Bletchley Park

February 2026
Even 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Our thanks go to Sarah Langston for voicing our historical documents.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 Bushe-Weise
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Italy, #Galway

January 2026
Rome: 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Our thanks go to Dr Ben Thompson for voicing our historical documents.
Image: ©UK in Italy “Old British embassy with flag” CC BY-ND 2.0
#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Italy,

December 2025

This 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,

November 2025

During 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,

October 2025

Today 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,