Bletchley Park In Danger

[Sharpsburg]

This is truly sad news and another devastation caused by the terrible virus! Please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in this vital piece of WWII history. If you have ever been there you know how important this site is! Closure is a possibility - they have lost 95% of normal income, like so many other sites.

https://bletchleypark.org.uk/news/b...ThrwIFMssbDVfgEa29iRRs_8bYnOcnuD9BrA-iyE0G0cs

 

[Peacoat]

This is an important site that memorializes the code breaking efforts during WWII. American code breakers were flown over to work here alongside their Brother Brits. This is where the captured Enigma machine was taken for examination.

 

[Seth Byrnes]

Why don't they just do the right thing and put people on indefinite temporary layoff until the museum can re-open?

They are going to downsize and lose trained people, which they will suffer for when the re-open and suddenly need to re-train personnel.

 

[Sharpsburg]

Things seem to have improved as Bletchley received a sizeable grant to remain open (when not on lockdown)!

 

[MisterCairo]

Visited twenty years ago, hard to believe. Hope to get back asap with the family!

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I have visited Bletchley Park, it is a fascinating place, hope it can carry on when we are allowed to get out and about again.

 

[Old Mariner]

It would be nice to visit this. When I was at the Reading (PA) WWII Weekend one year, there was a guy there who had collected these. It was nice to chat with him regarding the use of the Enigma machine and the U Boats. Getting to visit this place would, for me, essentially "complete the picture".

 

[Peacoat]

It would be nice to visit this. When I was at the Reading (PA) WWII Weekend one year, there was a guy there who had collected these. It was nice to chat with him regarding the use of the Enigma machine and the U Boats. Getting to visit this place would, for me, essentially "complete the picture".

I agree. My wife has been pushing for another trip to England. When we go, I will put a visit to Bletchley Park on the itinerary. I wonder if the original captured Enigma machine is still there?

 

[Old Mariner]

I agree. My wife has been pushing for another trip to England. When we go, I will put a visit to Bletchley Park on the itinerary. I wonder if the original captured Enigma machine is still there?

I would be curious to know. Another aspect of this that I am interested in, is how it is related to the WWI U-Boat war. I wanted to try and find the interview of Otto Kretschmer, who warned about using the radio and communications too much (hence his knickname of "Silent Otto"), because he read about how the British were aware of U-Boat movement in WWI. From what I can recall in the interview, he warned about it during WWII for the very same reason (Bletchley Park). I looked on YouTube but could not find it under specific parameters, so it must have been in a documentary.

"His nickname “Silent Otto” referred to his ability to remain undetected and his reluctance to provide the regular radio reports required by Dönitz: he had guessed that the Allies had broken German codes. Alongside his military skill was a character that remained rooted in the traditions of the Prussian military." - https://www.usni.org/press/books/otto-kretschmer

 

[Harp]

Ladislas Farago's The Broken Seal is a good start on the code/code breaking field focused on Pearl Harbor.
Also, Gordon Prange's At Dawn We Slept. Prange's posthumous follow up Midway is also worth reading for its
background and successful exploit of cipher intelligence.