Bletchley Park

March 2024

Bletchley Park is famous as the home of World War 2 codebreaking. But what was there before the Government Code and Cypher School moved in? Who built Bletchley Park, and what remains of the pre-war country estate?

In this episode, Research Historian Dr David Kenyon and Head of Content Erica Munro examine the people who made Bletchley Park their home prior to World War 2. Sir Herbert Leon and his family bought, expanded and lived in the now-familiar Mansion, stamping their individual style on the design of the building and the estate. Surviving historical records shed an...

February 2024

In 2023, Bletchley Park Trust completed its biggest refurbishment project to date – a £13 million, three-phase project, to open up wartime buildings at the heart of the site for the very first time.

The final phase saw Block E, once the wartime Communications hub of Bletchley Park, transformed into two new resources – the Block E Learning Centre – which includes eight learning spaces able to accommodate learners from primary school pupils to students in higher education – and the Fellowship Auditorium, a state-of-the-art, 250-seat, presentation and event space.

In this special episode, we join Lily Dean, Learning Manager...

January 2024

Eighty years ago, in January 1944, the first Colossus computer was delivered to Bletchley Park. This machine and the nine that followed it have acquired legendary status within the story of World War Two codebreaking. The machines have also been described as the world’s first large-scale electronic digital computers – direct precursors of the digital world in which we live today.

But in 1944 the computer age still lay far in the future. These machines were built for a specific and vital purpose, to assist with the breaking of the wireless messages of Germany’s senior commanders, enciph...

January 2024 

Eighty years ago, in January 1944, the first Colossus computer was delivered to Bletchley Park. This machine and the nine that followed it have acquired legendary status within the story of World War Two codebreaking. The machines have also been described as the world’s first large-scale electronic digital computers – direct precursors of the digital world in which we live today. 

But in 1944 the computer age still lay far in the future. These machines were built for a specific and vital purpose, to assist with the breaking of the wireless messages of Germany’s senior commanders, encipher...

December 2023

Eighty years ago this month Britain was marking its fifth Christmas of the war with still no end in sight. D-Day still lay in the future and the campaigns in Italy and on the Eastern Front ground on.

However on Boxing Day 1943 the Royal Navy achieved a significant, if grim success over the German Navy, sinking the Scharnhorst, one of the few last remaining large warships in the enemy fleet. This victory would help to secure the safety of Allied convoys to Russia for the remaining 18 months of the war.

The codebreakers of...

November 2023

For our tenth anniversary episode, E141 “Security & Insecurity”, we discussed one of the most important factors in wartime codebreaking – secrecy. We looked at its effects on operations at Bletchley Park and the lives of those who worked there. 

We had so much to talk about on that occasion that we didn’t have the chance to explore beyond the bounds of Bletchley Park. However, as signals intelligence travelled to the battlefronts where commanders made life-and-death decisions on a daily basis, security was a bigger problem than anywhere else.

In this follow-up episode, Research Officer D...

October 2023

The fight up the Italian peninsula involved some of the most arduous battles of the war for Allied soldiers, but they were being supported at every stage by intelligence from Bletchley Park.

Ultra intelligence helped inform Allied strategy in Italy, kept commanders constantly up-to-date about enemy forces, and sometimes proved the difference between victory and defeat on the battlefield.

In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode, Bletchley Park’s Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham will tell us how this difficult and inconclusive campaign can also be seen as one of the most successful of the wa...

September 2023

The annual Bletchley Park Veterans’ Reunion is one of the highlights of our year. A chance to welcome back those who worked for Bletchley Park during World War Two, and thank them for their service. This year’s reunion saw 17 Veterans return to enjoy a very special afternoon tea in the Mansion. 

In this episode, we bring you highlights from the day as we caught up with Jean Cheshire, who lived at Bletchley Park with her parents and siblings during the war, as well as Veterans:

Carol Broughton 
Alice Wolynskyj 
Ruth Bourne<...

August 2023

This month we examine the often-overlooked story of GC&CS’s work on diplomatic codes and ciphers. 

This vital work predated work on military codes, beginning when CG&CS was created in 1919. Work continued throughout World War Two, with some staff eventually leaving Bletchley Park to carry on as the Government Communications Bureau in Berkeley Street London.

In this special episode our Research Historian Dr David Kenyon is joined by GCHQ’s Departmental Historian Dr David Abrutat, to discuss all things diplomatic and beyond.

This episode features the following contributors from our O...

July 2023

In 1943, when the guns fell silent in Tunisia, a lull fell over the war in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the work of the intelligence services continued unabated. An Allied amphibious assault somewhere in the Mediterranean was inevitable. The question for the Germans was “where?” – and the Allies were eager to supply the answers. But how much could the Allies mislead the enemy, and how far could Bletchley Park prove those deceptions were working?

When they came, the landings in Sicily in July 1943 marked the opening of a new front against the Axis in Italy, with far-reaching strate...