E21 - It nearly drove us mad

April 2014

This month, we take you inside the 1940s Boutique, a new event which helps you recreate wartime glamour. We hear from the daughter and granddaughters of a woman who may or may not have worked at Bletchley Park but who, family legend has it, knew her brother had been killed in action when the rest of her family could only be told he was missing.

We take a sneak peek inside the soon to be opened Codebreaking Huts, taken back to their wartime glory as part of the £8 million restoration of Bletchley Park, meeting the volunteer actors who have become part of the way we tell this incredible story. We find out just how close we came to losing those wooden huts altogether.

We also hear from a woman who, 70 years on, says her work in the Y service nearly drove her mad. Margaret Reardon (nee Chapman) recalls “Quite a few people broke down. There was a joke about one man who drew ducks on the blackboard and was feeding them - he had to be carried off. It really got into you.”

The music you can hear in this episode is from those brilliant Bletchley Park supporters The Three Belles.

Find out more about them at http://thethreebelles.com

Picture ©Elbow Productions

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