Bletchley Park

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

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 five local young people, who have taken part in the new project, back to the Park to meet a Veteran of BP’s Japanese Section, Betty Webb. Image ©Bletchley Park Trust 2020 #BPark, #WW2, #BletchleyPark, #Enigma

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. In memoriam, Eileen Younghusband BEM  (1921-2016) WAAF Section Officer #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Bulge75

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 Units 8 and 9, first in Europe and then later in the Pacific.  Walter ‘Joe’ Wright served with the Royal Signals in Special Communications Units 1 and 8 from August 1944 till September 1945. Image courtesy the Aldwinckle family. #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2

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