are joined by Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon to discuss the role of the Codebreakers in this milestone on the road to ultimate victory over Japan in 1945.

This episode features Veteran Edward Simpson from our Oral History archive.

Our thanks go to Dr Ben Thompson and Owen Moogan for voicing our historical documents.

Image: Public Domain

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma,

May 2025

During World War Two, Bletchley Park collaborated with several external engineering institutions in developing the famous codebreaking machines, such as the Bombes and Colossus.

One such institution was the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill in London. In 2022, the previously secret war diary of the Research Station were released online to the public by BT, the successor to GPO Telecommunications.

In this episode we are joined by James Elder, an archivist from BT Group Archives, as well as our own Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon, to find out what information the diaries can reveal about this secret collaboration.

Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing extracts from the War Diary.

Image: © Courtesy of BT Group Archives (TCB 473/P 5105)

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #BT, #GPO,

April 2025

To mark 80 years since the end of the war in Europe, this episode takes a closer look at four intriguing items from Bletchley Park’s collections. The team digs deeper into the stories that lie behind a mysterious message, a misunderstood photograph, a moving memo and audio of a Veteran’s memories of VE Day.

Head of Content Erica Munro meets up with Research Historian Dr David Kenyon, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham and Museum Archivist Dean Annison. Plus producer Mark Cotton speaks with former WRNS Bombe Operator Ruth Bourne about her VE Day memories.

Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.

To see the objects we discuss in this episode, visit www.bletchleypark.org.uk/our-story/e178-ve80/

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2025

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #VEDay80,

March 2025

In 1943 there seemed to be few mysteries left unsolved for Bletchley Park. But by the middle of that year, whispers would be heard of new threats: the V-1 ‘flying bomb’ and V-2 rocket.

What began with hints of secret trials on the Baltic would grow into an investigation which would strain Allied scientific intelligence to the utmost, as well as revealing serious flaws in the operation at Bletchley Park.

But by the time ‘vengeance-weapon’ attacks against the United Kingdom began in 1944, the Allies knew what they were facing; enabling countermeasures to be put in place which, despite the immense destruction the weapons caused, likely saved thousands of lives.

In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Head of Audiences and Programmes Vicki Pipe is joined by Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham to discuss the secret weapons which represented Nazi Germany’s last-gasp attempt to turn the tide of World War Two.

This episode features Oral History recordings of WAAF Filter Officer Eileen Younghusband.

Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.

Image: ©Bundesarchiv, Bild 141-1880 / CC-BY-SA 3.0

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma,

February 2025

Here at Bletchley Park - one of the birthplaces of modern computing – our latest temporary exhibition ‘The Age of AI’ has just opened. This new gallery explores the power and potential of AI in our everyday lives. From the 1930s origins of what we now call ‘artificial intelligence’, to the incredible (or alarming?) potential it might bring, the exhibition explores the benefits and risks of AI in our world today.

In this episode, Head of Content Erica Munro meets the team behind the exhibition’s creation. Come with us on a gallery tour with Exhibitions and Interpretation Manager Tilly Davis, and hear from experts and visitors on their impressions of what AI means to them. There’s also a deeper dive into the research and exhibition’s case studies with Content Curator Steve Swaby.

Many thanks to our contributors Dame Wendy Hall, Dr Ed Pyzer-Knapp, Professor David Leslie and our Friends of Bletchley Park exhibition preview visitors.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2025

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma,

January 2025

The 27th of January 2025 is the eightieth anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau - an event marked annually by Holocaust Memorial Day.

In order to perpetrate the mass killings and other crimes of the Holocaust, the Nazi regime needed to coordinate and communicate about its activities. This included wireless communications which were intercepted and decoded at Bletchley Park.

In this episode we take a look at what the Government Code and Cypher School (Bletchley Park) knew about these Nazi crimes, how and when this information was obtained, and how western governments responded to the news.

Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon is joined by journalist, author and Holocaust historian Christian Jennings to discuss his work on the role of codebreaking in these terrible events.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2025

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Holocaust,

December 2024

For this year’s festive episode, we once again put the word out to our listeners: what baffles you about Bletchley Park, and what myths and misconceptions would you like our resident Historians to investigate and interrogate?

Bletchley Park’s Head of Content, Erica Munro, is asking the questions, with Research Historian Dr David Kenyon and Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham fielding queries on uncracked ciphers, captured codes, cribbing, declassification … and, of course, Christmas.

Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024. Children’s Christmas party hosted by US 6813 Signals Security Detachment at the Manor House, Little Brickhill, from the photograph album of Francis Hayward Stanton.

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma,

December 2024

On the 12th of November 1944 Germany’s largest battleship – Tirpitz – was sunk by British RAF Lancaster bombers off Tromso in Norway.

Ever since its deployment to the region back in January 1942, the battleship had posed a threat to Arctic convoy operations. A large part of the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet as well as US vessels were tied up protecting convoys from this ship that Winston Churchill christened ‘The Beast’.

Despite Tirpitz having never fired its guns in anger at Allied warships, its presence was threat enough. Intelligence experts continued the difficult work of tracking its location and state of readiness.

The analysts of Bletchley Park’s Naval Section followed the ship for nearly three years, and played a key part in her final destruction. In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, we are joined by Dr David Kenyon, Bletchley Park’s Research Historian and author of ‘Arctic Convoys: Bletchley Park and the War for the Seas’.

Many thanks to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.

Image: Australian War Memorial (Public Domain) Accession Number SUK11808

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Tirpitz,