Soggy Moose Travels : STATION X / Bletchley Park

Off to Bletchley Park:

Bletchley Park is easy to visit via public transport. One can take the National Rail service from Euston Station to the Bletchley Railway Station, upon arrival simply turn to your right and walk a short distance to the entrance. Follow the signs. Show your train tickets for a 2 for 1 discount.

Bletchley Park was the central site for Britain's codebreakers during World War II. Run by the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), it regularly penetrated the secret communications of the Axis Powers – most importantly the German Enigma and Lorenz ciphers. The official historian of World War II British Intelligence has written that the "Ultra" intelligence produced at Bletchley shortened the war by two to four years, and that without it the outcome of the war would have been uncertain.

Located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, Bletchley Park is now a flourishing heritage attraction. Open seven days a week, it is popular with individuals and families, as well as school groups and tour parties.

Most German messages decrypted at Bletchley were produced by one or another version of the Enigma cipher machine, but an important minority were produced by the even more complicated twelve-rotor LorenzSz42 on-line Teleprinter Cipher Machine.

Five weeks before the outbreak of war, Warsaw's Cipher Bureau revealed its achievements in breaking Enigma to astonished French and British personnel. The British used the Poles' information and techniques, and the Enigma clone sent to them in August 1939, which greatly increased their (previously very limited) success in decrypting Enigma messages.

The bombe was an electromechanical device whose function was to discover some of the daily settings of the Enigma machines on the various German military networks. Its pioneering design was developed by Alan Turing with an important contribution from Gordon Welchman (whos contribution is often overlooked) and the machine was engineered by Harold “Doc” Keen of the British Tabulating Machine Company. Each machine was about 7 feet (2.1 m) high and wide, 2 feet (0.61 m) deep and weighed about a ton. There is a working replica at Bletchley.

After the War, the secrecy imposed on Bletchley staff remained in force, so that most relatives never knew more than that a child, spouse, or parent had done some kind of secret war work.Churchill referred to the Bletchley staff as "the geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled”.That said, occasional mentions of the work performed at Bletchley Park slipped the censor's net and appeared in print.

With the publication of F.W. Winterbotham’s The Ultra Secret (1974) public discussion of Bletchley's work finally became possible (though even today some former staff still consider themselves bound to silence) and in July 2009 the British government announced that Bletchley personnel would be recognized with a commemorative badge.

Such a fascinating place, with great history and secrecy, well worth a visit and there is continued work ongoing at this historic treasure.

I like to call it where computing really started.

We had last visited Bletchley Park about three yeas ago and since the we have noted marked enhancements. There are several interactive touch screen stations which provide great information. It was interesting to talk to the volunteers at Bletchley park and learn a bit more. First is, once they realize you know the real facts vs. the movie story (The Imitation Game) they even share more. There are still signs of the movie production there as the bar scenes were filmed inside the mansion at a prop bar scene. This will be removed November 1, 2016. One nice enhancement is sounds, you maybe walking about and hear a motorbike coming up behind you, when in-fact it is just the sounds being broadcast. Definitely pack a picnic lunch as there are several great locations to enjoy an outdoor meal.

One should plan about 3-4 hours to truly experience Bletchley Park. Also learned from the volunteer guides is that visitation is up about 60% since the release of the movie. While the movie is not totally factual it is well done and gives one an idea of what happened.

One interesting story we were told is this past Sunday they observed Bletchley Veterans day and there were about 70 ladies who worked there during the time of code breaking. To this day some of the ladies would not speak of what their job was at Bletchley Park. Such resolve.

I highly recommend a visit and to enjoy it to the fullest one should do some reading prior.

After visiting we caught a train back to Euston Station where we took the Underground to Embankment and walked along the Themes to the Westminster station. From there we took the circle line back to our hotel. Time to cool off and get ready to go out later. The plan is to go out for sunset at the Tower the eat and then back to see the Tower at night.

We followed our plan.