Bletchley Park

October 2024 The crews of RAF Bomber Command had one of the most hazardous jobs of the war. Flying by night to their targets in occupied Europe, they were alone and vulnerable to the prowling German night-fighters. Helping them reach their targets was one of the least-known, but most significant achievements of the signals intelligence operation at Bletchley Park. Analysis of the night-fighters’ communications revealed priceless insights into the German defensive system – and how it could be evaded, outwitted and ultimately manipulated. In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham tells us about one of Bletchley Park’s most important contributions to Britain’s total war against Nazi Germany. This episode features the following Veteran from our Oral History archive: Sir Arthur Bonsall Many thanks to Dean Annison & Mr Lindsay Spence for voicing our archival documents. Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2024. Staff of Bletchley Park night fighter section in 1943. L-R standing: Pat Smith, Edith Davidson, Janet Smith, Florence Brooke, Vincent Chapman. Seated: Molly Blakeley, Catherine Payne, Brenda Gough. Front: Joy Parker, Jeanne Phillips. #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #BomberCommand,

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,

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,

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,