E110 – The Best of Reunions Part 1

Bletchley Park

History

4.8 • 177 Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2020

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

September 2020

Each year, to mark the arrival of the Codebreakers to their war station in 1939, we hold our Veterans Reunion.

This is the highlight of our calendar year, and a really special occasion for all involved. Veterans can meet up with friends old and new and share stories of their vital and once top-secret wartime work. These events have taken on even more meaning in the past few years, for the Veterans, their families, and all those who work for Bletchley Park Trust today.

It is with huge regret that, due to COVID-19 restrictions, Bletchley Park Trust has taken the difficult decision not to host our Reunion onsite this year.

To mark what would have been this year’s reunion, this is the first of three special episodes we will be bringing you this month, not just the highlights of the last 8 years that the Podcast has attended but also from the very first Reunion in 1991, the one that started the campaign to Save Bletchley Park.

The Veterans featured in this episode, in order of appearance are:

Joan Clarke
Derek Taunt
Raymond Goodman
Rosamond Twinn
Rosemary Davidson
Peter Twinn
Rolf Noskwith
Betty Webb
Mary Watkins
Joyce Bigoni
Stanley Clegg
Eric Hume
Jeff Hoare
Fred Terretta
Audrey Hodges
Jane Fawcett

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Veterans of Bletchley Park and its Outstations, for their service.

Special thanks to Katherine Lynch, Sarah Langston and Mr Ben Thomson.

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2,

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	2 August 1939 move of service sections to war site 15th of August 1939 in order to carry out communication tests the war site will be manned am 15th August by those detailed in GCNCS first wave who are not on leave at the time
0:20.0	those going by train should obtain a single
0:22.5	ticket of the appropriate class to Bletchley. On arrival, they should place their luggage in
0:27.2	the cloak room, from whence it will be collected after the allocation of billets, etc. They should
0:33.0	proceed on foot from the station to the war side. On leaving the station, turn right up the hill and proceed
0:39.6	through the second lodge gates. The staff are warned against any conversations regarding
0:45.0	the work with other members of the staff whilst in their billets. If occasion should arise
0:50.0	as to what you are doing, the answer should be that you are part of the aerial defense of London.
0:55.0	Gas masks are to be taken.
0:58.0	This is London. You will now hear a statement by the Prime Minister.
1:08.0	I am speaking to you from the cabinet room at 10 Downing Street.
1:16.3	This morning the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note,
1:25.0	stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o'clock, that they were prepared at once
1:32.3	to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us.
1:40.3	I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently
1:48.0	this country is at war with Germany. From the home of the codebreakers and the birthplace of modern computing, this is the Bletchley Park podcast.
2:26.3	Welcome to this very special episode of the Bletchley Park podcast, The Best of Reunions, Part 1.
2:34.0	For the last eight years, I've always known where I would be on this day,
2:38.6	because each year, to mark the arrival of the code breakers to their war station in 1939,
2:44.0	we hold our annual veterans reunion.
2:47.0	It's the highlight of our year and a very special occasion for all involved.
2:51.4	The veterans can meet up with friends old and new and share stories about their vital
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Bletchley Park, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Bletchley Park and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.