#bletchley park

[asgoodeasgold]

10th year anniversary of The Imitation Game

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the US release of The Imitation Game on 14 Nov 2014. A beautiful, important film.

In this scene, Alan Turing (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleagues at Bletchley Park finally cracked the code for the Enigma machine using the computer Alan invented and built.

This helped the war effort no end, saving an estimated 14 million lives and bringing the end of the war forward by two years. Sadly, rather than be fêted for the visionary genius and hero that he was, Alan Turing was vilified and cruelly mistreated by the UK state for being gay (he was chemically castrated). He ended up committing suicide.

Listen to Matthew Goode in today's other post talking about why it is important that this story be told:

NY premiere - the cast, director and Sophie:

Credits:

Director: Morten Tyldum. Written by Graham Moore. Cinematography by Óscar Faura. Music by Alexandre Desplat.

📷 The Imitation game (2014) my edits + official movie stills and theatrical release poster (via matthew-goode.net)

📷 Photo of Alan Turing by Godrey Argent Studio via The Royal Society

Link to red carpet interview:

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Wrens played a major part in the planning and organisation of naval operations, serving at Bletchley Park and its out-stations, operating machines used in code-breaking.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory

[princesscatherineblog]

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visits the D-Day exhibition at Bletchley Park on May 14, 2019 in Bletchley, England. 

[tim-dennis]

Bletchley Park, sepia

[swan-of-sunrise]

Hey! I'm loving your work :) I recently got into Specs and the Flyboy; it's such a good story! I'd love to learn more about the reader's time with the OSS and how she managed to join. Did she receive an offer like Peggy did from SOE? I think this is all so interesting.

You're so sweet, thank you! I'm so happy that you're enjoying Specs and the Flyboy; I try not to choose favorites, but it's probably the series that I've enjoyed writing the most. As for Specs and the OSS, I totally plan on writing a one-shot about how she was recruited from Bletchley Park! I haven't settled on how I wanna present that particular event just yet, but I was thinking of being a little experimental and doing it through letters (not sure when I'll get to writing it, but it's for sure being planned!). Thank you so much for reading and enjoying, and I appreciate your kind words 💖

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Princess of Wales is 'getting better,' Prince William tells D-Day veterans

6 June 2024

The Prince of Wales has said the Princess would have loved to join him for the “very moving” D-Day anniversary event in Portsmouth on Wednesday as he said she was “getting better.”

The Prince, the King and the Queen chatted to D-Day veterans after the ceremony, shaking their hands and thanking them for their service.

He was asked by Geoffrey Weaving, aged 100, how the Princess of Wales was faring with her cancer treatment and replied:

“Yes, she is getting better, yes. She would have loved to be here today.

I was reminding everyone how her grandmother served at Bletchley, so she had quite a bit in common with some of the ladies here who were at Bletchley.

They never spoke about anything until the very end – it was all very secret.”

The Prince, who bent down to speak to Mr Weaving in his wheelchair, added:

“Geoffrey, it was lovely to see you. We’ll see you in five years time for the 85th.”

Mr Weaving, who served with the Navy, has previously recalled arriving on the French coast on 6 June 1944 and finding the sea “full of dead bodies” as warships started firing upon Allied troops who ran for their lives onto the sand.

[ammg-old2]

A woman who worked at the top secret Bletchley Park codebreaking centre in World War Two has received over 200 cards to mark her 104th birthday following a social media appeal.

Joan Mace worked as a tele-printer operator at the site where Alan Turing cracked the Nazi Enigma code.

Staff at the Cloverleaf Care Home in Lincoln, where Mrs Mace now lives, asked the public to send her 104 cards for her birthday on Monday.

But nearly twice that amount were sent.

Mrs Mace had been left feeling "over the moon" at people's generosity, staff at the home said.

The great-grandmother told the BBC: "It's made me feel important, but I'm not important, I'm just me. It's nice that they care.

"It's really nice, very sweet and very kind.

"I've got all of them on the chest of drawers, on the table, on the wardrobe. I've never had so many."

Born on 26 June 1919, Mrs Mace was one of 13 children and grew up in a two-bedroom cottage in Essex.

After she turned 21, she joined the RAF.

Mrs Mace said she met her husband, Ron, a driver in the Army, in an air raid shelter while she still lived in Essex.

She said: "We got engaged and I never saw him for a long time. He was in the Army and he was going away a lot and I joined the Air Force."

She went on to work at Bletchley Park, the Buckinghamshire code-breaking centre.

Workers there were responsible for decrypting enemy codes.

Having lived through so many decades, Mrs Mace said she did not believe life had become much easier since the war.

"Life is hard work. Children aren't able to get to school properly. People are struggling to feed their families. It seems unfair," she said.

As well as receiving 202 birthday cards from people across the UK and abroad - including one from the King - Mrs Mace also enjoyed a trip to the International Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln.

She said her birthday this year had been "marvellous".

Staff at Cloverleaf Care Home thanked everyone who sent birthday cards for Mrs Mace following their appeal.

[enbycrip]

ID: “We were at Bletchley Park yesterday and found this attached to a gate, tucked out the way, where the dispatch riders used to enter the park” in black text on white above a photo of a wooden cross with “Alan Turing, 1912-1954” hand written on the upper vertical piece. There is a paper red remembrance poppy attached to the centre of the crosspiece and a rainbow pride flag hand-drawn behind the poppy. The words “in remembrance” are printed below the crosspiece. The cross is tucked into a rusty chain holding a rusted gate shut, with a new silver padlock locked into the chain.

[a-series-of-small-things-blog]

Alan Turing Resources

Hello! My name is Veronica. Alan Turing might be one of the most important people of the 20th Century and I want to share as much as I can. As time goes on, I think it is more and more important to share his story. So, these resources are posted somewhere on almost all of my social media. I will work on updating this as I see fit. And don't ever hesitate to reach out to talk! Either about Alan Turing or literally anything else. Thank you!

Archives/Resources

AlanTuring.net

Turing Digital Archive

Alan Turing Internet Scrapbook

The Old Shirburnian Society

Bletchley Park/Code Breaking

Bletchley Park

https://codesandciphers.org.uk/

https://cryptocellar.org/

https://daytoncodebreakers.org/

Books About Alan

Alan Turing: The Enigma

Alan Turing: The Enigma (Full Book)

Alan Turing's Manchester

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Prof: Alan Turing Decoded

The Turing Guide

Documentaries

Codebreaker

The Strange Life and Death of Dr Turing

Alan's Work

The Essential Turing

Mechanical Intelligence

Morhpogenesis

Pure Mathematics

Mathematical Logic

System's of Logic

Misc Resources

Google doc of other resources, websites, articles, etc. that don't quite fit anywhere else but I still think are interesting! - Link

[valkyries-things]

MARGARET ROCK // MATHEMATICIAN

“She was one of the 8000 women mathematicians who worked in Bletchley Park during World War II. With her maths skills and education, Rock was able to decode the Enigma Machine against the German Army. Her work during the war was classified by the Official Secrets Act 1939, so much of her work was not revealed during her lifetime.”

[supranatural85]

Things to do in Milton Keynes

[onelungmcclung]

As part of this tribute, the remarkable stories of three Jewish women will be highlighted through a special publication issued in partnership with the Royal Air Force Museum, to raise awareness of the bravery of these women who served during WW2, Muriel Byck, Hannah Szenes and Vera Atkins.

At the age of 25, Muriel Byck was recruited as a secret agent by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). She was sent to Nazi occupied France where she helped gather intelligence for the allied forces as well as help the local resistance movement.

Hannah Szenes was only 22 when she joined the RAF and was parachuted into Yugoslavia, with the aim to enter Hungary to rescue Jews facing deportation to the death camp at Auschwitz. Hannah was arrested during her mission and executed a year later, at the age of 23.

Vera Atkins was recruited as an intelligence agent before the war and quickly rose through the ranks to become an intelligence officer. After the war, Vera went to Germany to interrogate Nazi officials and concentration camp guards to establish what had become of the SOE agents that failed to return.

Emma Hayes, manager of Chelsea Women, was also invited to virtually interview Jewish veteran, Ruth Bourne. Ruth joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service in 1944 before transferring over for ‘special duties’ at Eastcote in Bletchley, the secret centre for Britain’s codebreakers who worked day and night to break the encrypted codes used by the German military.

[brigittemarlt]

The man who has broken the code. Alan Turing  is one of Derek’s most memorable portrayal. Emotionally intense. Turing should have been a hero of his time. He was finally a victim of Intolerance. He has contributed to save mankind. And mankind has betrayed him. What Derek did here is more than an artistic performance. It is also a personal tribute to a great man. He has highly contributed by his talent to put Turing’s work and life into light and given him the recognition that he deserved (photo : Martha Swope)

[popcorn-plots]

watching The Imitation Game after having been to Bletchley Park is a wonderful experience <3

[tim-dennis]

Alan Turing

[wikiweird]

Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is a historic site located in Bletchley, England. During World War II, it served as the central site for British codebreakers who worked to decrypt and analyze encrypted messages from German and other Axis powers' communications.

The article provides an overview of Bletchley Park's role as a key intelligence hub during the war. It highlights the efforts of notable codebreakers such as Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, and others who played a crucial role in breaking the Enigma cipher used by the Germans.

Bletchley Park housed a diverse group of individuals with various skills, including mathematicians, linguists, chess champions, and crossword enthusiasts. Their collective efforts led to significant breakthroughs in deciphering intercepted enemy messages, providing vital intelligence to the Allied forces.

The article delves into the codebreaking techniques and technologies employed at Bletchley Park, including the development of electromechanical machines like the Bombe and the pioneering work in early computing, such as Turing's design for the automatic computing engine.

After the war, much of the work conducted at Bletchley Park remained classified for many years. However, the site has since been opened to the public as a museum and heritage site, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the history of codebreaking and its impact on the outcome of World War II.

Bletchley Park stands as a symbol of the remarkable intellectual efforts and achievements of the codebreakers who worked tirelessly to crack enemy codes, contributing significantly to the Allied war effort and shaping the course of history.

Read more