Bletchley Park: Home of the codebreakers

Bletchley Park

It is a sunny Saturday on Bletchley, Milton Keynes, England. Perfect opportunity to visit the top -  secret home of the Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. Nowadays, It is a heritage attraction in Buckinghamshire. 

Bletchley Park tells the story of the secret operation that contribute to the end of World War II and the human efforts that made it possible. 

During this time was the home of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), which regularly penetrated the secret communications of the Axis Powers – most importantly the German Enigma and Lorenz cyphers. 

Left to right: Library, View from Lake, Alan Turing's office

The most important members of the codebreakers included Alan Turing, Harry Golombek, Gordon Welchman, Hugh Alexander, Bill Tutte and Stuart Milner-Barry.

However, women constituted roughly 75% of the workforce. They were under-represented in high-level work such as cryptanalysis, but they were employed in other important areas, including as operators of cryptographic and communications machinery, translators, traffic analysts, clerical workers, and more.

Most of the women were enlisted in the Women’s Royal Naval Service - nicknamed the Wrens. They performed a vital role operating the computers used for code-breaking, including the Colossus and Bombe machines. 

It is an immersive experience where you can interact with replicas of the codebreaking machines, listen to the stories of the members that transform history and how it was achieved.