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Bletchley Park – Women Vital to War-Winning Intelligence
March 11, 2020 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location
Dauer 219
Brief Intro
WWII: Beyond the Battlefields – Center for European Studies Series Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the End of WWII
Jonathan Byrne, Bletchley Park Trust Oral History Officer
The top-secret British codebreaking establishment at Bletchley Park, forty miles north west of London, played a crucial part in Allied victory in World War 2. Nearly three quarters of the 9,000-strong workforce were young women, in roles including cryptanalyst, intelligence analyst and machine operator. Further afield, thousands more women intercepted the codebreakers’ raw material – enemy signals. The Bletchley Park Oral History Project has recorded nearly 450 interviews with woman veterans, and using their stories and other material, Jonathan Byrne will look at the experiences of women codebreakers. It was an era when gender frequently defined or limited opportunities; did this apply to the unique work and conditions at Bletchley Park?
