women codebreakers of bletchley park

[niyad]

in a thread about the dmv in NM, one naturally thought of the navajo codebreakers. shortly after reading that, I came across this fascinating piece on women working as codebreakers in england--helping to break hitler's "secret writer":

http://www.bletchleyparkresearch.co.uk/research-notes/women-codebreakers/

[shenmue]

1. Excellent

Thank you for posting. I will get the book.

[Turbineguy]

2. That was some amazing work.

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. Pretty sure the Navajo weren't "codebreakers"

they used Navajo-speakers because their language was not understandable to anyone who might be listening in, that's something different.

And one of the ways that people with an aptitude for codebreaking were recruited for Bletchley Park was through a crossword competition organised by the Telegraph (British crosswords are not like American ones, tending to be "cryptic"; each clue is a puzzle in itself). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/wellbeing/7966268/Telegraph-crossword-Cracking-hobby-won-the-day.html

[niyad]

9. you are correct, they were codetalkers, not codebreakers. sorry.

[Lars39]

4. There's a really good PBS series called The Bletchly Circle about them.

They solve mysteries, but there's a lot of background covered from that time. Fascinating

[csziggy]

5. That is a wonderful series - they did a really nice job of staying accurate

To the after war period as well as the scenes that were flash backs to the war.

I've only seen the second season but I was riveted to it and watched every episode several times.

Here are some videos from the series: http://video.pbs.org/program/bletchley-circle/

[niyad]

11. thank you for posting that link!! I don't recall ever running across the program before this.

[longship]

6. Like "Foyle's War" it was murder mysteries framed within a historic context.

Both series were very satisfying procedural crime dramas.

The best of British drama excels at those narratives. Must be Shakespeare, or Agatha Christy, or something other than P.G. Wodehouse (not that there's anything to dislike about him -- nobody dislikes Jeeves and Wooster, but nobody gets murdered).

[kiva]

7. This is a great series,

I enjoyed it a lot; even though it takes place after the war, there are many references to the codebreaking work.

For fun, google “Bletchley Park"; in the google map box on the right, a series of letters will appear and change until the code is broken and the words Bletchley Park appear

[mikemcl350]

8. leo marx

there is a great book by leo marx who was part of the code breakers over in the UK and he talks a lot about the woman that worked on the codes too.


Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945

[niyad]

10. thank you for that information. will see if I can get that book as well.

[niyad]

12. . .