The History Of Bletchley Park-00-5919

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Bletchley Park, in the south Milton Keynes borough, has a long and interesting history for the whole family to learn about and enjoy. It is famous for being the centre of the code breaking efforts of World War II and is known around the world for its code-breaking supremacy.

Pre war

The site Bletchley Park sits on can be traced back almost 1,000 years when it was part of the Manor of Eaton. It gets a mention in the Domesday Book when William I of England sent men all over the country to find out how much land there was in each shire and how much it was all worth. From the late 18th century through to the start of WWII, the site changed hands a number of times until a developer bought the 55-acre site. He had planned to demolish the mansion and build a housing estate.

Before the work started to demolish the original buildings and redevelop the site, the chief of MI6 and director of Naval Intelligence, Sir Hugh Sinclair, tried to persuade the British Government to purchase the land so he would have a place to house the Government Code and Cypher School outside of London. Sinclair ended up purchasing the site ...
... with his own money for £7,500.

World War II

Bletchley Park Museum has many parts to it although the vast majority is aimed around the workers during WWII. These talented individuals worked alongside cutting edge cypher equipment and are accredited with bringing the war to an end two years early and saving thousands of lives. The intelligence they passed forward to allied forces was pivotal to the war effort and Bletchley Park Museum depicts this story well.

The codename for this encryption was ‘ultra' and these efforts by the workers at Bletchley Park were instrumental in battles won against the U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean. The D-Day landings in June 1944 were a great success largely because allied forces knew exactly where 56 of 58 divisions of the German Army were located, due to the work carried out at Bletchley Park.

After Pearl Harbour was bombed, the US joined the war effort and Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed to share information and intelligence. This led to the stationing of American cryptographers at Bletchley Park and they had full access to the cypher machines.

In the latter stages of the war, the site was used to decipher messages from Japanese forces. Workers at Bletchley Park were given crash courses in Japanese over in Bedford to help their American friends defeat the Far East threat and the whole story can be seen in the Bletchley Park Museum.

Post WWII Activities

After the war had ended, there was no indication that there would ever be a Bletchley Park Museum as many machines were destroyed as well as blue prints. Over the years, before becoming Bletchley Park Museum, there were a few owners here including British Telecom and the Civil Aviation Authority. It was not until 1992 that the Bletchley Park Trust was formed after the site came close to being demolished for development and it was saved from being destroyed.

When thinking of Milton Keynes museums everyone is drawn to Bletchley Park and the exhibition centre here. Special events are held throughout the year and the grounds here are worth spending some time exploring and the lakes and parks in the area are ideal for families.

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http://www.mkweb.co.uk/Places_to_visit/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=390 is one of many attractions to be found in Milton Keynes. Visit MKWeb for more information about Bletchley Park and other http://www.mkweb.co.uk/miltonkeynesleisure/ .