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The Bletchley Girls
The women of Bletchley Park have a unique story to tell. Although critical to the success of the project to break the German and Japanese codes in World War II, their contribution has been consistently overlooked and undervalued. Through unprecedented access to surviving veterans, this book reveals how life at "The Park" and its outstations was far removed from the glamorous existence usually portrayed. The women speak vividly of their lives in the 1930s, why they were selected to work in Britain's most secret organization, and the challenges of re-entry into civilian life. Forbidden to talk about their vital war work, they often found it hard to adjust to the expectations of both their immediate families and society as a whole. By spending time with these fascinating female secret-keepers, who are still alive today, Tessa Dunlop captures their extraordinary journeys into an adult world of war, secrecy, love, and loss. Through the voices of the women themselves, this is a portrait of life at Bletchley Park beyond the celebrated code-breakers. The Bletchley Girls is the story of the women behind Britain's ability to consistently outsmart the enemy.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2015
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About the author
Tessa Dunlop
9 books32 followersTessa Dunlop is a television presenter, radio broadcaster and historian. She has presented history programmes on BBC1 London, BBC2, Discovery Europe, Channel 4, UKTV History and the History Channel (USA).
In 2005 Dunlop won a Royal Television Society award for her work on regional magazine show Inside Out West.
In 2007 Dunlop filmed Paranormal Egypt, a six-part series, with Derek Acorah on location in Egypt.
Dunlop read history at Oxford University, where she also won the Gertrude Easton Prize. Her articles have appeared in a number of British newspaper publications including The Guardian, The Independent, The Mail on Sunday and The Herald.
In 2005 Dunlop won a Royal Television Society award for her work on regional magazine show Inside Out West.
In 2007 Dunlop filmed Paranormal Egypt, a six-part series, with Derek Acorah on location in Egypt.
Dunlop read history at Oxford University, where she also won the Gertrude Easton Prize. Her articles have appeared in a number of British newspaper publications including The Guardian, The Independent, The Mail on Sunday and The Herald.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 142 reviews
June 5, 2015
This book disappointed me - mainly because of the piecemeal and episodic nature of the way the women's experiences were presented. It felt disjointed and in places got slightly confusing (owing to the author's style of presenting the women's recollections, not because it's poorly written). I'd have preferred to read each woman's experiences written as a coherent, chronological whole.
June 12, 2015
I struggled to keep tabs on each girls story. A list/reference at the beginning of the book of each girls name and brief back story would have been useful. I feel I didn't get all I could from the book as I couldn't remember who was who. That said it is an interesting read- I gave up trying to remember who was who and just read their stories.
July 1, 2018
This is not an introduction to what went on at Bletchley Park - for that you should turn to other books (and they are out there, so that is really not a problem). Instead this is an in-depth interview book with 15 women, alive at the time of the book being written, about themselves, BP and how they viewed everything. Not only is this a really nice bunch of colourful women, but it also gives a wider picture - really underscoring how different people perceive the same thing (which includes life at the Park, from those feeling they did something really important, to those who couldn't wait to get away from it all).
May 27, 2021
I had read a similar book not too long ago about the American side of this topic, Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II. In a way, as you might expect, this book (about the British women who were so crucial towards breaking the enemy codes in WW2) was rather similar. The authors of both books had managed to find relatively few survivors of those code-breaking activities. The oaths of secrecy that they all took were taken very seriously, and it was only after many decades that, finally, some of the facts came out. The women found by each author were in their nineties, but seemingly quite sound in mind and memories.
I said in my review of the Code Girls book that "One of the things that came through in this book was the amazing amount of misogyny, and paternalistic and condescending attitudes that the women were faced with." I would venture to say that this book (the British one) showed that to an even greater extent, with an additional strong layer of class consciousness -- something that, to my chagrin, still exists today, and IMHO is the cause of sad diminishment of British values (Brexit being a clear example, although class is only one aspect of that).
Another observation from my Code Girls review: "The book does a really good job of conveying how many, many women were engaged in these activities, in selfless fashion, and were true to their oaths of silence for so very long -- some even unto their deaths -- while their families knew nothing about their WW2 activities." True, too, of this book.
What was sad about the British situation, perhaps more than the US case, was the fact that not only did these women not get the credit that they deserved, but, once turned back to civilian life, how little use could they make of their obvious skills. Of course, they were not allowed to talk about what they did during the war, so any added skills they had would not be taken into account, and they would often have to go back to the same jobs they held before the war. A pure waste of their talents.
Like the Code Girls book, this book flagged a bit in the middle. There is only so much interest you can raise from many, many descriptions of what each of the women did, and their recollections, while varied, were not all that fascinating. But, as with the US book, this one picked up a bit once it moved into the phase where it became clear to the women that they were winning the war (although they were not informed of how important their contributions were). The Bletchley work was considered an 'Ultra' secret -- a security classification that did not exist before. This was, of course, necessary so that the enemy could not get any wind of how their codes were being broken. Any hint that this was happening would, of course, result in the enemy making their codes even more difficult to break. Ultra was the designation for all the code-breaking efforts during the war, and encompassed more than just the famous breaking of the Enigma code. They even invented a fake spy, Boniface. In order to ensure that the successful code-breaking did not become apparent to the enemy, British intelligence created a fictional MI6 master spy, Boniface, who controlled a fictional series of agents throughout Germany. Apparently, it worked. The successful keeping of the Ultra Secret was an amazing achievement.
I recommend this book. However, be aware that it takes some patience to get through it (as was also true of Code Girls).
I said in my review of the Code Girls book that "One of the things that came through in this book was the amazing amount of misogyny, and paternalistic and condescending attitudes that the women were faced with." I would venture to say that this book (the British one) showed that to an even greater extent, with an additional strong layer of class consciousness -- something that, to my chagrin, still exists today, and IMHO is the cause of sad diminishment of British values (Brexit being a clear example, although class is only one aspect of that).
Another observation from my Code Girls review: "The book does a really good job of conveying how many, many women were engaged in these activities, in selfless fashion, and were true to their oaths of silence for so very long -- some even unto their deaths -- while their families knew nothing about their WW2 activities." True, too, of this book.
What was sad about the British situation, perhaps more than the US case, was the fact that not only did these women not get the credit that they deserved, but, once turned back to civilian life, how little use could they make of their obvious skills. Of course, they were not allowed to talk about what they did during the war, so any added skills they had would not be taken into account, and they would often have to go back to the same jobs they held before the war. A pure waste of their talents.
Like the Code Girls book, this book flagged a bit in the middle. There is only so much interest you can raise from many, many descriptions of what each of the women did, and their recollections, while varied, were not all that fascinating. But, as with the US book, this one picked up a bit once it moved into the phase where it became clear to the women that they were winning the war (although they were not informed of how important their contributions were). The Bletchley work was considered an 'Ultra' secret -- a security classification that did not exist before. This was, of course, necessary so that the enemy could not get any wind of how their codes were being broken. Any hint that this was happening would, of course, result in the enemy making their codes even more difficult to break. Ultra was the designation for all the code-breaking efforts during the war, and encompassed more than just the famous breaking of the Enigma code. They even invented a fake spy, Boniface. In order to ensure that the successful code-breaking did not become apparent to the enemy, British intelligence created a fictional MI6 master spy, Boniface, who controlled a fictional series of agents throughout Germany. Apparently, it worked. The successful keeping of the Ultra Secret was an amazing achievement.
I recommend this book. However, be aware that it takes some patience to get through it (as was also true of Code Girls).
March 10, 2016
Not the best place to start reading about Blechley Park and the Enigma code-breakers. However, The Blechley Girls fills in af ew gaps and may serve future generations as a slice of social history. But many readers may find its structure irritating.
Tessa Dunlop has tracked down fifteen representative women who worked at BP or one of its satellites, all now in their late eighties or nineties. Her technique then, it appears, was to conduct a long interview with each one covering the same areas. The results are then chopped up and stitched together by subject matter, e.g. Education, Arrival at BP, Living accommodation, Off duty, etc.
This makes for much repetition. Each time we re-encounter Pam we have to e reminded that she is the former actress, that Lady Jean is heir to a castle on Arran, and so on. Each individual's contribution is rarely more than a brief anecdote with a direct quote or two. The surrounding narrative veers between social analysis and banal cliche (there are "silver linings," people "coming down to earth with a bump" and more.)
As the book moves though the years, the author finds it necessary to set the historical background. Thus we have several BP girls recalling Chamberlain announcing the outbreak of war. The progress of the war itself has to be sketched in but, inevitably, superficially.
An underlying feminist standpoint surfaces from time to time, but sits awkwardly with the repeated emphasis on how flattering the Wrens uniform was, and by the post war rush to find a husband. The romantic element - the love interest, as perhaps we should call it, verges on Mills and Boon.
None of this is helped in the audio version by a reader whose delivery is frankly bizarre with arbitrary inflections and individual words .separated ... by ...meaningless...pauses.
Tessa Dunlop has tracked down fifteen representative women who worked at BP or one of its satellites, all now in their late eighties or nineties. Her technique then, it appears, was to conduct a long interview with each one covering the same areas. The results are then chopped up and stitched together by subject matter, e.g. Education, Arrival at BP, Living accommodation, Off duty, etc.
This makes for much repetition. Each time we re-encounter Pam we have to e reminded that she is the former actress, that Lady Jean is heir to a castle on Arran, and so on. Each individual's contribution is rarely more than a brief anecdote with a direct quote or two. The surrounding narrative veers between social analysis and banal cliche (there are "silver linings," people "coming down to earth with a bump" and more.)
As the book moves though the years, the author finds it necessary to set the historical background. Thus we have several BP girls recalling Chamberlain announcing the outbreak of war. The progress of the war itself has to be sketched in but, inevitably, superficially.
An underlying feminist standpoint surfaces from time to time, but sits awkwardly with the repeated emphasis on how flattering the Wrens uniform was, and by the post war rush to find a husband. The romantic element - the love interest, as perhaps we should call it, verges on Mills and Boon.
None of this is helped in the audio version by a reader whose delivery is frankly bizarre with arbitrary inflections and individual words .separated ... by ...meaningless...pauses.
January 2, 2024
During World War Two, many young women were employed at Bletchley Park doing top secret work involving the interception and decoding of messages sent by the Axis powers. The intelligence obtained through the code-breaking enabled the Allies to pre-empt many of the Axis plans and is said to have shortened the war by between two and four years. All the women employed there had to sign the Official Secrets Act, even though often the work that individual women performed was mundane, even tedious and boring, and few were aware of what the ultimate aim of their work was.
In this book, the author has tracked down and interviewed sixteen surviving women who performed various roles at Bletchley Park and in supporting locations, such as at listening posts. Here, she presents the recollections of these women - their background and education, how they came to be at Bletchley Park, their recollections of their time there and at leisure and what happened to them after the war ended.
The topic of the book was very interesting to me but sadly I was not very enamoured of the writing style or the way the author jumped from one character to another to another, with the result that I was totally confused as to who was who. This was a shame really - a section or chapter on each woman may have been better and easier to comprehend. Still gave it 3 stars for the interesting topic - 6.5/10.
In this book, the author has tracked down and interviewed sixteen surviving women who performed various roles at Bletchley Park and in supporting locations, such as at listening posts. Here, she presents the recollections of these women - their background and education, how they came to be at Bletchley Park, their recollections of their time there and at leisure and what happened to them after the war ended.
The topic of the book was very interesting to me but sadly I was not very enamoured of the writing style or the way the author jumped from one character to another to another, with the result that I was totally confused as to who was who. This was a shame really - a section or chapter on each woman may have been better and easier to comprehend. Still gave it 3 stars for the interesting topic - 6.5/10.
March 15, 2022
Tessa Dunlop has interviewed 15 women about their service as part of the Intelligence Service at, or connected to Bletchley Park. It traces the women's background, education, recruitment, work, social life up to the end of the war and the public awareness of this aspect of the war effort post 1970s. This group of intelligent, lively women is interesting as they were keenly aware of different treatment based on their youth and sex and how, being a product of their class and time affected their experiences. Highly recommended for the first hand accounts of these women's experience. However the weaving together of different voices during the course of the war does not make this a quick read.
May 7, 2023
A nice light introduction to war time Britain from the experiences of a handful of ladies who worked at Bletchley Park. Disjointed in parts.
September 29, 2019
This is an excellent corrective to The Bletchley Circle and other fictional versions of events in that very secretive location. The most surprising thing to me was that the young women working there were not chosen for their circuitous minds or high intellect or good education but for their reliability and trustworthiness. Coming from "the right circles" helped and having military officers in one's family certainly didn't hurt but basically the question was whether you could do a routine job reliably and keep your mouth shut.
Of the fifteen women interviewed for the book only one, Ann, had any idea what it was they were doing and she was the one with the math degree and the closest to the heart of the operation. The others were doing a variety of things: translating from Italian, German, or French into English, taking down morse code messages at listening stations, processing elements of coded messages, carrying documents from one place to another, running one or another of the gigantic machines that did a lot of the processing, and a few other things which I didn't really understand. This is clerk type work and they appear to have been classified and paid as clerks. It was what appeared on their job recommendations, too, when they left the Service.
The difference between them and ordinary clerks was that they signed the Official Secrets Act and had it drummed into their heads that to mention anything at all about what they did was treason and (as one officer said with a gun on his desk) the punishment for treason isn't absolutely clear at this point, but you wouldn't have long to think about it. As far as I can tell, no one told anyone anything at all until a book came out in the early 1970s and the Bletchley girls interviewed here were shocked that anything could be said - thirty years on. Perhaps it was easier for the women to keep the secret because the public didn't think of what they were doing as important, even if they had said something to a parent, say. These were teenagers mostly and who is going to entrust giddy girls with anything important? The best rationale came from one of the interviews. She said that they were fed, clothed, housed, and not in the firing line as opposed to their brothers so why would anyone care what they were doing? The Germans, Italians, and Japanese would have cared, of course, which is why they had to be silent. After the war, when the USSR gained strength the silence retained its importance.
Fascinating.
Of the fifteen women interviewed for the book only one, Ann, had any idea what it was they were doing and she was the one with the math degree and the closest to the heart of the operation. The others were doing a variety of things: translating from Italian, German, or French into English, taking down morse code messages at listening stations, processing elements of coded messages, carrying documents from one place to another, running one or another of the gigantic machines that did a lot of the processing, and a few other things which I didn't really understand. This is clerk type work and they appear to have been classified and paid as clerks. It was what appeared on their job recommendations, too, when they left the Service.
The difference between them and ordinary clerks was that they signed the Official Secrets Act and had it drummed into their heads that to mention anything at all about what they did was treason and (as one officer said with a gun on his desk) the punishment for treason isn't absolutely clear at this point, but you wouldn't have long to think about it. As far as I can tell, no one told anyone anything at all until a book came out in the early 1970s and the Bletchley girls interviewed here were shocked that anything could be said - thirty years on. Perhaps it was easier for the women to keep the secret because the public didn't think of what they were doing as important, even if they had said something to a parent, say. These were teenagers mostly and who is going to entrust giddy girls with anything important? The best rationale came from one of the interviews. She said that they were fed, clothed, housed, and not in the firing line as opposed to their brothers so why would anyone care what they were doing? The Germans, Italians, and Japanese would have cared, of course, which is why they had to be silent. After the war, when the USSR gained strength the silence retained its importance.
Fascinating.
March 22, 2018
Thanks to my brother for this one. Another book covering the remarkable story of Bletchley Park, a story that remained withheld from the public for three decades following the end of the 2nd World War. Station X as it was known was home for the duration of the war to thousands of personnel working on decoding Enigma signals from the Germans. By 1944 women outnumbered men at Bletchley three to one. These are the girls who helped outsmart the enemy within the confines of a Buckinghamshire estate. Everyone working here had to sign the Official Secrets Act.
In order to make this book different from other accounts of BP, Tessa Dunlop interviewed fifteen nonagenarians, still alive when the book was published in 2015. This results in a very personal approach. Talking to these ladies gives her book an immediacy and intimacy, hearing the details of these elite veterans in their own voices. The book is full of anecdotes describing the hardships and heartaches of wartime work, much of which was humdrum and monotonous. Most of the 'romantic' cryptanalysts were men. The women were mostly involved with data entry and listening in to morse-code traffic.
This is an engaging work; my only criticism is the way the narrative jumps about from one woman to another making it difficult to keep track of who is who. Beyond that though there is much to enjoy here as the women of Bletchley Park tell their own story. Well worth a read for anyone interested in this period of history. These dedicated people no doubt helped to shorten the war, some say by as much as two years.
In order to make this book different from other accounts of BP, Tessa Dunlop interviewed fifteen nonagenarians, still alive when the book was published in 2015. This results in a very personal approach. Talking to these ladies gives her book an immediacy and intimacy, hearing the details of these elite veterans in their own voices. The book is full of anecdotes describing the hardships and heartaches of wartime work, much of which was humdrum and monotonous. Most of the 'romantic' cryptanalysts were men. The women were mostly involved with data entry and listening in to morse-code traffic.
This is an engaging work; my only criticism is the way the narrative jumps about from one woman to another making it difficult to keep track of who is who. Beyond that though there is much to enjoy here as the women of Bletchley Park tell their own story. Well worth a read for anyone interested in this period of history. These dedicated people no doubt helped to shorten the war, some say by as much as two years.
July 7, 2015
Like others who have written reviews on this book, I found the individual stories hard to remember and follow at times. A brief biography of each Bletchley Girl would have helped to keep the reader on track and more engaged.
Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a highly readable social history of a specific period of the war as experienced by the 'other' side aka the women's war. I read a lot about this period of history and I found lots of new info about Bletchley Park and the daily lives of the women drawn into its orbit. If you are looking for a book with more technical detail about the machines, coding process etc then look elsewhere.
Lastly, as a modern woman, and a feminist to boot, I found the post war chapters somewhat anticlimactic and vaguely disappointing. For example, Pamela never resumed her acting career and Ann let go of her dream of a career. Different time with different attitudes is how I had to overcome that feeling!
Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a highly readable social history of a specific period of the war as experienced by the 'other' side aka the women's war. I read a lot about this period of history and I found lots of new info about Bletchley Park and the daily lives of the women drawn into its orbit. If you are looking for a book with more technical detail about the machines, coding process etc then look elsewhere.
Lastly, as a modern woman, and a feminist to boot, I found the post war chapters somewhat anticlimactic and vaguely disappointing. For example, Pamela never resumed her acting career and Ann let go of her dream of a career. Different time with different attitudes is how I had to overcome that feeling!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2015
Really interesting but would have made a better documentary than book. I found it virtually impossible to keep up with all the characters & therefore was unable to invest in them. An excell spreadsheet might have assisted
April 8, 2018
It was not easy to keep track of the different women, but provided a useful background to the role of women during and shortly after WWII.
June 10, 2018
Bletchley Park's role during the second world war has been well documented in recent years. This once highly secret hub of the Allies' intelligence gathering activities has been the subject of numerous books, films and TV programmes, But it is fair to say that by and large, the central characters in these tales have been the big hitters such as Alan Turing whose genius paved the way for the computer revolution.
This book is a little different. IN The Bletchley Girls, journalist Tessa Dunlop looks not at the code breakers themselves - although they do get a mention - but instead focuses on some of the girls who found themselves, for one reason or another, essential components in the Park's code-breaking activities.
Talking candidly about their experiences both before and during the war, the fifteen women whose tales are told here give very different accounts of Bletchley and their roles there. For some, it was an exciting adventure, their first time away from home. For others, it was something a little less glamorous, a period that had to be endured rather than enjoyed. But for all of them it was a time that helped to shape them and whether their memories are fond or otherwise, they can at least be assured that the work that they did at Bletchley Park really did matter, even if they could not see this at the time.
The work at Bletchley Park was intensely secretive and compartmentalised. Staff were forbidden to speak to anyone, including those who worked in other sections (or huts) about the work they did. And whilst all were aware that what they were doing was vital to the war effort, for most it was tedious and repetitive, with no idea of how their labours contributed to anything else. Some of these lively and interesting nonagenarians have never spoken to anyone about their experiences. The need for secrecy was made only too clear to all of the Park's staff and the consequences for breaching it very severe.
The Bletchley Girls shows a very different side of life, not only for those women working for Bletchley but for women in general. There is no agenda to the telling of these stories but focusing as it does on the role played by these amazing women, it does highlight the prejudice and condescending attitude they all faced from the male establishment.
Tessa Dunlop has captured the highs and lows of these young girls who were, until recently, the often overlooked but essential part of the system that broke the enemy codes. Her book paints a warts-and-all picture of life, not only at the Park itself but also at its outlying stations and offices throughout the UK. The stories put a human face on the most secret of British establishments. Her easy style is well-suited to the subject and she manages to get the best out of her sometimes reluctant interviewees.
The conversational style of the book makes it very easy to read and the open and honest observation of the "girls" themselves a real eye-opener.
This book is a little different. IN The Bletchley Girls, journalist Tessa Dunlop looks not at the code breakers themselves - although they do get a mention - but instead focuses on some of the girls who found themselves, for one reason or another, essential components in the Park's code-breaking activities.
Talking candidly about their experiences both before and during the war, the fifteen women whose tales are told here give very different accounts of Bletchley and their roles there. For some, it was an exciting adventure, their first time away from home. For others, it was something a little less glamorous, a period that had to be endured rather than enjoyed. But for all of them it was a time that helped to shape them and whether their memories are fond or otherwise, they can at least be assured that the work that they did at Bletchley Park really did matter, even if they could not see this at the time.
The work at Bletchley Park was intensely secretive and compartmentalised. Staff were forbidden to speak to anyone, including those who worked in other sections (or huts) about the work they did. And whilst all were aware that what they were doing was vital to the war effort, for most it was tedious and repetitive, with no idea of how their labours contributed to anything else. Some of these lively and interesting nonagenarians have never spoken to anyone about their experiences. The need for secrecy was made only too clear to all of the Park's staff and the consequences for breaching it very severe.
The Bletchley Girls shows a very different side of life, not only for those women working for Bletchley but for women in general. There is no agenda to the telling of these stories but focusing as it does on the role played by these amazing women, it does highlight the prejudice and condescending attitude they all faced from the male establishment.
Tessa Dunlop has captured the highs and lows of these young girls who were, until recently, the often overlooked but essential part of the system that broke the enemy codes. Her book paints a warts-and-all picture of life, not only at the Park itself but also at its outlying stations and offices throughout the UK. The stories put a human face on the most secret of British establishments. Her easy style is well-suited to the subject and she manages to get the best out of her sometimes reluctant interviewees.
The conversational style of the book makes it very easy to read and the open and honest observation of the "girls" themselves a real eye-opener.
December 14, 2022
Bit of a disappointment. It was interesting enough, but (as others have said) there were just too many women to follow and I was never able to keep any of them straight or get to "know" them. Grouping it all by topic probably made the most sense (rather than having to rehash the entire war 15 times) but it just didn't give me the connections I was looking for. Maybe a section at the beginning or end with a brief synopsis of each of their lives/service might have helped. Still worth a read if you're interested in the Bletchley story.
October 13, 2018
Enjoyed it
Fifteen women sent to work during ww2 at Bletchley park(station X). Tell their stories all now in late eighties and nineties and all have accounts of what it was like to tell the author. I visited Bletchley park this year for the first time it was so interesting that I looked forward to reading and finding out more. Some good accounts but found I was flicking pages but overall not a bad read
Fifteen women sent to work during ww2 at Bletchley park(station X). Tell their stories all now in late eighties and nineties and all have accounts of what it was like to tell the author. I visited Bletchley park this year for the first time it was so interesting that I looked forward to reading and finding out more. Some good accounts but found I was flicking pages but overall not a bad read
Read
June 2, 2020Fascinating insight into Bletchley Park- the less glamorous side not seen in the films. i particularly liked the class critique and the individual women's complete stories including more recent times. Good oral history.
April 29, 2022
This is full of fantastic and real insight into the various working lives of women in the Bletchley Park network. What was particularly fascinating was the shroud of secrecy regardless of their rank or role, and how none of them said anything about their wartime work until the 1970s! Something that is hard to imagine is n today's information and social media age. We owe a lot to these women so it's important that they are immortalised in this book.
April 14, 2025
A must read after visiting Bletchley Park !
September 9, 2017
While the London Blitz was raining destruction down upon her majesty’s city, amazing events were occurring at a place called Bletchley Park just a short distance away. Author Tessa Dunlop’s non-fiction retelling of the World War II code-breakers comes alive as she unravels the lives of eleven women all involved in various top-secret acts of derring-do.
Her story uncovers many covert operations that many young British ladies were eager to assist with as they joined the WRENS (Women’s Royal Navy Service), and worked together as Code-Breakers, Message handlers, radio listener mechanics, visual signalers and directionalists. Whether they had headphones strapped to their heads round the clock to listen for German voices, sat for hours on end at typex machines typing in coded messages, or were involved with the infamous Colossus and Bombe decoder computers, these hearty and determined girls who were bound to secrecy, were completely dedicated to work for King and Country to help aid and shorten the war that was taking Europe by storm. These women loved what they did, they did not think for a moment of breaking their signed contracts of the Official Secrecy Act knowing that to do so would be deemed and act of treason punishable by imprisonment or death.
Amazingly their stories show great comradery during times of duress and years of boring monotonous work environments. They bravely performed their duty, but had fun doing it making sure they had outside fun to lighten up the truth that there was a bloody war on and people were killed by the thousands every day. You will meet many famous military heroes in this wonderful tale, as well as famous British politicians and upper crust society celebrities of the era. This was the crucial time when the war had to be won soon before more lives were lost. Hero of the war Alan Turing with his famous Enigma code-breaking computer that turned the tide of the war, also takes a heroic part in the The Blechley Girls’s story.
Although in my opinion the author switches ladies to rapidly within the story often confusing the reader who she was talking about, I have to admit by the time I finished the book I understood and appreciated her method and why she chose to unfold the story in the manner that she did. My initial take half way through was that there was too much background information on the women before getting to the core story of their work at Bletchley Park. But, within the second half where you learn just how their work impacted their lives after the war was over, gave me a better sense of the totality of their lives before, during, and after the war. A little bit of editing to the book could have made this a five star review but as it is I give it four stars for an important piece of wartime history well told.
Her story uncovers many covert operations that many young British ladies were eager to assist with as they joined the WRENS (Women’s Royal Navy Service), and worked together as Code-Breakers, Message handlers, radio listener mechanics, visual signalers and directionalists. Whether they had headphones strapped to their heads round the clock to listen for German voices, sat for hours on end at typex machines typing in coded messages, or were involved with the infamous Colossus and Bombe decoder computers, these hearty and determined girls who were bound to secrecy, were completely dedicated to work for King and Country to help aid and shorten the war that was taking Europe by storm. These women loved what they did, they did not think for a moment of breaking their signed contracts of the Official Secrecy Act knowing that to do so would be deemed and act of treason punishable by imprisonment or death.
Amazingly their stories show great comradery during times of duress and years of boring monotonous work environments. They bravely performed their duty, but had fun doing it making sure they had outside fun to lighten up the truth that there was a bloody war on and people were killed by the thousands every day. You will meet many famous military heroes in this wonderful tale, as well as famous British politicians and upper crust society celebrities of the era. This was the crucial time when the war had to be won soon before more lives were lost. Hero of the war Alan Turing with his famous Enigma code-breaking computer that turned the tide of the war, also takes a heroic part in the The Blechley Girls’s story.
Although in my opinion the author switches ladies to rapidly within the story often confusing the reader who she was talking about, I have to admit by the time I finished the book I understood and appreciated her method and why she chose to unfold the story in the manner that she did. My initial take half way through was that there was too much background information on the women before getting to the core story of their work at Bletchley Park. But, within the second half where you learn just how their work impacted their lives after the war was over, gave me a better sense of the totality of their lives before, during, and after the war. A little bit of editing to the book could have made this a five star review but as it is I give it four stars for an important piece of wartime history well told.
April 3, 2025
Tessa Dunlop tells the story of Bletchley Park through the memories of fifteen women who worked there during the war and who at the time of writing this book were still alive. They came from various places and backgrounds, and their experiences were widely different. Some of them loved working at Bletchley, some found it dull, one at least really hated it. All their stories are interesting and they all have their own points of view. The girls were often astonished by the eccentric and brilliant codebreakers they worked with, for instance one girl describes Josh Cooper ‘He would go down to the lake with a cup of tea, deep in thought with the codes, and at the end would throw the cup into the lake. Yes, I actually saw him do that. He had a photographic mind.’ There were varying opinions on the facilities, and the food, when one girl complained because she had found two cockroaches in her stew the catering manager was unmoved ‘well, it’s protein isn’t it?’ Some of the girls in the book were not working at Bletchley Park itself but at Station Y, listening for the coded messages to pass on to Bletchley, but all their stories are interesting.
As some other reviewers have suggested, it would have been helpful to have a list of the characters, who they were, where they came form etc,to refer back to, I kept forgetting who was who.
As some other reviewers have suggested, it would have been helpful to have a list of the characters, who they were, where they came form etc,to refer back to, I kept forgetting who was who.
August 9, 2022
I read this on Kindle, found it fascinating so have just bought the paperback as I know I will want to refer back to it. I can see how it was great inspiration for The Rose Code
I loved reading about the ATS girls, more than the WAAFS and WRNS - my mum was in the ATS (she didn't work at Bletchley) and I wish I had asked her more about what she did. I will be reading Army Girls: The Secrets and Stories of Military Service from the Final Few Women Who Fought in World War II, also by Tessa Dunlop soon.
I loved reading about the ATS girls, more than the WAAFS and WRNS - my mum was in the ATS (she didn't work at Bletchley) and I wish I had asked her more about what she did. I will be reading Army Girls: The Secrets and Stories of Military Service from the Final Few Women Who Fought in World War II, also by Tessa Dunlop soon.
January 28, 2018
Once I got used to the fact that I was reading historical documented research about Bletchley Park (very well done) based on extensive interviews the writing became a narrative about a place in time that I could more easily follow. Having so many subjects (15 women I think) caused me to be totally mixed up in the beginning since they were all introduced immediately. The writing jumped around from one woman to the other and it was frustrating for me as a reader. It was helpful to discover that knowing each woman as you would a character in historical memoir or fiction wasn't that important. It was the themes in chapters; how the BP women in study felt they were treated, the negative and positive aspects of work, the social life etc....I expected something like London's Darkest Hour which I absolutely loved and this wasn't it.
February 24, 2015
The collective biography of a dozen women who worked at Bletchley Park and are now very elderly. A great mix of social and war history alongside the lives of these women. A really enjoyable read.
January 30, 2020
I gobbled it up.
The author interviewed 15 surviving women (2014) of the thousands who were in some way connected to the code breaking processes going on at Bletchley Park and its outstations. Some helped figure out what the likely words would be that would help the "bombes" unscramble the Enigma codes the German machine changed each day. Some minded and fed the "bombes" with the "menu" figured out of letters from the before mentioned team - a tedious task of making sure the many little pins were straightened and the paper belts of the "menu" were fed correctly. Some fed and cared for the Colossus computers. Some were at listening posts in various parts of the country, picking up the German wireless traffic - sometimes it was so faint to hear through the static - and sending it in haste to Bletchley Park. Some kept up the card indexes of even trivial bits of information gleaned from the intercepted and decoded / deciphered traffic.
The ages of the fifteen women now in their nineties were between 14 and 24. These were the youngest Bletchley girls. The older ones - the cryptographers and other women of note that you can read about elsewhere - had died. They ranged in status from the daughter of a Scottish Duke to a girl who worked in a shoe factory and had to turn down a scholarship to a girls' school because her mother could not afford the uniform. Some were civilians. Most were WRNS or Women's Auxilliary Air Force. Two were ATS (Auxiliary Transport Service - the Army service) A few were the daughters of servicemen - two fathers were highly placed in Naval and Air Force intelligence. I think four or five of the fifteen were British Jews, two of whom grew up in Belgium.
I could not figure out how they did what they did at Bletchley Park. I don't think that was important to the author. What seemed to be important was how they coped with their jobs. Some hated their work. It was repetitious, boring and involved hours of standing. Others liked it, possibly because they knew the bombes and Colossus machines were new inventions and, operating them, they were pioneers. They had a small part in history all their own. The girl from the shoe factory was one of the Station Y girls who listened for German messages. She didn't understand them. No one did until they were decoded. But she said with truth that she and her mates were vital. Without their intercepts, there would be no messages to crack open. Because she had signed the Official Secrets Act, she could tell no one - not her mother, and later not her husband and children - what part she had in winning the war. But she knew inside she was no longer a nothing, and that warmed her self-respect.
Although I loved reading the book, I had a headache keeping track of all the people. The book really needs a "cast list" after the table of contents, stating name, class and level of education or job before enlisted into Bletchley Park, rank and service arm if in the military, job in BP or in a satellite of BP.
The author interviewed 15 surviving women (2014) of the thousands who were in some way connected to the code breaking processes going on at Bletchley Park and its outstations. Some helped figure out what the likely words would be that would help the "bombes" unscramble the Enigma codes the German machine changed each day. Some minded and fed the "bombes" with the "menu" figured out of letters from the before mentioned team - a tedious task of making sure the many little pins were straightened and the paper belts of the "menu" were fed correctly. Some fed and cared for the Colossus computers. Some were at listening posts in various parts of the country, picking up the German wireless traffic - sometimes it was so faint to hear through the static - and sending it in haste to Bletchley Park. Some kept up the card indexes of even trivial bits of information gleaned from the intercepted and decoded / deciphered traffic.
The ages of the fifteen women now in their nineties were between 14 and 24. These were the youngest Bletchley girls. The older ones - the cryptographers and other women of note that you can read about elsewhere - had died. They ranged in status from the daughter of a Scottish Duke to a girl who worked in a shoe factory and had to turn down a scholarship to a girls' school because her mother could not afford the uniform. Some were civilians. Most were WRNS or Women's Auxilliary Air Force. Two were ATS (Auxiliary Transport Service - the Army service) A few were the daughters of servicemen - two fathers were highly placed in Naval and Air Force intelligence. I think four or five of the fifteen were British Jews, two of whom grew up in Belgium.
I could not figure out how they did what they did at Bletchley Park. I don't think that was important to the author. What seemed to be important was how they coped with their jobs. Some hated their work. It was repetitious, boring and involved hours of standing. Others liked it, possibly because they knew the bombes and Colossus machines were new inventions and, operating them, they were pioneers. They had a small part in history all their own. The girl from the shoe factory was one of the Station Y girls who listened for German messages. She didn't understand them. No one did until they were decoded. But she said with truth that she and her mates were vital. Without their intercepts, there would be no messages to crack open. Because she had signed the Official Secrets Act, she could tell no one - not her mother, and later not her husband and children - what part she had in winning the war. But she knew inside she was no longer a nothing, and that warmed her self-respect.
Although I loved reading the book, I had a headache keeping track of all the people. The book really needs a "cast list" after the table of contents, stating name, class and level of education or job before enlisted into Bletchley Park, rank and service arm if in the military, job in BP or in a satellite of BP.
July 30, 2021
This is described as follows:-
"The Bletchley Girls weaves together the lives of fifteen women who were all selected to work in Britain's most secret organisation - Bletchley Park. It is their story, told in their voices; Tessa met and talked to 15 veterans, often visiting them several times. Firm friendships were made as their epic journey unfolded on paper.
The scale of female involvement in Britain during the Second World War wasn't matched in any other country. From 8 million working women just over 7000 were hand-picked to work at Bletchley Park and its outstations. There had always been girls at the Park but soon they outnumbered the men three to one.
A refugee from Belgium, a Scottish debutante, a Jewish 14-year-old, and a factory worker from Northamptonshire - the Bletchley Girls confound stereotypes. But they all have one common bond, the war and their highly confidential part in it. In the middle of the night, hunched over meaningless pieces of paper, tending mind-blowing machines, sitting listening for hours on end, theirs was invariably confusing, monotonous and meticulous work, about which they could not breathe a word.
By meeting and talking to these fascinating female secret-keepers who are still alive today, Tessa Dunlop captures their extraordinary journeys into an adult world of war, secrecy, love and loss. Through the voices of the women themselves, this is a portrait of life at Bletchley Park beyond the celebrated code-breakers, it's the story of the girls behind Britain's ability to consistently out-smart the enemy, and an insight into the women they have become."
I had read about the role that women had also played at Bletchley in Sinclair McKay's The Secret Life of Bletchley Park but it was interesting to learn more about this cross section of women, from different backgrounds, different ages, the different forces and doing different jobs, all of which were valuable and interdependent.
I was also pleased at the inclusion of two women, Pat Davies (nee Owtram) and Betty who Gilbert (nee Quincy) had worked at Y Service Listening Stations and the importance of the work of these Listening Stations is detailed in McKay's The Secret Listeners. This provides a more complete view of the role that the many girls and women played.
An interesting aspect of the book is how important, or not, that period of their lives was for the different women, in some respects relating to whether they had met their husbands through their time at Bletchley. It's also interesting to ponder on how one as an individual or collectively, present day girls and women would cope under similar circumstances.
This is a good read and companion to Sinclair McKay's The Secret Life of Bletchley Park and The Secret Listeners.
"The Bletchley Girls weaves together the lives of fifteen women who were all selected to work in Britain's most secret organisation - Bletchley Park. It is their story, told in their voices; Tessa met and talked to 15 veterans, often visiting them several times. Firm friendships were made as their epic journey unfolded on paper.
The scale of female involvement in Britain during the Second World War wasn't matched in any other country. From 8 million working women just over 7000 were hand-picked to work at Bletchley Park and its outstations. There had always been girls at the Park but soon they outnumbered the men three to one.
A refugee from Belgium, a Scottish debutante, a Jewish 14-year-old, and a factory worker from Northamptonshire - the Bletchley Girls confound stereotypes. But they all have one common bond, the war and their highly confidential part in it. In the middle of the night, hunched over meaningless pieces of paper, tending mind-blowing machines, sitting listening for hours on end, theirs was invariably confusing, monotonous and meticulous work, about which they could not breathe a word.
By meeting and talking to these fascinating female secret-keepers who are still alive today, Tessa Dunlop captures their extraordinary journeys into an adult world of war, secrecy, love and loss. Through the voices of the women themselves, this is a portrait of life at Bletchley Park beyond the celebrated code-breakers, it's the story of the girls behind Britain's ability to consistently out-smart the enemy, and an insight into the women they have become."
I had read about the role that women had also played at Bletchley in Sinclair McKay's The Secret Life of Bletchley Park but it was interesting to learn more about this cross section of women, from different backgrounds, different ages, the different forces and doing different jobs, all of which were valuable and interdependent.
I was also pleased at the inclusion of two women, Pat Davies (nee Owtram) and Betty who Gilbert (nee Quincy) had worked at Y Service Listening Stations and the importance of the work of these Listening Stations is detailed in McKay's The Secret Listeners. This provides a more complete view of the role that the many girls and women played.
An interesting aspect of the book is how important, or not, that period of their lives was for the different women, in some respects relating to whether they had met their husbands through their time at Bletchley. It's also interesting to ponder on how one as an individual or collectively, present day girls and women would cope under similar circumstances.
This is a good read and companion to Sinclair McKay's The Secret Life of Bletchley Park and The Secret Listeners.
April 1, 2022
Women constituted roughly 75% of the workforce at Bletchley Park.While women were overwhelmingly under-represented in high-level work, such as cryptanalysis, they were employed in large numbers in other important work, such as operating cryptographic machinery and communications machinery; translating of Axis documents; traffic analysis; clerical duties, index card compilers and dispatch riders etc.Women made up the majority of Bletchley Park’s workforce, most enlisted in the Women’s Royal Naval Service,aka the Wrens.
The Wrens performed a vital role operating the computers used for code-breaking, including the Colossus and Bombe machines.Working around the clock in three 8 hr shifts,they were the beating heart of Bletchley Park.
Women were also involved in the construction of the machines,including doing the wiring and soldering to create each Colossus computer.
In 1937, when the tensions in Europe and Asia were becoming apparent, the Chief of MI6, Admiral Hugh Sinclair,ordered GC&CS to begin preparing for a war-footing and to expand its staff numbers, particularly "Boffins"(scientist, engineer, R&D)primarily drawn from Oxford and, in particular, Cambridge universities.However, as the cryptanalytic work became increasingly mechanized, many more staff were needed.Women were first brought into Bletchley Park after being approached at university or because of trusted family connections; debutantes especially were prized, as they were considered the most trustworthy due to their upper class backgrounds.These "debs" performed mostly administrative and clerical work. However,the personnel needs of Bletchley Park continued to grow.The heads of Bletchley Park next looked for women who were linguists, mathematicians, and even crossword experts.The majority of these women came from middle-class backgrounds and some held degrees in mathematics, physics and engineering; they were given entry into STEM programs due to the lack of men, who had been sent to war.6/10 women working in Bletchley Park were serving in the British Armed Forces(ATS,WAAF).Bletchley Park was unusual because the women there worked on demanding intellectual labour.
The Wrens performed a vital role operating the computers used for code-breaking, including the Colossus and Bombe machines.Working around the clock in three 8 hr shifts,they were the beating heart of Bletchley Park.
Women were also involved in the construction of the machines,including doing the wiring and soldering to create each Colossus computer.
In 1937, when the tensions in Europe and Asia were becoming apparent, the Chief of MI6, Admiral Hugh Sinclair,ordered GC&CS to begin preparing for a war-footing and to expand its staff numbers, particularly "Boffins"(scientist, engineer, R&D)primarily drawn from Oxford and, in particular, Cambridge universities.However, as the cryptanalytic work became increasingly mechanized, many more staff were needed.Women were first brought into Bletchley Park after being approached at university or because of trusted family connections; debutantes especially were prized, as they were considered the most trustworthy due to their upper class backgrounds.These "debs" performed mostly administrative and clerical work. However,the personnel needs of Bletchley Park continued to grow.The heads of Bletchley Park next looked for women who were linguists, mathematicians, and even crossword experts.The majority of these women came from middle-class backgrounds and some held degrees in mathematics, physics and engineering; they were given entry into STEM programs due to the lack of men, who had been sent to war.6/10 women working in Bletchley Park were serving in the British Armed Forces(ATS,WAAF).Bletchley Park was unusual because the women there worked on demanding intellectual labour.
December 29, 2018
It’s not possible to read a book like this without being a little awestruck at what ordinary people endured in Britain during WW2. This remarkable history of the unsung women of Bletchley is an eye-opener into working conditions that none of us would tolerate today…
Bletchley Park, immortalised in films such as The Imitation Game and the TV series The Bletchley Circle, was the centre of intelligence gathering in Britain. As the war progressed, Bletchley grew from modest beginnings in 1938 to employing thousands of people engaged in the complex work of decoding enemy transmissions, and was the birthplace of modern computing. Today the site is a heritage tourist attraction but during the war it was top secret and the people who worked there were all bound by the Official Secrets Act.
For the young women recruited into the service—from the ATS, the WRENS, the WAAF and civilian life—their work was a complete mystery. Because it was vital that the Nazis (and later, the Japanese) not know that their transmissions were being intercepted, each cog in the mighty machine did not know what others were doing. The women did not know and they were not allowed to ask. Only the men at the very top of the organisation knew how and why seemingly mundane tasks fed successfully into the massive code-breaking machines which, some say, shortened the war by two-to-four years.
The Bletchley Girls doesn’t tell the stories of the eccentric geniuses who invented the information technology that broke the Enigma and Lorenz Ciphers: Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, Hugh Alexander and Stuart Milner-Barry. Their stories have been told elsewhere. This book tells the story of the thousands of young women on whom the entire enterprise depended. Although it’s true that very few of them were involved in high-level tasks, nevertheless their work was vital, and it required intense concentration, patience, and care.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/12/30/t...
Bletchley Park, immortalised in films such as The Imitation Game and the TV series The Bletchley Circle, was the centre of intelligence gathering in Britain. As the war progressed, Bletchley grew from modest beginnings in 1938 to employing thousands of people engaged in the complex work of decoding enemy transmissions, and was the birthplace of modern computing. Today the site is a heritage tourist attraction but during the war it was top secret and the people who worked there were all bound by the Official Secrets Act.
For the young women recruited into the service—from the ATS, the WRENS, the WAAF and civilian life—their work was a complete mystery. Because it was vital that the Nazis (and later, the Japanese) not know that their transmissions were being intercepted, each cog in the mighty machine did not know what others were doing. The women did not know and they were not allowed to ask. Only the men at the very top of the organisation knew how and why seemingly mundane tasks fed successfully into the massive code-breaking machines which, some say, shortened the war by two-to-four years.
The Bletchley Girls doesn’t tell the stories of the eccentric geniuses who invented the information technology that broke the Enigma and Lorenz Ciphers: Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, Hugh Alexander and Stuart Milner-Barry. Their stories have been told elsewhere. This book tells the story of the thousands of young women on whom the entire enterprise depended. Although it’s true that very few of them were involved in high-level tasks, nevertheless their work was vital, and it required intense concentration, patience, and care.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/12/30/t...
June 20, 2020
For me this was an introduction to Bletchley, so I can't say how much of this was new information, as the author had intended. In fact, I can't really tell you much at all - it was really difficult to keep track of the women in this book, and their stories were not distinctive enough to really be memorable other than as a general group. A list would certainly have helped, or better yet a chronological account of each of their stories, rather than telling it in chapters. I appreciated, though, that not all the accounts were positive.
One interesting point that briefly surfaced and I'd hoped would be explored more was the perception or realisation of the impact of their work:
The realisation that the codes they were cracking were impacting civilians as well as military - it brought home the barbarity of war. Until then, Bletchley seemed quite far-removed.
I found the chapters about the social side of things - where they lived, the day-to-day routine - far more interesting in fact than the code breaking. The chapters discussing their lives after the war didn't interest me so much either.
All in all, though, a disappointing book. Also, calling (young) women 'girls' is a bugbear of mine. I know it's the era, and I know it's commonplace, and I know it emphasises that these were young women, many just out of adolescence - but it also undermines their maturity and intelligence. We owe these women a lot, and yes, they may have been girls in age, but certainly not in mental strength and resiliance.
One interesting point that briefly surfaced and I'd hoped would be explored more was the perception or realisation of the impact of their work:
And then suddenly, towards the end of her story, Rozanne's face crumples; she looks sad, almost scared.It was awful. Terrible to think of all those people being shot down. [...]
The realisation that the codes they were cracking were impacting civilians as well as military - it brought home the barbarity of war. Until then, Bletchley seemed quite far-removed.
I found the chapters about the social side of things - where they lived, the day-to-day routine - far more interesting in fact than the code breaking. The chapters discussing their lives after the war didn't interest me so much either.
All in all, though, a disappointing book. Also, calling (young) women 'girls' is a bugbear of mine. I know it's the era, and I know it's commonplace, and I know it emphasises that these were young women, many just out of adolescence - but it also undermines their maturity and intelligence. We owe these women a lot, and yes, they may have been girls in age, but certainly not in mental strength and resiliance.
January 17, 2022
I received this for Christmas after seeing an interview featuring the author and one of the army girls she has written a book about recently.
I had heard about Bletchley Park but didn't know that much apart from it being crucial to breaking codes in The Second World War and I was intrigued to see read about the crucial part women played in working there.
I enjoyed this book and it really took me back in time. I felt immersed in the era by the end of the book. Dunlop did well to find so many female Bletchley workers who were still alive. I also loved the fact thar they were from different backgrounds and some enjoyed working there more than others. The interviews felt real and genuine as they didn't try to sugar coat their experiences. It was good to see where each of these women came from, the different roles they did during the war and what happened to them when the war was over. The only difficulty I had with this book was getting used to all the different people. Dunlop would cover a main theme in a chapter and flit from each interviewee to another. I don't think she could have structured it any other way but maybe a mini biog of each one at the very beginning might have helped? Once I had read a good 70 pages it didn't bother me anymore.
A very interesting book. As well as Bletchley Park, you learn about the culture before, during and after the war. Particularly how women were perceived and the roles they were meant to do. I loved learning about all the incredible women featured and am glad they are finally recognised for their contribution.
I had heard about Bletchley Park but didn't know that much apart from it being crucial to breaking codes in The Second World War and I was intrigued to see read about the crucial part women played in working there.
I enjoyed this book and it really took me back in time. I felt immersed in the era by the end of the book. Dunlop did well to find so many female Bletchley workers who were still alive. I also loved the fact thar they were from different backgrounds and some enjoyed working there more than others. The interviews felt real and genuine as they didn't try to sugar coat their experiences. It was good to see where each of these women came from, the different roles they did during the war and what happened to them when the war was over. The only difficulty I had with this book was getting used to all the different people. Dunlop would cover a main theme in a chapter and flit from each interviewee to another. I don't think she could have structured it any other way but maybe a mini biog of each one at the very beginning might have helped? Once I had read a good 70 pages it didn't bother me anymore.
A very interesting book. As well as Bletchley Park, you learn about the culture before, during and after the war. Particularly how women were perceived and the roles they were meant to do. I loved learning about all the incredible women featured and am glad they are finally recognised for their contribution.
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