Bletchley Park

By: Bletchley Park
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  • Summary

  • Bletchley Park is the home of British codebreaking and a birthplace of modern information technology. It played a major role in World War Two, producing secret intelligence which had a direct and profound influence on the outcome of the conflict. The site is now a museum and heritage attraction, open daily. The Bletchley Park Podcast brings you fascinating stories from Veterans, staff and volunteers on the significance and continued relevance of this site today.
    ©Bletchley Park Trust
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Episodes
  • E169 - Learning the Ropes

    E169 - Learning the Ropes
    Sep 20 2024
    September 2024

    The Government Code and Cypher School employed thousands of people during the war. These varied from Cambridge dons who had broken codes in World War One to machine workers with very specific skills, to female conscripts from the three armed services.

    How did all these people know what to do? As usual at BP, the answer is a complex one: a mix of training courses (some well organised, others less so) developed as the organisation grew exponentially as the war progressed.

    In this month’s ‘It Happened Here’ episode we are joined by Bletchley Park Historian Dr David Kenyon to explore the varied experiences of new recruits finding out how to do their job – sometimes on an organised course, sometimes learning on the job, and sometimes literally making it up themselves.

    This episode features the following Veterans from our Oral History archive:
    Betty Webb
    Iris King
    Joan Joslin

    Many thanks to Sarah Langston for voicing our archival documents.

    Image: ©Will Amlot for the Bletchley Park Trust 2024

    #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma,
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • E168 - Inside Hut 6

    E168 - Inside Hut 6
    Aug 29 2024
    August 2024

    Hut 6 was the section at Bletchley Park which broke the German army and air force Enigma ciphers. Historical accounts usually focus on the early part of the war, when a small and inexperienced team was established in a newly-built wooden hut.

    But by 1944 Hut 6 looked very different. It was a hardened unit of several hundred people, supported by cutting-edge technology. Hut 6 personnel had honed their methods through bitter experience against Enigma ciphers which continued to increase in both number and security.

    Recent research into Bletchley Park’s unique collections has revealed more about how this vital section worked. We have discovered how they kept the intelligence production line running despite fighting a daily battle not just against the ciphers, but against the dangers of inefficiency, poor morale and organisational friction.

    For this episode Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham is joined by Bletchley Park digitisation volunteer (and all-round brainbox) Craig Heath to take a detailed look inside Hut 6.

    Many thanks to Sarah Langston and Joel Desborough for voicing our archival documents.

    Image: ©The Registration Room in Hut 6, Block D. Reproduced by kind permission, Director GCHQ.

    #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma,
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • E167 - The Forgotten Army

    E167 - The Forgotten Army
    Jul 31 2024
    July 2024

    In early 1942 one of the most disastrous defeats of the war saw British forces pushed out of Burma, now known as Myanmar. Two years later, the multi-national Fourteenth Army, the ‘Forgotten Army’, had learned to fight and beat the Japanese, inflicting their largest defeat of the war at Imphal and Kohima, and was poised to begin the reconquest of Burma.

    This turnaround had much to do with bitter experience gained in close combat, and superb logistics, but an important element was detailed intelligence, which allowed the Allies to seize control of the skies and control the battle below.

    In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham leads us through the transformations at Bletchley Park, at signals intelligence centres in South-East Asia, and on the front lines, which turned defeat into victory.

    This episode features the following from our Oral History archive:
    Pat Johnston
    Stephen Freer
    Edward Simpson
    Mary Every
    Eric Rhodes

    Image: © The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Public Domain)

    #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2,
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    1 hr and 36 mins

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Profile Image for T. J. Gluckman

Historical analysis oft v.g. +ongoing reports

Very informative: if you are interested in Bletchley Park, then you will enjoy. A mixture of A) analysis of WW2 principally BP's contribution; B) reports on interviews with BP veterans; C) potpourris of e.g. what truth is there in various urban legends re BP.
What I find of particular interest is that the historical analysis of the role BP (and similar org.s) played in actionable intelligence e.g. in the victory at El Alamein late 1942. The speakers know their subjects very thoroughly and are in a position to evaluate state-of-the-art assessments of e.g. the so-called "Battle of Britain", campaigns in N. Africa, UK's problems in the Far East and S Asia in the face of Japan's militarism. The tone of the exegeses is never chauvinistic but scholarly instead.
I don't agree with everything but nevertheless find it fascinating and a great listen.

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Profile Image for Elizabeth_E

Simply the best

Detailed, engaging, empathetic, and informing. What a team! This is a must-have on any Follow
List.

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Profile Image for Dr. Michael P. Clarke

Fascinating

a great variety of stories and topics. it is lovely to hear it in the words of people who were there.

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