Slightly cryptic as loose words cost lives… Well, they did in the war anyway.
Went up to Bletchley Park yesterday with J&R and Mr H, finally getting round to something we put on our New Year's Eve list of 'things to do in 2017'.
I'd never really heard of it but it's a massive site, lots of Nissan hut type buildings and some bigger ones, all holding examples of war time coding and code-breaking documents, machines and mind-boggling amounts of info.
And, slightly strangely, a mini submarine on the grass. Not quite sure how that helped the war effort but it was worth a quick team photo.
Main focus was the Enigma code breaking machine – this is its rear view (front had 30+ people being bamboozled by a coding chap's talk) – looks like a giant telephone exchange.
Though of course the main story that impacts was that of Alan Turing, the guy responsible for cracking the code. Educated at Sherborne, then Cambridge, clearly incredibly smart – nailed the code and credited with being part of the team that kept the war 2 years shorter than it otherwise might have been, by knowing what the Hermans were planning in advance.
But he then was convinced of being homosexual, and sentenced to either imprisonment or chemical castration, the two choices of punishment at the time, even for those who save their country. So he killed himself 2 years later using cyanide pills.
There is a well-written letter from Gordon Brown on display, containing his official pardon – just a huge shame it came far too late for Alan Turing himself. Makes you incredibly glad to be living in society today when being gay is no longer a crime.
Anyway – pottered round for a few hours, hoping to see a picture of Janine's mother or her close friends who worked there during the war, although apparently she never spoke of it herself, even years after the war was over.
Slight overdose of info by the end of it – left me feeling rather like this statue on the outside of the main house, where all the officers lived.
If anyone wants to go I've got the re-admittance slip that allows you to go back any time within a year. Think I'm done for now so let me know if you want to save the £17.75 entry fee…
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