Bletchley Park

March 2016

Dr David A Hatch, NSA Historian, explains the huge historic significance of the letter sent by General Dwight D Eisenhower, the five-star general in the United States Army during World War Two who served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, to the Chief of MI6, Stuart Menzies, at the end of the war, thanking him for the intelligence produced by Bletchley Park.

In it, Eisenhower says “The intelligence … has saved thousands of British and American lives.” The letter is now on public display for the first time, at Bletchley Park.

Visit Bletchley Park. It happened here. Open daily.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust

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

March 2016

In this month’s brand new episode of the Bletchley Park Podcast, Bombe Girls, meet some of the trailblazing women who were assigned to Special Duties X or posted to HMS Pembroke 5 when they joined the Wrens (Women’s Royal Naval Service or WRNS).

These women found themselves at Bletchley Park - or, in many cases - at one of its huge, industrial outstations on the fringes of London - operating state of the art machines created to speed up the process of finding the daily Enigma settings on many different networks. They’d never heard of Enigma and didn’t know how their work fit into the wider intelligence operation, but they understood how important it was - and how essential it was that they kept it secret.

Hear from the inspirational Helen Legh, a BBC radio presenter who’s been undergoing treatment for brain tumours. She took time out to indulge in some vintage pampering at the ever-glamorous 1940s Boutique.

A cracking Easter approaches at Bletchley Park and this month’s episode tells you what’s being laid on for children including trails, workshops and the chance to win a Suzuki Vitara.

Visit Bletchley Park. It happened here. Open daily.

Thanks to The Three Belles for the music featured in this episode. You can find them at http://www.thethreebelles.com/

Image: ©Crown. Reproduced by kind permission, Director, GCHQ

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #Enigma, #WW2Veteran, #History, #AlanTuring

March 2016

In November 2015, the GCHQ Departmental Historian made a rare public appearance as part of the Bletchley Park Presents lecture series. Tony gave a talk titled International Partnerships - Bletchley's Foreign Relations. In this first part of his talk he examined how foreign partnerships became an integral part of British signals intelligence shortly before World War Two.

Although parts of the story are told, the meeting with the Poles in Warsaw in July 1939, and the arrival of the Americans in February 1941, for example, the number of different relationships is greater than many people realise.

The simultaneous management of different levels of relationship with different countries added an often unsuspected level of complexity, and the need gradually to decouple from some relationships as the war in Europe came to an end, needed careful management.

This talk added rich detail to the Bletchley Park story.

Image: ©shaunarmstrong/mubsta.com

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #Enigma, #History, #WW1

February 2016

75 years ago, a tentative meeting was held late at night, aided by sherry, in the office of Alastair Denniston, then Head of the Government Code and Cypher School.

It was to prove an important turning point in the history of both the UK and the US. That night, as intelligence secrets were shared, the Special Relationship was founded. That alliance continues to be crucial to both nations today.

To celebrate this anniversary, the Directors of GCHQ and the NSA visited Bletchley Park together and spoke about how important the relationship remains today. This episode takes a peek behind the curtain of secrecy that surrounded that visit, and shares today’s intelligence chiefs’ admiration of what was achieved here.

And we hear from Veteran Dulcie Klusman, who had her own Special Relationship. While serving as a civilian at Bletchley Park, she met her American beau Bill, who became her husband and the reason she moved from the UK to the US. Before that, though, her letters arranging to meet him were intercepted and inspected - in case she was giving away vital secrets.

Image: ©shaunarmstrong/mubsta.com

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #Enigma, #WW2Veteran, #History, #Churchill

January 2016

Throughout 2016, the Bletchley Park Podcast will tell stories of the Codebreakers’ successes and agonies - all of which they kept completely secret.

This month, it’s not German and it’s not Enigma. With help from Bletchley Park’s Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon, we look into the high level Italian ciphers being broken by Bletchley Park, which impacted significantly on the war in North Africa. There was a continuing dance of difficulty between the codebreaking operation in Cairo and HQ at Bletchley Park. Listen now to delve into this little known story.

We meet the nephew of a man who died capturing Enigma codebooks from a sinking U-Boat, a seizure which made a huge difference to the Battle of the Atlantic, but his family were told he’d perished in an unsuccessful mission. Now, the dramatic story of The Petard Pinch is beautifully told in a mini exhibition in naval codebreaking Hut 8. We take you behind the scenes at the exclusive preview.

Hear from vintage stylist Sarah Dunn of Sarah’s Doo-Wop Dos about why the 1940s Boutique has struck such a chord. This highly glamorous day out is back in 2016 and Sarah tells us what’s in store.

Finally this month, Veteran Betty Webb MBE gives us a sneak peek inside her Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Betty has been honoured for remembering and promoting Bletchley Park. At 92, she still regularly gives talks to schoolchildren as well as helping with fundraising and media appearances.

Image: Frederick Jacob, Director, CBME in Cairo ©Kenneth Jacob

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #Enigma, #WW2Veteran, #History, #Churchill

December 2015

Veterans’ families encouraged to join community and buy a brick

Pride burns bright in relatives of the men and women whose secret work at Bletchley Park and its outstations helped shorten World War Two.

The Bletchley Park Trust is in touch with more than 1,500 Veterans of the clandestine codebreaking organisation, the Government Code and Cypher School. Many more are no longer with us.

Now, for the first time, the Trust is reaching out to its Veterans’ families to join a global community, celebrating their connection to this remarkable piece of history.

“I find it spine-tingling to walk into the Mansion knowing I’m walking where my father and my grandfather walked and never could tell anyone.” This was Anthony De Grey’s reaction to entering the Mansion when he visited Bletchley Park, the place where not only his father, John De Grey, and grandfather, Nigel De Grey, worked but also his aunt, Barbara De Grey, and her future husband, Patrick Vans. Anthony was touched to discover two photographs of his father in the guidebook. He said, “I find it difficult to hold back the tears at a time like that. Thank you for giving me the opportunity because I’m just delighted to contribute to this place, which is still far too secret.”

Candy Connolly is the granddaughter of Commander Alastair Denniston, the first Operational Director of the Government Code and Cypher School. Denniston welcomed new recruits to Bletchley Park in his office in the Mansion, which has been returned to its World War Two appearance. Candy said, “I’m very proud and amazingly fortunate to be sitting in this office of his. When you see Bletchley Park become so strong in our modern history and in modern life, and bring us the technology that we use every day, that connection is amazing.”

Michael De Grey is proud to be part of the Bletchley Park community. His grandfather, father, aunt and uncle all worked here during World War Two. Michael’s grandfather, Nigel De Grey, started out as a Codebreaker during World War One . He decoded the Zimmerman telegram, which was an important factor in drawing America into WW1. Michael said, “My grandfather is reputed to have said at a meeting in the office a few days later, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, the toast is America because now we are going to win the war.’ My grandfather did something life saving for our country. What would have happened if they hadn’t decoded that telegram?”

Sarah Harding’s mother, Dorothy Harding, recalls her time at Bletchley Park with fond memories. Sarah said, “Recently she was reminiscing about her time there and she fell into a reverie. An hour later she said to me, “I can see the hut clearly. It’s all in front of my eyes. I can’t leave Bletchley.” “Is it a happy place,” I asked. “Oh yes,” she said.” Her mother’s World War Two work as a wireless operator and Morse slip reader means that Sarah is keen to be a part of the 21st century Bletchley Park.

Hear more from Candy, Michael, Anthony and Sarah in the Bletchley Park Podcast.

If you are related to someone who worked at Bletchley Park or one of its outstations, please email [email protected] to join this unique community.

Image: ©Crown. Reproduced by kind permission, Director, GCHQ

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #Enigma, #WW2Veteran, #History,