• E169 - Learning the Ropes

  • Sep 20 2024
  • Length: 1 hr and 4 mins
  • Podcast
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

E169 - Learning the Ropes

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  • Summary

  • September 2024

    The Government Code and Cypher School employed thousands of people during the war. These varied from Cambridge dons who had broken codes in World War One to machine workers with very specific skills, to female conscripts from the three armed services.

    How did all these people know what to do? As usual at BP, the answer is a complex one: a mix of training courses (some well organised, others less so) developed as the organisation grew exponentially as the war progressed.

    In this month’s ‘It Happened Here’ episode we are joined by Bletchley Park Historian Dr David Kenyon to explore the varied experiences of new recruits finding out how to do their job – sometimes on an organised course, sometimes learning on the job, and sometimes literally making it up themselves.

    This episode features the following Veterans from our Oral History archive:
    Betty Webb
    Iris King
    Joan Joslin

    Many thanks to Sarah Langston for voicing our archival documents.

    Image: ©Will Amlot for the Bletchley Park Trust 2024

    #BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma,
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Profile Image for rjj

A fabulous insight

This episode reveals how difficult it was to select and train for roles that were largely unknown and certainly being upscaled in a manner that was never anticipated. It was an honest account of where it was simply not practical to deliver bespoke courses for all roles and some recruits were thrown in at the deep end. There was nothing that could be called standard and in some roles acquired knowledge and deep immersion provided the expertise required.

The recurring theme is reflective of the secrecy and compartmentalism of BP - you trained for the part that you did.

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