When we look back at World War 2, we remember the soldiers, the pilots, the men and women who gave their lives for their country. But, hidden away behind the scenes, a different kind of army were fighting a battle of their own. A battle of decryption, spies, and secrets. In the once-quiet town of Bletchley, Milton Keynes, sits what is often referred to as ‘Britain’s Best Kept Secret’: Bletchley Park.
What are the 5 Qs?
When thinking about museums and heritage, there are usually five main questions that come to mind.
- Who? Who are the people behind the museum? Perhaps they’re the whole reason for the museum’s existence, or perhaps they’re background characters for something larger. In this section, I dive into their stories.
- What? What can you find inside the museum? Here, I explore the various sections of the museum, what artifacts they contain, and what story they tell.
- Where? Where is it located? Sometimes a museum is a reflection of its surroundings, and it can be worthwhile to take a look at the local area.
- Why? Why is there even a museum in the first place? This section will try to look at the origins of the museum itself, why there is a demand for it, and what it hopes to achieve.
- Finally, How? How can you visit the museum yourself? Hopefully after reading about them, you’ll want to find out!
Who?
I wish I could detail the lives of each of the 10,000 members of staff in the Bletchley Park organisation — 75% of which were women. While a large majority of Britain’s men were in the trenches, members of Women’s Services, such as the Wrens, were recruited in a variety of roles at the park. However, they did manage to get their hands on a few sharp-brained men as well, some of whom you may have heard of.
How could I possibly discuss Bletchley Park without mentioning the face of the new £50 note? Alan Turing has fast become a household name, thanks in part to Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of him in The Imitation Game. I won’t mention my own opinions on the movie, mind. Turing was indisputably a brilliant mathematician, and a great help to the war effort. In September, 1938, he started working part-time for the Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS), focusing on the Enigma machine. He started reporting to Bletchley Park a year later. Within weeks, he had specified a more effective version of the Polish bomba, known as the bombe. If you’re looking for more information on the breakdown of such machinery, I’m afraid my Maths and IT GCSEs only go so far. However, you can find plenty of articles over on Bletchley Park’s website.
Despite Turing’s genius and war effort, he was not held to such high esteem in his own lifetime. As a homosexual in the 1950s, his lifestyle was considered criminal. At the age of 39, he was chemically castrated, and two years later he was found dead in his room. The cause of death was deduced as cyanide poisoning, most likely from a half-eaten apple beside his bed. It is still widely debated as to whether or not this was suicide, but it’s clear that such a man should have lived a much longer and happier life after the work he did for all of us.
Though Turing lives on in our memories, there are many other key workers in Bletchley Park who are too often forgotten. One such man is Tommy Flowers. If you’re familiar with the park, or perhaps have an interest in computers, you’ve probably heard the name. He was enlisted at Bletchley Park to help tackle a much more complicated cipher: the Lorenz. Flowers’ solution was a machine named the Colossus — now considered to be one of the first electronic computers. Later, in 1944, he created the Colossus Mark 2, which went into service in Bletchley Park and immediately produced vital information regarding the D-Day landings. Though considerably less well-known than Turing, Flowers played just as important a part in the allies’ success during World War 2.
What?
There are multiple sections to Bletchley Park, all dotted around a beautiful lake at the centre. Once you leave Block C, which provides an excellent introduction to the museum, your next port of call is Block B. If my ramblings about Turing have piqued your interest, you can learn more about him here. However, if you’re like me and like to see where all the action went down, you may want to move on to the Huts.
The Huts are a number of thin, hastily-constructed buildings towards the back of the park, inside which the majority of the actual code-breaking took place. In Hut 8, Alan Turing and his team were tasked with deciphering naval Enigma messages, while Hut 6 targeted those intercepted from the Air Force. The decoration of these huts transports you back to the 1940’s, with projected videos of codebreakers bringing the rooms to life. Bletchley Park have done a wonderful job of recreating the urgent, fast-paced, high-pressure work that went on here.
As you emerge back onto the grounds, it’s hard to ignore the grand mansion that watches over the whole museum. When I worked in Block C, a visitor’s first question — after inquiring after the restroom — was often: ‘where’s the house?’. It’s the image in everyone’s head of Bletchley Park, and it certainly doesn’t let you down in person. The imposing gargoyles greet you at the front door, guarding decorative carpets and rooms of great splendor. The library is my personal favourite, filled with classic copies of authors such as Charles Dickens, and decorated in the style of the era. And, if you decide to visit in December, I hear Father Christmas himself can be found in the room.
Where?
As a Bletchley girl myself, here’s where my bias really shows. The town is very proud of its heritage; I remember my school adopting various Bletchley Park terms for our houses — I was in Lorenz, making Tommy Flowers proud. But the town today is a world away from how it must have looked in Tommy’s time. Milton Keynes itself is only 50 years old, and Bletchley was no more than a little Roman town, with a minute train station and a country mansion. It was these features, however, that helped GC&CS’s search for a secret War Station.
Bletchley’s location between Cambridge and Oxford was ideal for an operation requiring Britain’s smartest workforce. Trains from both cities landed in Bletchley, merely steps away from a grand mansion. The spot was sparsely-populated, well-connected, and perfect for a covert code-breaking station.
Of course, the benefits of its location are no longer secret, and the temptation of a large expanse of land so close to London was too strong. It didn’t take long for Milton Keynes to spring up, taking Bletchley under its wing. Now, many of Bletchley Park’s visitors can be found popping up to the large shopping centre and enjoying all that the town has to offer.
Why?
To tell the truth, we’re lucky that there’s anything left of Bletchley Park for us to visit. To start with, the buildings weren’t exactly designed with longevity in mind. Much of the park had crumbled beyond repair, parts had been sold off and turned into residential homes, and much of it has been roped off from the public due to asbestos concerns. However, with the help of charitable donations and grants, much of the park has been restored. Bletchley Park Trust have worked hard to keep as much of the original buildings as possible — it’s amazing how much of it has withstood the test of time.
The trust was set up 22 years ago, and has been working tirelessly ever since to tell a story kept secret for decades. In honour of those who went to the grave without telling a soul, and also those who are still going strong to this day, providing vital information to the curators and staff so that the museum can be as accurate as possible. I’ll forever be grateful that the community was able to save this incredible piece of history, and the names etched on Bletchley Park’s codebreaker wall will not be forgotten.
How?
I hope I’ve left you as excited about the museum as I am. If you are, then I’m delighted to tell you that Bletchley Park is easy to get to by train — though parking is available if you wish to navigate the many roundabouts of Milton Keynes! At time of writing, tickets are £21 for adults, £18.50 for concessions, £12.50 for children 12 and above, and free for those who are lucky enough to be younger. There’s also a family offer at £33.60 for one parent and two children, or £54.60 for two parents and two children. Even better, all of these tickets are season passes, and can be used as many times as you like within the year (trust me, most people come back for more!).
Naturally, the museum is currently closed due to covid, but keep an eye on their social, and keep checking their website. I’m waiting eagerly for those doors to reopen myself!
