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 Bletch...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 24 min
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 Watki...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 32 min
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 t...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 41 min
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...
Jan 22, 2023•1 hr 13 min
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...
Dec 23, 2022•1 hr 34 min
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. The...
Nov 29, 2022•1 hr 29 min
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 wa...
Oct 21, 2022•1 hr 28 min
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 thei...
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr 5 min
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. ...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 2 min
August 2022 This month instead of commemorating a World War 2 Anniversary, we have decided to do something a little different as we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Bletchley Park Podcast. So after 10 years and more than 170 hours of content, we decided to answer our most frequently asked question, “How was Bletchley Park kept secret?”. Such a ‘big question’ would be too much for just one historian to answer, so this month we have three. Our Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon & Researc...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 27 min
July 2022 Eighty years ago, in July 1942 the Allies suffered one of their most notorious losses of World War 2. The Merchant ship convoy PQ 17, carrying supplies to Russia was attacked in the Arctic seas by German aircraft and submarines. Out of 34 merchant ships in the convoy only 11 made it safely to Russia. The incident has become symbolic of the suffering and endurance of those involved in the Arctic convoys. In this episode we revisit the events of July 1942 as well as the wider naval war i...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr 20 min
June 2022 In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode we return to South Asia and the Pacific, and the war against the Japanese. After the disasters of Pearl Harbor, the Philippines and Singapore, and near disaster in Colombo in the first few months of 1942, the summer months would bring the Allies better fortune on the fighting fronts. 1942 would also see many changes for Britain’s Codebreakers in South and East Asia as they rushed to adapt to the changing situation – a situation requiring the service o...
Jun 24, 2022•1 hr 31 min
May 2022 The way in which the secrets of Bletchley Park were finally revealed to the world, bit by bit and now over the course of nearly four decades have meant that many myths and misunderstandings have become embedded in the story. One of our goals with these podcasts is to tell the full story of the Codebreakers and along the way hopefully correct some of those errors. So in this ‘It Happened Here’ episode we will take a deep dive into Traffic Analysis, a topic that we have mentioned in many ...
May 27, 2022•1 hr 18 min
May 2022 Bletchley Park held a number of events to celebrate the opening of The Intelligence Factory and in this special episode we will take you to those events to hear from VIP guests, supporters and some of the people who helped to create our largest exhibition to date. From the ‘Friends of Bletchley Park’ Preview we will hear from some of the first people who got to follow in the footsteps of our Veterans, in the newly restored Block A. Dr Emily Scott-Dearing, the Interpretation Lead for The...
May 06, 2022•1 hr 9 min
April 2022 Thursday 28th April 2022 sees Bletchley Park unveiling its largest exhibition to date, in the newly restored Block A. Its focus is the period from late 1942 to early 1945, when the demands of its crucial wartime work changed the Government Code and Cypher School from a ‘cottage industry’ into an industrial-scale intelligence operation. The name of the exhibition is, very aptly, ‘The Intelligence Factory’. Block A was the first of the purpose-built ‘Block’ buildings that marked the sca...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr 22 min
March 2022 Bletchley Park is synonymous with World War Two codebreaking, but the story is much bigger than just a country house in Buckinghamshire. Making, as well as breaking codes, was within the remit of the Government Code and Cypher School but is a much lesser known part of the story. In this extended ‘It Happened Here’ episode, we not only find out about the British efforts to create codes of their own, but also German codebreaking successes and failures. Bletchley Park’s Research Officer,...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 55 min
February 2022 In every theatre of war, early 1942 was a dark time for the Allies. Japan seemed unstoppable in the Pacific. The Germans were at the gates of Moscow, threatening Egypt and prowling the Atlantic lifeline at sea. But at Bletchley Park there were far reaching changes to both the leadership and organisation that had one clear objective - to support the ultimate Allied victory. In this It Happened Here episode, our research officer Dr Thomas Cheetham, guides us through the dramatic chan...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 14 min
January 2022 The Podcast Team wish all our listeners a Very Happy New Year and how better to start it than with some great news. With over 13,500 names so far, The Bletchley Park Roll of Honour aims to list all those who worked in signals intelligence for the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries during the Second World War. As no single list of the personnel of Bletchley Park and its outstations was ever produced, the Roll of Honour has been compiled from information in official sources, pu...
Jan 21, 2022•1 hr 3 min
December 2021 On the 7th of December 1941, Japanese invasion forces landed in Malaya. An hour and a half later Japanese aircraft attacked the US fleet, at anchor in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Simultaneous attacks were also made on Hong Kong, Guam, Wake Island and the Philippines. Since that day controversy has raged over how much the British and US Governments knew in advance about these attacks, and why they came as such a surprise to both countries. In this It Happened Here episode, Bletchley Park’...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 34 min
November 2021 Many visitors to Bletchley Park are familiar with the story of breaking Enigma and reading German and even Japanese codes. But equally important work was done on Italian ciphers. Not only were the Codebreakers able to read Italian naval messages, before and during the war, but this information was used to decisive effect in the Battle for North Africa, and the ultimate defeat of Italy in 1943. In this It Happened Here episode, Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon rev...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 31 min
October 2021 On the 21st of October 1941, four of Bletchley Park’s Codebreakers sent a plea for more staff and resources in a now notorious letter to the Prime Minister. Demand for Bletchley Park’s work was increasing, and the organisation was facing a crisis. Churchill was won over, adding the note ‘Action This Day’ to the document. But perhaps the changes that followed weren’t just the result of the Prime Minister’s influence. In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Dr Thomas Cheetham explores the...
Oct 21, 2021•1 hr 27 min
September 2021 After Britain’s failure at Dunkirk and the Fall of France, the Germans seemed unstoppable. An invasion of Britain by Germany seemed the next logical step. In 1940, Britain and Bletchley Park prepared for war on the Home Front. As the German air campaign brought air combat with the Battle of Britain and bombs by night during the Blitz, the RAF - supported by intelligence from Bletchley Park - fought back. In this It Happened Here episode, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham is our ...
Sep 27, 2021•1 hr 26 min
August 2021 Hindsight and the lifting of decades of secrecy, allows us to know that by 1945 Bletchley Park had become a ‘codebreaking factory’ supplying war winning intelligence to the Allies ultimate victory. But what was it like for the 185 members of staff on Monday the 4th of September 1939? And … who were they? Supported by the UK government’s Culture Recovery Fund, our new exhibition ‘Early Days’ covers the events of 1938 to late 1939 and tells the story of the first Bletchley Park Codebre...
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr 15 min
July 2021 In late 2020 we asked on social media for any questions our listeners wanted the podcast team to answer. We had so many that we needed to record a second episode that originally we had planned for January 2021. Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions this wasn’t possible … but now, we are back. In this episode, Exhibitions Manager Erica Munro, Research Historian Dr David Kenyon, Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham and podcast producer Mark Cotton, will be shining a light on some famous...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 9 min
June 2021 Eighty years ago in June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in what Hitler hoped would be a lightning campaign to destroy Bolshevism and provide ‘living space’ for his empire in the east. The result was four years of brutal conflict which shaped the world we live in today. What did the codebreakers at Bletchley Park know about the Germans’ plans of attack? Was Stalin warned? And how did the war in the east play out at BP? In this It Happened Here episode we are joined by our R...
Jun 22, 2021•1 hr 1 min
June 2021 By late May 1940 the Germans have arrived at the French coast, cutting the Allied forces in two. Their risky invasion plan ‘Fall Gelb’ (or ‘Case Yellow’) has paid off. For the Allies, things will only get worse - an evacuation of the British forces from Dunkirk, the capture of Paris and the ultimate humiliation at Compiègne. It also marked a turning point for Bletchley Park. The attack led the Germans to change their Enigma procedures which had been exploited so successfully by the Hut...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 6 min
June 2021 In May 1940, the much-anticipated German attack on France brings the Phoney War to an end. The French have the largest land army in the world, the Maginot Line giving them hundreds of miles of defences and they know the route the Germans will take. But in the space of only a few weeks, the entire strategic course of World War Two is turned on its head. The Germans have gambled on a new invasion plan, ‘Fall Gelb’ (or ‘Case Yellow’) to set them on a risky route through the Ardennes and a...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 1 min
April 2021 Patricia Johnston’s idyllic childhood in Rangoon came to an abrupt end on the 7th of December 1941, with the attack on Pearl Harbour. In early 1942 with the Japanese invasion getting ever closer she was flown out with her siblings and arrived in India, without her parents. After settling her two brothers in boarding school Patricia’s war really began. She realised after completing her training that nursing wasn’t for her and transferred to the recently formed Women's Auxiliary Corps. ...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 4 min
April 2021 Bletchley Park’s latest temporary exhibition is called ‘Never Alone’ and asks ‘what happens when everything is connected?’ Based on an exhibition developed and designed by the National Science and Media Museum, ‘Never Alone’ explores the popularity and power of smart devices. There are now more devices connected to the internet than people on the planet. ‘Smart’ gadgets are becoming part of our lives, making us safer, bringing people together and making everyday tasks easier. In the e...
Apr 16, 2021•55 min
April 2021 Our Veterans who served in one of the three women’s auxiliary services during World War Two are always proud of their particular branch and WAAF Daphne Canning is no exception. When Oral History Officer Jonathan Byrne interviewed her in 2017 she was still proud to have worn her ‘Sparks’ badge; the insignia of a Royal Air Force Wireless Operator. These Oral History Specials allow us to bring you the complete recordings of interviews we have previously featured only as much shorter vers...
Apr 02, 2021•59 min
