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 service. 
Very special thanks go to Mr Ben Thomson for voicing our archival documents.
Image: WAAFs in Trafalgar Square. With grateful thanks to Mrs Margaret Rowland.
#BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #VEDay75

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.
In memoriam, Eileen Younghusband BEM  (1921-2016) WAAF Section Officer
Image: PD-USGov-Military-Army
* Producers Note *
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation & the podcast team working from home, we have had to record this episode remotely.  This means that the audio is not to the high quality we would normally wish it to be. But very much in the make do and mend spirit of WW2 we have improved it the best we can and hope our listeners will understand and still enjoy the episode.
#BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #VEDay75

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 father John de Grey who joined their grandfather to work at Bletchley Park during World War Two. We then move forward to 2016 and join Michael and Anthony at the opening of the second part of The Road to Bletchley Park. Our final selection this week is from 2017 when we celebrated the 100th anniversary of The Zimmerman Telegram. For this event Michael and Anthony were joined by Edward Hohler, whose grandfather Thomas was ‘Our man in Mexico’ at the time. Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020 #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, #WW1 

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 Story.  Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020 #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, #GCHQ

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 understand and still enjoy this episode.
Image: Public Domain Naval History and Heritage Command
#BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyParkEnigma80, #Enigma80

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 National Arboretum in 2019 with Tony. It was an opportunity to look back at his career and to exclusively introduce his replacement to the world. Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020 #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma, #GCHQ

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 has found most memorable. Included are: Wyn RibchesterFlo ColeMary Watkins & Betty WebbMarigold Freeman-AttwoodJeannie Kotchie We hope all our listeners, their families and friends, stay safe and well. Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020 #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma

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) WAAF Section Officer
Image: US Army Green Books