E40 - The Coventry Myth

Bletchley Park

History

4.8 • 177 Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2015

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

November 2015

Hindsight can be cruel. The conspiracy theory that Churchill allowed Coventry to be bombed beyond recognition, killing hundreds of civilians, in order to protect the Ultra secret - that Bletchley Park was breaking German codes - is a myth.

In this episode we bring you memories of the devastating air raid on Coventry, which took place 75 years ago, on 14 November 1940. Hear from Sir Arthur Bonsall, who worked in the German Air Section, debunking the myth. And Bletchley Park’s Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon, explains how the theory came about and has since been disproved.

Also this month, the Bletchley Park Trust is reaching out to Veterans’ families, to create a worldwide community of people with a special link to this unique piece of British history. Dilly Knox was instrumental in codebreaking in both world wars. He was working to break into Enigma before World War Two even broke out, but died in 1943, so never knew how the war ended and never shared what he’d done with his family. They can now celebrate his achievements and did just that on a visit to Bletchley Park, during which they shared their pride with the Bletchley Park Podcast.

And we hear from Professor Jack Copeland, Director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing, celebrating another forgotten hero of Bletchley Park, Max Newman. In August, his talk ‘How Computers Were Used Against Hitler’, was a huge success. This episode features an extract of that talk as well as a rare interview with Jack.

Image: Prime Minister Winston Churchill accompanied by the Mayor and Alderman JA Mosely, inspects a large scale Civil Defence parade in Broadgate, Coventry in September 1941. ©Mirrorpix

#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #Enigma, #WW2Veteran, #History, #Churchill

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The From the home of the co-breakers and the birthplace of modern computing, this is the Bletchley Park podcast.
0:42.2	Welcome to the November episode of the Bletchley Park podcast, The Coventry Myth.
0:48.5	We bring you memories of the devastating air raid on Coventry, which took place 75 years ago this month.
0:59.8	We'll hear from Sir Arthur Bonsel, who worked in the German air section at Bletchley Park, debunking the myth that Churchill sacrificed the city to protect the secret that Bletchley Park was breaking German codes.
1:07.6	And Bletchley Park's research historian, Dr David Kenyon, tells us how the myth came about and how it's since been disproved.
1:12.3	Also this month, we'll hear from Professor Jack Copeland, director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing, celebrating another forgotten hero of Bletchley Park,
1:17.8	Max Newman. In August, Jack's talk how computers were used against Hitler was a huge success.
1:24.0	We'll bring you an extract, as well as an exclusive interview with him.
1:37.4	And I'll tell you about the very rare public appearance coming up in the next few days of the GCHQ departmental historian in the Bletchley Park Presents lecture series.
1:46.0	But first, the Bletchley Park Trust is reaching out to veterans' families to create a worldwide community of people with a special link to this unique piece of British history. The trust is inviting relatives of the co-breakers
1:51.6	to cement their family ties with the breathtaking achievements of the Bletchley Park
1:55.9	operation during World War II. Dilley Knox was instrumental in co-breaking in both World Wars. He was working to break Enigma before World War II. Dilley Knox was instrumental in co-breaking in both World Wars.
2:02.5	He was working to break Enigma before World War II even broke out, but died in 1943.
2:08.2	So he never knew how the war ended and never shared what he'd done with his family.
2:13.0	They can now celebrate his achievements and did just that on a visit to Bletchley Park,
2:17.8	during which they met podcast producer Mark Cotton.
2:27.6	Here we are outside Cottage 3, which during the Second World War,
2:31.6	was where Dilly Knox, the chief code breaker at Blackerly Park
2:35.7	at the start of the war, did his finest work. And today, we've got a visit from 14 members
2:43.4	of Dilley's family. And with me at the moment, I've got four Dilley's grandchildren. If I'm just
2:49.6	get your names? Dillwyn, Tim, Charlotte. Peter. So we've got a Dilly with us at the moment, I've got four Dilley's grandchildren. If I'm just getting your names? Dilwyn.
	...

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