To anyone brought up in the age of social media and the need to tweet their every thought or activity, the cloak of silence which surrounded Bletchley Park comes as a surprise. A friend of my father let slip a few years ago that she had worked there during the war, but then refused to say anything else about what she did - she’d signed the Official Secrets Act and that ensured her silence. Even now, after she has died we still don’t know what she did. There were thousands of people who worked there and have taken their secrets to the grave with them.
It wasn’t until the publication of F W Winterbotham’s book “The Ultra Secret” in 1974, that information began to appear in the public domain. Gordon Welchman published his own account of the Bletchley Park story in 1982 which revealed in considerable detail how the codebreakers were able to read the enciphered German messages. Since then numerous books have been published but it wasn’t until 2009 that the work of Bletchley personnel was recognised by the Government by a commemorative badge.
The work done at Bletchley Park in deciphering what the German’s regarded as an unbreakable code is credited by shortening the war by 2-4 years and ensuring an Allied victory. The close working relationship between the UK and USA fostered during the war still exists today. The work of the code breakers also led to the development of modern computers and the digital age.
After the war all personnel were demobilised and all the equipment was either broken up or moved to GCHQ in Cheltenham. Only one Bombe machine out of the nearly 400 in use during the war survives in the USA and this is no longer in working condition. By 1991 the site was derelict and at risk of demolition. Milton Borough Council were foresighted enough to declare the Park a conservation area and the Bletchley Trust was set up to maintain the site as museum. Buildings have been restored and it is now a very popular tourist attraction, concentrating on the work of the British code breakers to crack the enigma code which the Germans believed to be undecipherable.
Bletchley Park is a massive site and needs a full day to do it justice. Tickets give free entry for a year.
Entry is through a manned barrier. Block C is the visitor reception area with toilets, coffee shop and gift shop.
Inside, it is a lovely area with large lake with a fountain with the Victorian Mansion beyond.
The huts and larger reinforced concrete blocks are scattered round the grounds. There are information boards with pictures outside all the buildings and a lot of information inside the different buildings.
The Museum in Block B is possibly the most important part of the site and this needs at least an hour if not two hours to do properly.
The Enigma machine and a reconstruction of a Bombe machine which was used to decipher the Enigma messages are in the basement.
All the Bombe machines were destroyed after the war and there are information panels explaining how the Bombe was rebuilt as well as the small Petard test Bombe which was made as part of the project.
As well as deciphering German messages, Bletchley Park also deciphered Japanese messages and there is information about that work here. There is also information how the British military tricked the Nazi into thinking the D Day landings would not take place in Normandy.
There is information about Alan Turing a brilliant mathematician who was head of the Naval Enigma Team in Hut 8 and designed the first Bombe. He is often regarded as the father of modern computing. There is a small display of some of his belongings, including his teddy bear.
At the far end is a reconstruction of a Y station which was where the German radio messages were intercepted.
In the adjacent teleprinter building is a cinematic exhibition about Bletchley Park’s role in the D-day landings.
Huts 3 and 6 are probably next on the list as these have been recreated as the code breakers huts, complete with bomb blast tape on the windows. Messages were received in Hut 3 where the initial work was done to decipher them. They were then passed to Hut 6 for translation, evaluation and action.
Blinds are kept drawn and the rooms are lit by feeble electric lights. There was no insulation and the only heating in winter was from a small paraffin heater. There are information panels in each room explaining what happened in each.
Hut 8 contains Turing’s Office. There is information about the pigeons which were used during the war and a lot of information as well as a video on how intelligence equipment could be rescued from U-Boats. There are also quotes from the different people who worked at Bletchley Park.
Most of the Bombes were housed in Hut 11 and Hut 11a, which was a specially built brick hut. This has a series of information panels about the women who operated the Bombe machines.
The huts probably need a good hour to do them justice.
The Victorian Mansion contains Commander Dennison’s Office as well as the Library. There is a lot of information about Gordon Welchman and his work after the war and also an exhibition and artefacts from the film “The Imitation Game”. The tea room in the mansion serves afternoon tea for prebooked visitors.
There is a cafe in Hut 4 next to the mansion, which serves soup, hot meals, filled baguettes and cakes. as well as soup all day. It also has a better selection of cakes.
Also on the site in Block H, but not part of Bletchley Park, is the National Museum of Computing. This houses the world's largest collection of working historic computers illustrating the development of computing from the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, to the rise of personal computing. There is a reconstruction of the Colossus computer which was used to break the Lorenz cipher which the Germans began to use in 1940. As well as the world’s oldest working digital computer.
Website
It wasn’t until the publication of F W Winterbotham’s book “The Ultra Secret” in 1974, that information began to appear in the public domain. Gordon Welchman published his own account of the Bletchley Park story in 1982 which revealed in considerable detail how the codebreakers were able to read the enciphered German messages. Since then numerous books have been published but it wasn’t until 2009 that the work of Bletchley personnel was recognised by the Government by a commemorative badge.
The work done at Bletchley Park in deciphering what the German’s regarded as an unbreakable code is credited by shortening the war by 2-4 years and ensuring an Allied victory. The close working relationship between the UK and USA fostered during the war still exists today. The work of the code breakers also led to the development of modern computers and the digital age.
After the war all personnel were demobilised and all the equipment was either broken up or moved to GCHQ in Cheltenham. Only one Bombe machine out of the nearly 400 in use during the war survives in the USA and this is no longer in working condition. By 1991 the site was derelict and at risk of demolition. Milton Borough Council were foresighted enough to declare the Park a conservation area and the Bletchley Trust was set up to maintain the site as museum. Buildings have been restored and it is now a very popular tourist attraction, concentrating on the work of the British code breakers to crack the enigma code which the Germans believed to be undecipherable.
Bletchley Park is a massive site and needs a full day to do it justice. Tickets give free entry for a year.
Entry is through a manned barrier. Block C is the visitor reception area with toilets, coffee shop and gift shop.
Inside, it is a lovely area with large lake with a fountain with the Victorian Mansion beyond.
The huts and larger reinforced concrete blocks are scattered round the grounds. There are information boards with pictures outside all the buildings and a lot of information inside the different buildings.
The Museum in Block B is possibly the most important part of the site and this needs at least an hour if not two hours to do properly.
The Enigma machine and a reconstruction of a Bombe machine which was used to decipher the Enigma messages are in the basement.
All the Bombe machines were destroyed after the war and there are information panels explaining how the Bombe was rebuilt as well as the small Petard test Bombe which was made as part of the project.
As well as deciphering German messages, Bletchley Park also deciphered Japanese messages and there is information about that work here. There is also information how the British military tricked the Nazi into thinking the D Day landings would not take place in Normandy.
There is information about Alan Turing a brilliant mathematician who was head of the Naval Enigma Team in Hut 8 and designed the first Bombe. He is often regarded as the father of modern computing. There is a small display of some of his belongings, including his teddy bear.
At the far end is a reconstruction of a Y station which was where the German radio messages were intercepted.
In the adjacent teleprinter building is a cinematic exhibition about Bletchley Park’s role in the D-day landings.
Huts 3 and 6 are probably next on the list as these have been recreated as the code breakers huts, complete with bomb blast tape on the windows. Messages were received in Hut 3 where the initial work was done to decipher them. They were then passed to Hut 6 for translation, evaluation and action.
Blinds are kept drawn and the rooms are lit by feeble electric lights. There was no insulation and the only heating in winter was from a small paraffin heater. There are information panels in each room explaining what happened in each.
Hut 8 contains Turing’s Office. There is information about the pigeons which were used during the war and a lot of information as well as a video on how intelligence equipment could be rescued from U-Boats. There are also quotes from the different people who worked at Bletchley Park.
Most of the Bombes were housed in Hut 11 and Hut 11a, which was a specially built brick hut. This has a series of information panels about the women who operated the Bombe machines.
The huts probably need a good hour to do them justice.
The Victorian Mansion contains Commander Dennison’s Office as well as the Library. There is a lot of information about Gordon Welchman and his work after the war and also an exhibition and artefacts from the film “The Imitation Game”. The tea room in the mansion serves afternoon tea for prebooked visitors.
There is a cafe in Hut 4 next to the mansion, which serves soup, hot meals, filled baguettes and cakes. as well as soup all day. It also has a better selection of cakes.
Also on the site in Block H, but not part of Bletchley Park, is the National Museum of Computing. This houses the world's largest collection of working historic computers illustrating the development of computing from the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Colossus of the 1940s through the large systems and mainframes of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, to the rise of personal computing. There is a reconstruction of the Colossus computer which was used to break the Lorenz cipher which the Germans began to use in 1940. As well as the world’s oldest working digital computer.
Website