It might be true that their story lacks the pyrotechnic thrills of the bomber boys, or the icy suspense of the Atlantic convoys, and it might well be that this is one of the reasons that recognition has been so long in coming. Yet, as Eisenhower said, these were the men and women who shortened the war by two years.
And there are countless thousands of people across the continent who survived, who just might not have done without the brilliance of Bletchley Park.
Notes
1 Reporting for Duty
1 Memo in the National Archives. Most documents cited in this book are held within the HW 62 series, with the exception of a few in HW 25 and HW 67
2 S. Gorley Putt, quoted in Margaret Drabble, Angus Wilson: The Biography (Secker and Warburg, 1995)
2 1938–39: The School of Codes
1 Ruth Sebag-Montefiore, A Family Patchwork: Five Generations of an Anglo-Jewish Family (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1987)
2 Penelope Fitzgerald, The Knox Brothers (Macmillan, 1977)
3 Documents in the National Archives
4 John Herivel, Herivelismus (M & M Baldwin, 2008)
5 Peter Hilton, interviewed by the BBC
6 Letter now in the National Archives
3 1939: Rounding Up the Brightest and the Best
1 F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
2 Professor E. R. P. Vincent, quoted in Christopher Andrew, Secret Service: The Making of British Intelligence (Heinemann, 1985)
3 Irene Young, Enigma Variations: A Memoir of Love and War (Mainstream, 1990)
4 Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story (Allen Lane, 1982)
4 The House and the Surrounding Country
1 Malcolm Muggeridge, Like It Was (Methuen, 1982)
2 Landis Gores, quoted by Kathryn A. Morrison in her monograph “The Mansion at Bletchley Park” (English Heritage)
3 Bletchley Park Trust Archive, quoted in Marion Hill, Bletchley Park People (The History Press, 2004)
5 1939: How Do You Break the Unbreakable?
1 Robin Denniston, Thirty Secret Years (Polperro Heritage Press, 2005)
2 Aileen Clayton, The Enemy Is Listening (Hutchinson, 1980)
3 Denniston, Thirty Secret Years
4 John Herivel, Herivelismus (M & M Baldwin, 2008)
5 Jack Copeland, The Essential Turing: Seminal Writings in Computing, Logic, Philosophy (Clarendon, 2004)
6 Penelope Fitzgerald, The Knox Brothers (Macmillan, 1977)
7 Herivel, Herivelismus
8 Peter Twinn, interviewed by the BBC
6 1939–40: The Enigma Initiation
1 F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
2 This memo and many other communications from Dilly Knox are in the National Archives
3 Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story (Allen Lane, 1982)
7 Freezing Billets and Outdoor Loos
1 Baroness Trumpington, interview conducted at Bletchley Park by the BBC
2 Stuart Milner-Barry, quoted in F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
3 Irene Young, Enigma Variations: A Memoir of Love and War (Mainstream, 1990)
4 Memos on billets, National Archives
5 John Herivel, Herivelismus (M & M Baldwin, 2008)
8 1940: The First Glimmers of Light
1 Ruth Sebag-Montefiore, A Family Patchwork: Five Generations of an Anglo-Jewish Family (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1987)
2 Sir Anthony Quayle, A Time to Speak (Barrie and Jenkins, 1990)
3 William Millward, address to an Enigma symposium, Bedford, 1992
4 F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
5 Peter Twinn, quoted in Michael Smith, Station X (Channel Four Books, 1998)
6 Peter Calvocoressi, Top Secret Ultra (Cassell, 1980)
7 Marian Rejewski, quoted in Hugh Skillen, Enigma and Its Achilles Heel (Pinner, 1992)
8 F. L. Lucas, quoted in Enigma: The Battle for the Code (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2000)
9 Memo from Dilly Knox to Alistair Denniston, National Archives
9 1940: Inspiration—and Intensity
1 John Herivel, Herivelismus (M & M Baldwin, 2008)
2 Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story (Allen Lane, 1982)
3 Memo from Alistair Denniston, National Archives
4 Jack Copeland (ed.), The Essential Turing: Seminal Writings in Computing, Logic, Philosophy (Clarendon Press, 2004)
5 Memo from Dilly Knox, National Archives
6 Memo from Dilly Knox, National Archives
7 Welchman, The Hut Six Story
8 Aileen Clayton, The Enemy Is Listening (Hutchinson, 1980)
9 Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing—The Enigma (Burnett Books, 1983)
10 Gwen Watkins, Cracking the Luftwaffe Codes (Greenhill, 2006)
10 1940: The Coming of the Bombes
1 Captain Frederick Winterbotham, The Ultra Secret (Purnell Books, 1974)
2 Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing, The Enigma (Burnett Books, 1983)
3 F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
4 Memo from Frank Birch to Edward Travis, National Archives
5 Correspondence between Dr Dunlop and Commander Bradshaw, National Archives
6 Quoted in Paul Gannon, Colossus—Bletchley Park’s Greatest Secret (Atlantic, 2006)
11 1940: Enigma and the Blitz
1 Peter Calvocoressi, interviewed by the BBC
2 Aileen Clayton, The Enemy Is Listening (Hutchinson, 1980)
3 Clayton, The Enemy Is Listening
4 Captain Frederick Winterbotham, The Ultra Secret (Purnell Books, 1974)
5 R. A. Ratcliff, Delusions of Intelligence: Enigma, Ultra and the End of Secure Ciphers (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
6 Roy Jenkins, Churchill (Macmillan, 2001)
12 Bletchley and the Class Question
1 Josh Cooper’s account, National Archives
2 Recruitment documents, National Archives
3 Lord Dacre, interviewed by Graham Turner, Daily Telegraph, 2000
4 Quoted by Marion Hill, Bletchley Park People (The History Press, 2004)
5 Hairdressing facility memos, National Archives
13 1941: The Battle of the Atlantic
1 Joan Murray, quoted in Enigma: The Battle for the Code (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2000)
2 Jack Copeland (ed.), The Essential Turing: Seminal Writings in Computing, Logic, Philosophy (Clarendon Press, 2004)
3 Hugh Alexander, quoted in Enigma: The Battle for the Code
4 Asa Briggs, foreword to Gwen Watkins, Cracking the Luftwaffe Codes (Greenhill Books, 2006)
5 Memos concerning staffing, National Archives
6 Superintendent Blagrove, quoted in Marion Hill, Bletchley Park People (The History Press, 2004)
14 Food, Booze, and Too Much Tea
1 Irene Young, Enigma Variations: A Memoir of Love and War (Mainstream, 1990)
2 Memos concerning Bletchley food, National Archives
3 Memos concerning tea consumption, National Archives
4 Memo from Captain Ridley concerning tea, National Archives
5 Memo from Denniston concerning tea, National Archives
15 1941: The Wrens and Their Larks
1 Memo concerning Wren recruitment, National Archives
2 Documents donated by Felicity Ashbee to the Imperial War Museum
3 Documents held by Imperial War Museum
16 1941: Bletchley and Churchill
1 Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story (Allen Lane, 1982)
2 Quoted in Marion Hill, Bletchley Park People (The History Press, 2004)
3 Lecture to Sidney Sussex College given by John Herivel, 2005
4 Lecture to Sidney Sussex College given by John Herivel, 2
005
5 Welchman, The Hut Six Story
17 Military or Civilian?
1 Peter Calvocoressi, Top Secret Ultra (Cassell, 1980)
2 Edward Thomas, essay in F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
3 R. A. Ratcliff, Delusions of Intelligence (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
18 1942: Grave Setbacks and Internal Strife
1 Kim Philby, My Silent War (MacGibbon and Kee, 1968)
2 F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
3 P. W. Filby, addressing an Enigma symposium, 1992
4 Robin Denniston, Thirty Secret Years (Polperro Heritage Press, 2005)
5 Denniston, Thirty Secret Years
6 Philby, My Silent War
7 Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story (Allen Lane, 1982)
8 Ralph Bennett, essay in Hinsley and Stripp, Codebreakers
9 Hugh Skillen, Enigma and its Achilles Heel (Pinner, 1992)
10 Hugh Denham, quoted in Michael Smith, The Emperor’s Codes (Bantam, 2000)
11 Michael Loewe, essay in Hinsley and Stripp, Codebreakers
12 Maurice Wiles, quoted in Smith, The Emperor’s Codes
13 Michael Loewe, essay in Hinsley and Stripp, Codebreakers
14 Hugh Denham, quoted in Smith, The Emperor’s Codes
15 John Winton, Ultra at Sea (Leo Cooper, 1985)
16 Edward Thomas, quoted in Hinsley and Stripp, Codebreakers
17 Aileen Clayton, The Enemy Is Listening (Hutchinson, 1980)
18 Ralph Bennett, essay in Hinsley and Stripp, Codebreakers
19 Memos about blocks, National Archives
20 Hugh Alexander, quoted in Enigma: The Battle for the Code
19 The Rules of Attraction
1 S. Gorley Putt, quoted in Margaret Drabble, Angus Wilson: The Biography (Secker and Warburg, 1995)
2 Jon Cohen, interviewed by the BBC
3 Wren interview, Bletchley Trust Archive, quoted in Marion Hill, Bletchley Park People (The History Press, 2004)
20 1943: A Very Special Relationship
1 Michael Howard, Times Literary Supplement, autumn 2009
2 Barbara Abernethy, talking to Michael Smith, Station X (Channel Four Books, 1998)
3 Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing—The Enigma (Burnett Books, 1983)
4 Peter Calvocoressi, Top Secret Ultra (Cassell, 1980)
5 Telford Taylor, essay in F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
6 Christine Brooke-Rose, quoted in Smith, Station X
7 Harry Fensom, addressing an Enigma symposium, 1992
8 American soldier, quoted in Marion Hill, Bletchley Park People (The History Press, 2004)
9 Asa Briggs, foreword to Gwen Watkins, Cracking the Luftwaffe Codes (Greenhill Books, 2006)
10 Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story (Allen Lane, 1982)
11 John Winton, Ultra at Sea (Leo Cooper, 1985)
21 1943: The Hazards of Careless Talk
1 Memo from H. Fletcher, National Archives
2 Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story (Allen Lane, 1982)
3 Memo to Nigel de Grey, National Archives
4 Memo from Nigel de Grey to Colonel Wallace, National Archives
5 Memo to Mr. Fletcher, National Archives
6 Internal memos, National Archives
7 Letter from Nigel de Grey, National Archives
8 Letter to Nigel de Grey, National Archives
9 Peter Calvocoressi, Top Secret Ultra (Cassell, 1980)
22 Bletchley and the Russians
1 Kim Philby, My Silent War (MacGibbon and Kee, 1968)
2 Henry Dryden, essay in F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, 1993)
3 John Cairncross, The Enigma Spy: The Story of the Man who Changed World War Two (Century, 1997)
4 Andrew Sinclair, The Red and the Blue: Intelligence, Treason and the Universities (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986)
5 Quoted in the Independent, 1994
6 Mavis Batey, From Bletchley with Love (Bletchley Park Trust monograph)
23 The Cultural Life of Bletchley Park
1 Lucienne Edmonston-Stowe, addressing an Enigma symposium, 1992
2 John Cairncross, The Enigma Spy: The Story of the Man who Changed World War Two (Century, 1997)
3 Irene Young, Enigma Variations: A Memoir of Love and War (Mainstream, 1990)
4 Tennis court memos, National Archives
5 Memos concerning journalists, National Archives
6 Bletchley Gazette, 1945
24 1943–44: The Rise of the Colossus
1 Dilly Knox poem, quoted in Penelope Fitzgerald, The Knox Brothers (Macmillan, 1977)
2 Dilly Knox farewell letter, National Archives
3 George Vergine, quoted in Virtual Jewish Library
4 Roy Jenkins, A Life at the Center (Macmillan, 1991)
5 Harry Fensom, addressing an Enigma symposium, 1992
6 Harry Fensom, addressing an Enigma symposium, 1992
7 Letter from Gordon Welchman, National Archives
8 Tommy Flowers, interview for an Imperial War Museum video presentation, London
25 1944–45: D-Day and the End of the War
1 Quoted in Marion Hill, Bletchley Park People (The History Press, 2004)
2 Quoted in Hill, Bletchley Park People
3 Rosemary Calder, quoted in Michael Smith, The Emperor’s Codes (Bantam, 2000)
4 Demobilisation memo, National Archives
5 Memo from Bletchley Park staffer, National Archives
6 Memo from John Herivel, National Archives
27 Bletchley’s Intellectual Legacy
1 Bryan Magee, Clouds of Glory (Pimlico, 2004)
2 Gwen Watkins, Cracking The Luftwaffe Codes (Greenhill Books, 2006)
28 After Bletchley: The Silence Descends
1 Walter Eytan, interviewed by the BBC
2 Walter Eytan, interviewed by the BBC
3 Gwen Watkins, Cracking the Luftwaffe Codes (Greenhill Books, 2006)
29 The Rescue of the Park
1 Gwen Watkins, Cracking the Luftwaffe Codes (Greenhill Books, 2006)
Acknowledgments
With a great many thanks, first of all, to Kelsey Griffin, Director of the Museum at Bletchley Park, for introducing me to such brilliant people. Among all those, and other brilliant people, thanks are also due to the Honorable Sarah Baring, to Mavis and Keith Batey, Ruth Bourne, Mimi Gallilee, Simon Greenish, John Herivel, Oliver and Sheila Lawn, Trudie Marshall, Geoffrey Pidgeon, Veronica Plowman, Nicolas Ridley, Captain Jerry Roberts, Sarah and John Standing, and especially to Jean Valentine. Thanks also to the Bletchley Park Trust—which has made the museum such an invaluable and fascinating draw for generations to come.
Index
Abernethy, Barbara 204
Abwehr codes 118, 174–175
Adcock, Frank 23–24
Alexander, Hugh 19, 51, 61, 161, 162, 190, 191, 276, 287, 296, 309
Alington, Jean 252
Ascherson, Neal 319
Ashbee, Felicity 152
Athenia 133
Atlantic Convoys 83, 130, 133–134, 177, 186–187
Babbage, Dennis 197
Baden-Powell, Lord 168
Banburismus 133
Baring, The Hon. Sarah 1, 2, 3, 18, 25–26, 31, 64–65, 71, 88, 120, 121, 123–124, 125–126, 140–141, 146, 150–151, 171, 172, 219, 222, 240, 274–275, 303, 310
Batey, Keith 22, 44, 51, 52, 60–61, 70–71, 73, 74, 80, 87–88, 92, 167, 170, 195, 196, 220, 289, 290, 297, 308, 310
Batey, Mavis 6, 14, 21, 22, 23, 44, 47, 50–51, 57, 60, 80, 86, 87, 119, 126, 131, 132, 133, 151, 169, 195, 196, 242, 258, 274, 275, 292, 301, 302, 303, 308, 309, 310, 319
Battle of Britain 6, 98, 99, 100, 107, 108, 109, 120
Battle of the
Atlantic 83–84, 87, 120, 130–136, 139, 177, 186, 191
BBC 252, 280, 281
Bennett, Ralph 182, 188, 273
Berkeley Street 179
Bertrand, Gustave 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 213
bigram tables 84, 100, 132, 133
Birch, Frank 13, 40, 85, 100, 133, 189, 190, 229, 230
Birley, Maxine 122
Bismarck 113, 135, 136
Blitz 6, 109–110, 111, 116, 120
Blunt, Anthony 230, 233, 235, 237
bombes 54, 78, 84, 92, 94–106, 148–150, 154
Bourne, Ruth 37, 102–103, 136–137, 165
Bradshaw, Commander 28, 104, 251
Bridgewater, Bentley 61
Briggs, Asa (later Lord) 137, 211, 302
British Tabulating Machine Company 95, 223, 267
Britten, Benjamin 14
Broadway Buildings (MI6) 10, 23, 41
Brooke-Rose, Christine 209
Brown, Gordon 298
Brown, Tommy 192
Bundy, William 207
Burberry, Elizabeth 198
Burgess, Guy 230, 239
Cairncross, John 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 235, 236, 237, 238, 248
Calvocoressi, Peter 34, 75, 107, 129, 166–167, 208, 209, 227, 235
Chamberlain, Neville 11, 12, 52, 97
Chatham intercept station 55–56, 57
Chicksands 200
Churchill, Winston 33, 39, 97, 98, 99, 107, 108, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 156–163, 174, 178, 188, 189, 202, 203, 213, 232, 233, 234, 239, 241, 243, 270, 274, 312
Clarke, Joan (see Murray, Joan)
Clayton, Eileen 38, 89, 90, 109, 114
Clyde, HMS 177
Cohen, Jon 197
Colussus machines, 87, 259–271, 283
Cooper, Josh 11, 14, 15, 39, 53, 70, 89, 90, 91, 119, 120, 126, 144, 152, 189, 304
Copeland, Jack 45, 83, 100
Coventry, the bombing of 107, 112–113, 114, 117
Crete 134
Cripps, Sir Stafford 234
Cunningham, Admiral 131, 132
D-Day 6, 272–274
De Grey, Nigel 14, 31, 32, 34, 46, 172, 173, 178, 180, 209, 222, 223, 224, 226
Denham, Hugh 185
Denmark Hill (intercept Station) 57
Denniston, Alistair 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 31, 38–39, 40, 45, 48, 51, 59, 77, 78, 82, 85, 86, 123, 133, 143, 144, 151, 152, 160, 178, 179, 181, 182, 204, 205, 206, 257, 259
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