Bletchley Park

By Caroline Windsor

In 1938 the British Government’s Code and Cypher School moved to Bletchley Park and started an organisation which was to have a profound effect on the course of WW II. From here they began to break Germany’s Enigma codes and later Japanese and Italian codes. Some historians think that this very valuable work may have shortened the war by as much as two years and was instrumental in saving thousands of lives.

The very technical nature of the work which was done at Bletchley led to the development of scientific equipment including the first programmable computer, known as Colossus, Alan Turing’s Bombes for code breaking, and the forerunner of the modern fax machine.

Although thousands of people worked at Bletchley Park on these and other secret projects, Station X as it came to be known was kept a top secret station throughout the war. It’s primary function was to interpret the intelligence reports from radio stations up and down the country and overseas, which were known collectively as Station Y.

Among the many attractions now open to the public are the cryptology trail, vintage vehicles, extensive collections of memorabilia and the toy exhibition and Post Office. You can also enjoy a visit to the NAAFI and bar in Hut 4.

A party of us from the branch had a really enjoyable day at Bletchley Park, which ended with a re-enactment of the Fire Service and Home Guard “mopping-up” after an air raid.

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