Why a Booktrail?
1930s – 1950s: More than 8000 women worked at Bletchley
The Debs of Bletchley Park
What you need to know before your trail
At the peak of Bletchley’ s success, a total of twelve thousand people worked there of whom more than eight thousand were women. These included a former ballerina who helped to crack the Enigma Code; a debutante working for the Admiralty with a direct line to Churchill; the convent girl who operated the Bombes, the top secret machines that tested Enigma settings; and the German literature student whose codebreaking saved countless lives at D-Day.
All these women were essential cogs in a very large machine, yet their stories have been kept secret.
Locations
Reset- England - Bletchley Park
- A: Bletchley Park - The train station
- B: Hut 12
- C: The Cottages
- D: Hut 11
- E: Bletchley Park Mansion
Travel Guide
Bletchley Park
This really has to be seen to be believed. The cramped conditions, the cold winds rattling through the doors, the basic tables and chairs, the lack of comforts and the secrecy. But amidst all that some of the best brains in the country saved millions from death by shortening the war by about two years.
There are no words to describe walking into the huts, around the lake, into the mansion house…..every step you take feels as if you’re on sacred ground as when you think about it, you are. You can almost hear the echoes of the past whispering through the walls. When you get to see Alan Turing’s desk – speechless. This man’s story is more than retold here – there’s even a brick in an honorary wall bearing his name. And his office was so small! Oh and that huge machine he built – remarkable. There are no words to describe what he achieved and what it’s like standing in the very spot he made history.
Trail Gallery
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Debs of Bletchley Park
Destination: Bletchley Author/Guide: Michael Smith Departure Time: 1930s -1950s
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