Podcast
Bletchley Park
Hosted by Bletchley Park · EN
Bletchley Park is the home of British codebreaking and a birthplace of modern information technology. It played a major role in World War Two, producing secret intelligence which had a direct and profound influence on the outcome of the conflict. The site is now a museum and heritage attraction, open daily.
The Bletchley Park Podcast brings you fascinating stories from Veterans, staff and volunteers on the significance and continued relevance of this site today.
14episodes
Episodes
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E190 - Focus On: Josh Cooper
Apr 2400:53:40Tap to summarizeApril 2026Thriving in the world of wartime codebreaking took more than just smarts and skill.Tact, diplomacy and organisational talent were needed to achieve results and navigate the fractious politics of the intelligence community.In these circumstances even the most shining of lights could be overshadowed by events. The achievements of outstanding talents could be almost lost to history, as the subject of this month’s podcast proves.In this episode - the second in our 'Focus On' series about remarkable figures in wartime codebreaking - we are joined by Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham. He brings a personal insight into the career of Josh Cooper, the head of Bletchley Park’s Air Section. Cooper was an intelligence pioneer, the legacy of whose tireless wartime work has been eclipsed by his eccentric personality.Our thanks go to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our historical documents.Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2026#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Codebreaker,
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E189 - Dilly and his Girls
Mar 2700:59:24Tap to summarizeMarch 2026The 28th of March 2026 will be the 85th anniversary of the naval Battle of Cape Matapan, fought by the Royal Navy against the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean. The battle was a significant victory for the Allies and cast a shadow over the Italian navy, making them reluctant to challenge British superiority at sea in the Mediterranean for the remainder of the war.In part, the battle came about due to knowledge of Italian operations derived from codebreaking at Bletchley Park, and it is one of the few successes by BP in that theatre of war which is widely recognised.In this episode Head of Audiences and Programmes Vicki Pipe is joined by Research Historian Dr David Kenyon to go beyond the popular mythology of this event to look in more detail of what exactly GC&CS knew, and when.Our thanks go to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our historical documents.Image: Public Domain https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C28674 #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Italy,
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E188 - Focus On: Emily Anderson
Feb 2701:03:25Tap to summarizeFebruary 2026Even amongst the distinguished ranks of WW2 codebreakers, Emily Anderson stood out. Recruited into military intelligence during WWI, her stellar career in diplomatic codebreaking lasted into the 1950s. Her greatest achievement came with the breaking of high-level Italian ciphers during the East African Campaign of 1940-41. It was called 'the perfect example of the cryptographers' war' and earned her the OBE in 1943.Anderson was also a renowned musicologist - her translations of the letters of Mozart and Beethoven are still considered authoritative. Yet until recent years, her life and intelligence work remained under the radar.This episode helps to set the record straight, and kick off a new occasional series focusing on key personalities in codebreaking and intelligence. Bletchley Park's Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham is joined by Jackie Uí Chionna from the University of Galway to discuss the subject of her 2023 biography Queen of Codes: The Secret Life of Emily Anderson, Britain's Greatest Female Codebreaker.Our thanks go to Sarah Langston for voicing our historical documents.The Marriage of Figaro - K. 492 CC PDM 1.0 www.classicals.de Image: © Dr. Dagmar von Busch-Weise#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Italy, #Galway
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E187 - Codebooks, Diplomats and Diamonds
Jan 2300:54:19Tap to summarizeJanuary 2026Rome: the 1930s, and the Italian secret services were having extraordinary success in reading the messages sent by rival countries’ diplomats from their embassies in the ‘Eternal City’. With the road to World War Two still ahead, it was a time of significant geo-political tension. The Italian government was learning the secrets of countries such as Britain and France in order to gain an advantage in international affairs. This would continue after Italy joined the war in 1940, with substantial consequences for the campaign in North Africa.In this episode, we will hear how the Italians didn’t succeed by using mathematicians or intellectuals, but with a rather more direct approach. David Kenyon, Bletchley Park’s Research Historian, joins podcast producer Mark Cotton to reveal more.Our thanks go to Dr Ben Thomson for voicing our historical documents.Image: ©UK in Italy “Old British embassy with flag” CC BY-ND 2.0#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Italy,
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E186 - Top Secret Misinformation - Part 5
Dec 1900:52:17Tap to summarizeDecember 2025This is the fifth instalment of our annual episode where we celebrate the oncoming festivities of the snowy season - religious or secular - with a surfeit not of turkey and roasties but of questions! Questions sent in by our listeners, gifted to us through the medium of social media.A selection of these holiday treats, where we bust myths and reveal hidden histories, has been made by Team Podcast who are all present and correct for this episode. Who are Team Podcast? Erica Munro (Head of Content), Dr David Kenyon (Research Historian), Dr Thomas Cheetham (Research Officer) and podcast producer Mark Cotton.We have six of our listeners' finest questions to share with you - we will do five of these as a usual Q&A, but look out for the sixth question - relating to pets - as we intersperse our interview with simian Siginters' sidekicks, and canine Codebreakers' companions.Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2025.Photograph of Corporal Dionne, a dog, on watch at Gorleston.#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Q&A,
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E185 - Reaping the Whirlwind
Nov 2100:59:34Tap to summarizeNovember 2025During the second half of World War 2, the Allied air forces launched a large-scale heavy bomber offensive against German cities and war industries. This was designed to damage Germany's ability and will to continue the war. It also represented a way for Britain and the USA to support the Soviet Union before the D-Day invasion. The whole campaign was guided by intelligence, to identify the right targets, determine how badly they were damaged, and assess the effects on the German war effort.This huge undertaking taxed Allied intelligence capabilities to their limits. It has since become one of the many contended issues in the debates around this costly and controversial campaign.In this 'It Happened Here' episode, we are joined by Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham to explain the ways Signals Intelligence from Bletchley Park did - and didn't - guide Allied bombing strategy.Our thanks go to Owen Moogan and Sarah Langston for voicing our historical documents.Image: © National Museum of the US Air Force (Public Domain)This episode is a follow up to episodes E170 & E171.#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #BomberCommand, #USAAF,
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E184 - The SIS at BP
Oct 2401:00:36Tap to summarizeOctober 2025Today GCHQ is an independent British intelligence organisation. However during World War 2, GC&CS, as it was then called, continued to be subordinate to the British Secret Intelligence Service, known as SIS or MI6. The Chief of SIS was also the Director of GC&CS.In this episode, we explore the relationship between the two organisations, the part that SIS played in supporting GC&CS, and the ongoing presence of SIS at Bletchley Park itself. Head of Content, Erica Munro, is joined by our Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon, and by a special guest - historian and expert on the wartime history of SIS, Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall.To see the objects we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/our-story/e184-the-sis-at-bletchley-park/ Claire’s book ‘Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence’ is available from all good bookshops.Image: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2025#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #MI6, #SIS, #SecretService,
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E183 - 'Ladies & gentlemen, go your ways!'
Sep 2501:01:55Tap to summarizeSeptember 2025In 1945, Britain celebrated VE Day in May and VJ Day in August, as the war - first in Europe and then the Far East - came to an end. For the staff of GC&CS and its larger worldwide network, this meant that the vital and exhausting work they'd been doing suddenly stopped. The lives of all of them had been changed forever, but each person's experience was different.Bletchley Park's Oral History archive is a treasure trove of Veterans' testimonies. In this It Happened Here episode, we will be digging into our sound archive to focus on how the workers reacted and what happened to them once peace was declared, in their own words. Our guide through these stories is Bletchley Park’s Research Historian Dr David Kenyon.This episode features the following Veterans’.Nora CoplestonMiriam MylandMary KenyonRon UnwinBetty LawrieJohn StathamBetty FlavellFay GoldJoan SmeatonGwen PageDot TuffinKenneth NicholsonJohn MoseleyJimmy ThirskRena StewartMary EveryDaphne CanningBetty WebbLady Marion BodyMargaret ThomasImage: ©Bletchley Park Trust 2025#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #VEDay80, #VJDay80,
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E182 - "… and Peace at Last"
Aug 2201:02:38Tap to summarizeAugust 2025On 15 August 2025 the UK commemorated the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, the day on which the surrender of Japan and the end of World War Two was announced.This was a significant moment at Bletchley Park as it meant the end of almost six years of non-stop codebreaking and intelligence work.For many it also brought an abrupt halt to years of training to learn Japanese and long journeys to reach postings in India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere in preparation for the upcoming invasion of Japan itself.In this ‘It Happened Here’ episode we are joined by Bletchley Park’s historians Dr Tom Cheetham and Dr David Kenyon to discuss how the Japanese war ended and the part played by Bletchley Park and signals intelligence.Our thanks go to Owen Moogan and Dr Ben Thompson for voicing our historical documents.Image: Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri. Public Domain, United States Navy.#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #VJDay80,
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E181 - Blitzkrieg in Burma
Jul 2300:54:23Tap to summarizeJuly 2025By late 1944, the tide had turned against the Japanese in south-east Asia, with the repulse of their attempted invasion of India. However, the multi-national Allied forces in Burma still faced enormous challenges if they were to retain the initiative, and push the enemy out of the country.Every mile travelled from their supply bases, across barely-navigable expanses of jungle and mountain, exposed Allied troops to greater difficulties and risk of starvation and destruction. It was a struggle against the terrain and a race against time to liberate Burma before the arrival of the monsoon. In this struggle, intelligence and deception were essential weapons in the Allied arsenal.In this It Happened Here episode, Head of Audiences and Programmes Vicki Pipe is joined by Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheetham to explore the 1945 battles for Burma and the race to Rangoon which formed the climax of Britain’s war against Japan.This episode features Veteran’s Eric Rhodes, Roy Buckmaster and Dennis Underwood, from our Oral History archive.Our thanks go to Owen Moogan and Dr Ben Thompson for voicing our historical documents.Image: Oil painting of General William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim.#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #14thArmy,
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