OF INTEREST…
The Bletchley Park Factory
BP created a production line approach to its work which consisted of receiving messages intercepted by Britain’s ‘Y’ Service (a number of intercept stations were established in Britain and in various locations abroad), decrypting them, translating and analysing them and finally producing intelligence reports for Allied commanders in the various theatres of operation. Different teams dealt with the traffic of the various branches of the German military apparatus. For example, German Army and Air Force traffic was decrypted by a team called Hut 6 who then passed it to another team called Hut 3 for translation and analysis. Teams called Huts 8 and 4 did the same for the German naval traffic. The team names were taken from the numbered wooden huts in which they initially worked.
Strategic Cipher Machines
One of the most daunting challenges faced by BP was a complex cipher machine used to secure communications between Hitler in Berlin and his army commanders in the field. The Lorenz machine facilitated the encryption of long and strategic communications. As with the Enigma system, BP developed a hand method
which was supported by a machine. The machines developed for this work by the General Post Office (GPO) were given the name ‘Colossus’ and were the world's first electronic computers. Reading these communications provided Allied commanders with the strategic plans of the German High Command.
The Impact of Bletchley Park in WW2 BP provided invaluable intelligence to Allied commanders throughout the war. In 1942, intelligence from BP helped the Royal Navy to cut Rommel's supply lines and kept Montgomery informed of his every move during the North Africa Campaign. BP made a vital contribution to D-Day in a number of ways. Breaking the Lorenz ciphers allowed the Allied staff planning for the invasion of Europe to obtain unprecedented intelligence about the German defences. The breaking of the ciphers of the German Secret Intelligence Service allowed the British to confuse Hitler over where the Allies were to land. Hitler’s apparent belief that the main invasion force would strike at the Pas de Calais rather than Normandy was confirmed in decrypted messages and gave Allied commanders confidence to land at Normandy.
Bletchley Park Today The Bletchley Park Trust was created on 13 February, 1992 and two years later, BP was opened to the public. Following the award of a £5 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the raising of a further £3 million, building works began on Phase 1 of the restoration of BP in January 2013. The completion of this work was marked by the formal opening of a number of new facilities by HRH the Duchess of Cambridge on 18 June 2014. Today BP is a vibrant heritage attraction and over 195,000 visitors enjoyed restored war time huts and buildings and numerous displays and interactive activities in 2014. Further developments are planned to more fully tell the story of the remarkable people of BP who did so much to help bring WW2 to an end and save countless lives.
If you’d like to visit Bletchley Park http://
www.bletchleypark.org.uk – has a varied events’ calendar and a great deal to offer, for all the family.
Bletchley Park Ltd, The Mansion, Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes MK3 6EB.
Telephone 01908 640404 or email: info@
bletchleypark.org.uk.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Envoy Spring 2015
49
All images ©ShaunArmstrong/
mubsta.com
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