THE DEBS OF BLETCHLEY PARK FREE DOWNLOAD Michael Smith | 304 pages | 03 Nov 2015 | Aurum Press Ltd | 9781781313886 | English | London, United Kingdom Women in Bletchley Park To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Only one of her 15 subjects had a university degree. Bletchey Park. For example, the lead up to D-Day is covered in a number of chapters. These included a former ballerina who helped to crack the Enigma Code; a debutante working for the Admiralty with a direct line to Churchill; the convent girl who operated the Bombes, the top secret machines that tested Enigma settings; and the German literature student whose codebreaking saved countless lives at D - Day. The London Gazette Supplement. Instead we focused on the women's lives. We visit with various women who worked there, seeing their lives, loves and fears as war raged around them. Retrieved 28 July A fascinating tale of Britain's dark war, setting up a centre to decrypt hostile communications in a country estate in the UK. But amidst all that some of the best brains in the country saved millions from death by shortening the war by about two years. The Debs of Bletchley Park to Read Currently Reading Read. Otherwise, however, his book fails to identify its main characters or themes. But we didn't ever talk about it. Informative and fun, loved how these smart young women were able to be part of something so unique. The post-war period saw the re- establishment of the class system later challenged but not defeated by the sons and The Debs of Bletchley Park of this radical generation in the Swinging Sixties. We learn of their recruitment from universities, secretarial and language schools, those who applied to join the armed forces, and from titled families - none knowing what was actually in store for them. But the drama still remains muted, for The Debs of Bletchley Park her cast and her readers. Smith has brought together all these stories into one volume, weaving personal anecdotes and tales of their specific roles there with a wider narrative of how the war was progressing and their significant successes against the Nazis as the war progressed. The Bletchley Park Trust has embarked on a plan to transform the previously ramshackle and poorly organized site, restoring the historic huts and creating a multi- million pound visitors' center which will open in June. Their stories have been neglected, largely because the exploits of the leading Bletchley code- breakers are more exciting. Welcome back. It took me to a place and time that we should not forget. It is as though Turing wins the war alone, rather than working closely with a team of equally The Debs of Bletchley Park cryptanalysts. Retrieved 20 July We were there to do a job and that's The Debs of Bletchley Park that mattered. Intelligence and National Security. Jul 19, G Hayden rated it really liked it Shelves: female- protagonistfemale-centricnon-fictionpop-sugarreading-challenge. Friend Reviews. Their roles ranged from some of the leading codebreakers, cracking German messages that others could not break, through the debutantes who chauffeured the codebreakers to and from work, to women like Baroness Trumpington who were employed as filing The Debs of Bletchley Park, to the mass of girls from ordinary working families who operated machines or listed endless streams of figures, largely unaware of the major impact their work was having on the war. I'd never told a soul, not even my husband. Home Learning. The Lost World of Bletchley Park. Jane Fawcett and ex worker said " We were just chickens, but they said we saved the lives of 40 million by being in the right place at the right time, by having a job to do- which we did" and it was said that the War ended years earlier due to this. One interesting issue she raises is that of secrecy. The Telegraph. The museum has recently secured monies to revamp the visitor centres and is aiming to renovate and revamp the place to raise visitor numbers toa year. Source: Wikipedia. All the differences that normally exist between people came tumbling down. Oct 03, Kris rated it really liked it. Community Reviews. I liked the use of oral history in the books and the direct quotes from women who had worked on the codes. Also, the descriptions of the decrypting were confusing. In December she broke a message between Belgrade and Berlin that enabled Dilly Knox's team to work out the wiring of the Abwehr Enigmaan Enigma machine previously thought to be unbreakable. And it is especially satisfying to think of this gaggle of dishevelled boffins defeating the disciplined pomposity of The Debs of Bletchley Park. Privacy Policy. An interesting look at the role of women in WW2. These were to be "men of the professor type", primarily drawn from Oxford and, in particular, Cambridge universities. She started working on 15 shillings 75 pence a week. Jul 09, Bfisher rated it really liked it. In placing Knox centre stage, Smith provides a useful corrective to the many accounts that see Turing as the lone central figure at Bletchley. We get to know them before the war, follow them to Bletchley and then see its effects on their later lives. Bletchley Park has been credited with shortening the length of World War 2 by around two years. Originally these were debutantes from the aristocracy, hence the title, who were bought in because they could be trusted; but as the sheer amount of work grew exponentially they then drew women from all walks of life to help with the work load. These women "computers" used a differential analyzer in the basement of the Moore School of Electrical Engineering to speed up their calculations, though the machine required a mechanic to be totally accurate and the women often rechecked the calculations by hand. This book brings to the fore some of the many women who worked there - and despite its title they weren't all of privileged backgrounds. They can sometimes be observed throwing cups of tea into the lake or stuffing their pipes with sandwiches instead of tobacco. It was so interesting to be at the park and then read and envision what went on in the The Debs of Bletchley Park that I walked through on my visit. I am not a history buff, but this book I couldn't put down. These included a former ballerina who helped to crack the Enigma Code; a debutante working for the Admiralty with a direct line to Churchill; the convent girl who operated the Bombes, the top secret The Debs of Bletchley Park that tested Enigma settings; and the German literature student whose codebreaking saved countless lives at D-Day. Rating details. There was something about the community in Bletchley park that i haven'ts een since. I recommend this book. History Today. .