Bletchley Park

September 2015

Nearly ninety Veterans of the Government Code and Cypher School and its many outstations gathered at Bletchley Park on Sunday 6 September, to reminisce and meet old friends and new.

After a summer of 70th anniversary commemorations, it was a chance for people who worked in secret at both Bletchley Park and its outstations to remember their contribution. They took the opportunity to bring their friends and families to soak up the atmosphere back in the very buildings where they did their vital war work. There were also plenty of chances to share memories with people who worked in different sections. The Veterans are now free from the obligations of the Official Secrets Act and can discuss the details of their work, in stark contrast to the strict rules to which they all adhered during the dark days of World War Two.

Listen in as we speak to five Veterans making their first appearance on the Bletchley Park Podcast, some speaking publicly for the very first time. Japanese Naval Section Wren Margaret Thomas, Dennis Underwood of the 14th Army, Hollerith Operator & decoder Joan Joslin, Hanslope Park Engineer Bartram Robinson and finally Florence Cole, a WAAF Teleprinter Operator based at Chicksands from 1943 to 1944. She said "All these years, I 've never considered myself important enough to talk about it. I 've never felt I was very special but I can look back now and think maybe I did contribute a little bit. "

Many thanks to roving reporters Sarah Langston and Kerry Howard.

Picture: ©shaunarmstrong/mubsta.com Margaret Wilson was a WAAF Morse Slip Reader at Bletchley Park from 1944 to 1946. She attended the Veterans’ Reunion with her daughter Kay Tonks (left), granddaughter Amy Brennan (right) and great grandson, Caelan Brennan (on Margaret’s lap).

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August 2015

Seventy years ago on the 15th August 1945, small group of young women were quietly at work in Hut 16 at Bletchley Park. They included twins Valerie and Mary Glassborow, who later married brothers and among whose grandchildren was a girl who became HRHThe Duchess of Cambridge.

Marion Graham (later Body) was also in that room in Hut 16, which Hut 6 was renamed as the codebreaking factory that was Bletchley Park grew and developed throughout World War Two. She recalls a moment of great privilege when their lives, and

Picture:

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August 2015

In this episode we take you to the royal launch of a major new exhibition, which looks at the roots of codebreaking as we know it. The Road to Bletchley Park was officially opened on July the 29th by Bletchley Park’s Royal Patron, HRH, The Duke of Kent. We have interviews with the designer, a sponsor, our friendly GCHQ Historian & family members of two of the WW1 codebreakers.

This episode also features highlights of the last three years’ Veterans’ Reunions, as this year’s approaches. It’s always a highlight of the year for Veterans and their families, making new memories as they revisit their wartime workplace and learn more about the things they weren’t allowed to know at the time.

Find out who’s still to come in the Bletchley Park Presents lecture series and what’s being laid on for children during the school holidays, at no extra cost.

Also this month, we speak to Sinclair Mackay, who’s written numerous books about Bletchley Park, and has described researching and writing them as the best job of his life. In his most recent book, The Secret Life of Fighter Command, he tells the stories of the men and women in this unique and world famous organisation. Sinclair gave a talk on the subject as part of the Bletchley Park Presents lecture series, and the podcast caught up with him afterwards.

Picture: ©shaunarmstrong/mubsta.com

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Today Bletchley Park’s Royal Patron, HRH The

Timed to coincide with the exhibition opening,

Originally written by the Codebreakers Frank

Friends of Bletchley Park were first to see

Image courtesy of Churchill Archives Centre,

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July 2015

This brand new episode celebrates five years of the Roll of Honour, which aims to record all those who worked at Bletchley Park and its outstations during World War Two. It now holds nearly 11 thousand names, as well as a rich archive of memories, anecdotes and photographs.

Also this month, hear from Bletchley Park Veteran Betty Webb MBE, about how keeping news of her honour secret for seven weeks was harder than sticking to the Official Secrets Act for more than 30 years. Betty was named in the Birthday Honours list for remembering and promoting the work of Bletchley Park.

Time is rapidly running out to see The Imitation Game, The Exhibition. It features costumes, the

Meanwhile, the school holidays are fast approaching. Fear not, we have all the entertainment you need to keep the kids occupied. Details of BrightSparks@BletchleyPark are in this month’s episode.

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

Special thanks to everyone at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for allowing us to use Graham Moore’s acceptance speech, especially Lawreen Loeser for all the help.

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June 2015

This month’s episode provides a peek at a major new exhibition at Bletchley Park, about

Also in this episode, steep yourself in vintage style at the 1940s Boutique, as this most glamorous of days out makes a welcome return next month. We go back to the first Boutique day last year, meeting a mother and two daughters whose mother and grandmother had worked at Bletchley Park. They had a heartbreaking story to tell about the real cost of keeping the details of her work secret from her family.

And we finish with a real treat all the way from Toronto, joining one woman’s quest to find out more about her mother, a Canadian Wren who died when she was only ten. Anne Hereford worked in the Naval Section at Bletchley Park in the last year of the war. When she was being shipped home, she was briefly interviewed by a legendary war correspondent. That recording now means the world to her daughter, May, who lives in Ottawa. Hear what happened when May tracked down a woman who worked with her mother at Bletchley Park. Thanks to CBC for letting us share that documentary from The Current.

Picture: ©shaunarmstrong/mubsta.com

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