May 2023

Like many heritage organisations, Bletchley Park Trust holds a collection within its storerooms. And we are always seeking to improve how it’s managed and taken care of. Now, due to the support of foundations, trusts and generous individuals, we’ve created a new Collection Centre. Once the building had been refurbished and kitted out, the curatorial team had the mammoth task of moving and rehousing the collection of over 400,000 items: from intelligence reports to teleprinter components, clothing to coded messages.

The new Collection Centre was completed in October 2022 and boasts first class storage and preservation facilities. There’s also a brand new Reading Room, allowing researchers and academics to access our archives and objects for their publications or teaching work.

The Bletchley Park Podcast went for a behind-the-scenes tour with Head of Programmes Nicola Ayrton, and sat down with Museum Archivist Dean Annison in the new Reading Room to explore some of the collections treasures from the stores.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2023. Dean Annison, Bletchley Park's Archivist, in the Christopher Moore Reading Room.

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

April 2023 

80 years ago, Bletchley Park’s communications centre opened in Block E. Employing hundreds of staff, mainly young women, this block was vital to BP’s smooth running.

Most messages and reports coming into and out of Bletchley Park went through Block E. But as we’ll hear in this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, its wartime importance doesn’t necessarily mean its value has been fully recognised today. Block E is still standing, and is due to open to the public later this year, 2023, as Bletchley Park’s brand new Learning Centre.

Here to help us set the record straight and rediscover the value of Block E is our Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham, who has been researching the building and its various departments.

Many thanks to Dr Ben Thompson, Sarah Langston and Maria Turnbull for voicing our archival documents.

Image: Block E Cypher Office showing Mr Alfred Sidney White (wearing glasses). © Crown. Reproduced by kind permission, Director, GCHQ

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

March 2023 

To celebrate World Poetry Day on the 21st of March, we have been looking into the poets and poetry of Bletchley Park.

We have chosen nine poems to feature in this episode; they are read by staff, volunteers and Bletchley Park Veterans.

Exhibitions Manager, Erica Munro and Research Officer, Dr Thomas Cheetham have been digging into the archives to give us more information as we listen.

Thanks to all our readers for their time and fantastic performances.

A special thank you to the Watkins family for the wonderful recording of their mother, Gwen Watkins.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2023

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

February 2023 

The breaking of the German Lorenz cipher system was one of BP's most complex technical achievements. This work is often associated with Tommy Flowers from the GPO, however Flowers' work, and the wider mechanisation of the breaking of TUNNY was overseen by a Cambridge mathematician who came to BP only reluctantly in 1942; Professor Max Newman. 

To mark the 80th anniversary of the opening of Bletchley Park’s 'Newmanry' in February 1943, in this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, we examine the story of Newman and his crucial role in the breaking of Lorenz.

We are joined by Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon to tell us more.

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

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

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, # Colossus,

January 2023 

The Podcast Team wish all our listeners a Very Happy New Year. 

To start the 2023 season of the podcast, producer Mark Cotton sits down with Oral History Officer Jonathan Byrne to catch-up on both our Roll of Honour and our continuing Oral History Project. 

For the rest of the episode we have highlights of 3 selections from our Oral History Archive. As with previous years we have a theme … but this year the theme is unusual, they are all from people who didn’t work at either GC&CS or its Outstations. We hear from the 14 year old girl who made vital deliveries to the Codebreakers, a member of S.O.E., the Special Operations Executive and finally a Luftwaffe Radio Operator.

This episode features the following contributors from our Oral History Archive:

Jean Barratt

Lois Barefield

Rudi Schoberl

The Bletchley Park Roll of Honour can be found at:

https://bletchleypark.org.uk/roll-of-honour/ 

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2023

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

December 2022 

Since the first two Top Secret Misinformation podcasts in 2020 & 2021, our listeners have been asking us to record another one. Maybe it’s because the secrecy surrounding Bletchley Park is the perfect breeding ground for all sorts of myths and misunderstandings. Or maybe it’s because it lets our Historians off the leash to set the record straight once and for all.

We asked our listeners, via social media, what history mysteries they wanted solved by our resident representatives of research and rigour, Dr David Kenyon and Dr Thomas Cheetham. In this episode they are joined by Exhibitions Manager Erica Munro and podcast producer Mark Cotton, to try and get to the bottom of some of Bletchley Park’s most puzzling conundrums.

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

Featuring the following contributors from our Oral History Archive:

Betty Webb

Shaun Wylie

Mavis Batey

Peggy Huntingdon

Joan Joslin

Many thanks to our listeners and followers for setting us these challenges. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2022

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

November 2022 

The Allied victory in the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942 proved to be the beginning of the end of the war in North Africa. But many months of hard fighting, and the opening of a whole new front in northwest Africa, would be needed before the Allies were finally able to kick Axis forces off that continent for good.

Though often forgotten about today, the Operation Torch landings were a pivotal event which led to the first battles between German and American forces. These troops, and the intelligence personnel who supported them, had to learn their trade quickly in the toughest of circumstances. 

In this 'It Happened Here' episode, Bletchley Park's Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham reveals how these lessons would prove fundamental to the Allied use of intelligence later in the war

This episode is hosted by Exhibitions Manager, Erica Munro. 

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

Image: © US Army Green Books (Public Domain)

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

October 2022 

In February 1942 the worst fears of the teams working on Enigma in Hut 8 and Naval Section were realised. The German navy introduced a new, more complex Enigma machine for use by its U-boats in the Atlantic. 

At a stroke, Bletchley Park was no longer able to read messages sent by the German submarines hunting the vital Atlantic convoys. 

By the end of the year, however, the new code had been broken, and BP was once again able to divine the secrets of the Atlantic U-boats. Just what was ‘SHARK’ and how was it broken by the team at BP?

Once again we are joined by Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon to find the answers.

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

Featuring the following contributors from our Oral History Archive:

Arnold Hargreaves

Tommy Flowers

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2022  

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

September 2022 

Earlier this year in April 2022, Bletchley Park opened a new temporary exhibition in a brand new gallery. The Art of Data explores how data can be visualised to reveal patterns and stories, helping us understand the world around us. The exhibition includes WW2 visualisations alongside a whole variety of striking contemporary examples, shown in objects, pictures, films and interactive displays. Visitors are invited to question the data they encounter, and take part in building their own visualisations in the gallery. 

In this episode, you are invited to join me, Bletchley Park’s Exhibitions Manager Erica Munro, on a tour through the gallery. You’ll also hear from two experts who worked on the exhibition, Elin Simonsson and Andy Kirk.

Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2022  

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2,

September 2022 

Each year, to mark the arrival of the first Codebreakers at GC&CS in 1939 we hold our Veterans’ Reunion. The Reunion is always a very special day for us at Bletchley Park as it gives us the chance to thank our Veterans for their service. For the Veterans it is a chance to meet old friends, make new ones, reminisce and tell stories of their time here.

This year it was made more poignant as because of the global pandemic, this was the first we have been able to hold since 2019. It meant that we were not sure just how many would be able to make it, but twenty Veterans and over one hundred of their family and friends managed to join us for this special day.

Podcast Producer Mark Cotton will bring you a flavour of the day and interviews with the following Veterans:

Kay Wingate

Pat Field

Anne Chetwynd-Stapylton

Miriam Myland

Jean Cheshire (wartime resident) 

Betty Webb

Pat Davies

Many thanks to Alex McFadyen, editor of the official Bletchley Park magazine, Ultra, for assisting on the day. 

Image: ©Will Amlot for the Bletchley Park Trust 2022 

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2,