E100 – Légion d’honneur

Bletchley Park

History

4.8 • 177 Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2019

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

December 2019

At the end of each year we like to focus on the important work that our Oral History Officer Jonathan Byrne and his team of staff and volunteers carry out. The interviews they record not only help to build a better picture of the vital work carried out here during World War Two but also help us develop new ways to share those stories with our visitors, such as exhibitions, family activities and online resources.

In this, the first of three episodes this month, we catch up with Jonathan and find out about the presentation of France’s highest order of merit, the Légion d’honneur, to Bletchley Park Veterans.

We also introduce the newest member of Jonathan’s team, Oral History Assistant, Will Hankey who describes his passion for his work.

The rest of this episode explores the experiences of three of our Légion d’honneur recipients.

Mrs Helene Aldwinckle worked in Hut 6 and Block D (6) at Bletchley Park from 1942 till 1945.

RAF Flight Sergeant Gordon Rosenberg served in Special Liaison Units 8 and 9, first in Europe and then later in the Pacific.

Walter ‘Joe’ Wright served with the Royal Signals in Special Communications Units 1 and 8 from August 1944 till September 1945.

Image courtesy the Aldwinckle family.

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The from the home of the codebreakers and the birthplace of modern computing this is the bletchley Park podcast.
0:42.9	Welcome to the December 2019 episode of the Bletchley Park podcast.
0:48.9	At the end of each year, we like to focus on the important work that our oral history officer, Jonathan Byrne, and his team of staff and volunteers carry out.
0:53.4	The interviews they record not only help to build
0:55.5	a better picture of the vital work carried out here during World War II, but also help us develop
1:00.2	new ways to share those stories with our visitors, such as exhibitions, family activities and online
1:05.6	resources. In this, the first of three episodes this month, we catch up with Jonathan and find out about the presentation of France's highest order of merit, the Lejean d'Hen-Hour to Bletchley Park veterans.
1:17.7	We also introduced the newest member of Jonathan's team, oral history assistant Will Hanky, who describes his passion for his work.
1:24.8	Then finally, the rest of this episode explores the experiences of three of our Legend
1:29.2	Honour recipients.
1:38.7	At the end of the year, we always look back on our oral history project, and the veterans
1:42.9	we've been lucky enough to be able to interview over the year. This one feels like it's been a particularly busy year, Jonathan.
1:48.9	Is that correct? It has, yes. Back in August, we wrote to all 900 or so veterans who have
1:55.5	Freedom of Bletchley Park, updating them on the progress of the oral History Project and asking any who haven't been interviewed yet
2:02.2	if they'd like to get in touch and we'll arrange for one of our volunteers to visit them to record an interview.
2:07.7	And we had a very good response to that.
2:09.3	We'll hear some facts and figures shortly.
2:11.2	But we have been extremely busy in the last few months arranging interviews and working with the really interesting stories that have come back.
2:18.7	And the other thing we've been able to do is actually extend our team at Blatchley Park.
2:23.1	Yes, thanks to the generosity of the Medlock Charitable Trust, we've been able to recruit an assistant.
2:28.7	Will Hanky, who will hear from shortly a little bit about him. And that really is making a difference
	...

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