Bletchley Park Tour [docu in full]

Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Codes Centre and the National Museum of Computing.
During World War II, Bletchley Park was the site of the United Kingdom's main decryption establishment, the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), where ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted, most importantly the ciphers generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines.
Bletchley Park tour [ docu in full ]
Your presenter Linden Stead
1. The early days
2. Station X - The First breakthrough
3. Enigma revisited
4. The Bombe machine
5. The Lorenz and Baudot code
6. Breaking Lorenz - The Germans mistake
7. Tunny and Robinson
8. Colossus
9. The final chapter
Link : www.bletchleypark.org.uk/
Link : Linden Stead - #!/stratman1
Link : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletchle...

[@fraser3099]

I would like to thank all those people who have posted such kind comments as far as my video is concerned. I would like to say that this was shot several years ago and, since then, I have moved away to the North of England and have not worked at the Park for some years. Thank you again and, who knows, there may be something here in the north that gets my attention and maybe another video is just waiting to be made!!!

[@richardbooth8443]

Having visited BP about 6 years ago , and having a son who studied at Manchester Uni where so much original work was done on electronic computing, i must say that the BP Museum is part of our National Heritage that MUST be supported to help teach the new generation. For GB to remain in the communication business, we need the enthusiasm and mind-set of people like you!

[@LindenStead1844MbdTuB]

@@foobarmaximus3506 Please see my previous posts concerning your sarcastic, irrelevant and downright ignorant comments!!

[@fraser3099]

I have to say that I never thought that my video would last as long as it did!! Many thanks to all those people who have given such kind comments. During the time when I made this video times have changed; information has changed and details have changed! I no longer work for Bletchley Park but these days I work for TNMoC (The National Museum of Computing) where, on Thursday and Saturday afternoons I am more than happy to take tour groups around TNMoC and explain how BP broke, not only Enigma, but also Lorenz, which was the coding system used by Hitler and the High Command!! This was a system that was infinitely more powerful than Enigma but, thanks to media coverage, films etc etc most of the population have never heard of!! Time will tell!! The full story WILL come out!!

[@budandbean1]

Thank you so much for your part in this wonderful video. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. I worked at the NSA starting in the early 80’s and thought I knew a lot of the information you provided but I was really mistaken. I hope I can get to visit Bletchley Park some day, it has always been a dream of mine and now with so many renovations, you have really made me want to visit. Thank you again, this was so nice. Regards, WT Martin

[@seekter-kafa]

great video, i thoroughly enjoyed it during my morning coffee

[@jghco3197]

Bravo.

[@Willam_J]

This was one of the best explanations, of the Enigma, ever. As an electronics engineer, the Enigma has always fascinated me. It has always been a dream of mine to operate/analyze one or, if I dare to dream high enough, to own one. Thank you for such a fine documentary!!!

[@robertstewart2828]

Linden, thank you so much for this wonderful documentary.:a story that so richly deserves to be told and never forgotten. May god bless all of those fiercely dedicated Bletchley Park code breakers who very likely made my life possible.

[@miak4472]

it’s 2020 my teacher asked us to watch this, we really need to thank these people more-

[@LindenStead1844MbdTuB]

Many thanks for posting that. We all need to thank the codebreakers for what they did!!

[@miak4472]

Linden Stead 😊

[@rachaelbritz344]

Agree, think the movie imitation game should be mandatory

[@craigduncan4826]

Great to hear from a young student. We all as a society do owe a debt to these people. And don’t let the history books describing buggering or other immoral acts by anyone involved cloud your opinion. That is plain wrong - they all were hero’s and it makes me proud to know young brits today can appreciate that.

[@jjock3239]

Eight years ago, my son and I did the Bletchley Park tour, with this gentleman as the guide. We were totally captivated by the tour, and I have watched this video several times over the years since then. I am still totally impressed by the German machines, and more importantly, the people who were able to figure out the inner workings of the machines (recognizing the work that was done by the Poles on Enigma), and Lorrenze, so that the machines could be built to reliably mechanically decrypt the code and reveal the messages. A phenomenal achievment that impresses me to this day.

[@irrigationjoehenggeler2863]

Undoubtedly, the B-E-S-T, comprehensive explanation of the various code-breaking efforts done at BP, especially, on the development of the machines used in the process! Well done.

[@alexandermenzies9954]

It is a sound attempt but the intervening years have seen some excellent videos about BP. Unfortunately, some guides thought they were humourists but were sad embarrassments.

[@fraser3099]

I would like to thank all you very kind people who have made such encouraging comments on the video that I made. I realise it wasn't up to professional standards but, there again, I'm not a professional vedeographer and I didn't have access to professional equipment but I did the best I could with amateur kit that I had available! If you want to visit Bletchley Park, and particularly learn how we broke the Lorenz code, I now work in the National Museum of Computing (TNMoC) every Saturday afternoon so please come and see us and take the tour; I would love to meet all of you who are interested in this side of "the business" and who really appreciate that Enigma was not the be all and end all of the computer breaking that we did here at the Park during the war!! Enigma was the day-to-day running of the German military; Lorenz was the machine that Hitler and the High Command used and this was Strategy and Battle Planning - a whole world away from day to day stuff!!!

[@patrickdarcy3863]

Who the people that built the bombe ie the toolmakers/machinists

[@fraser3099]

@@patrickdarcy3863 The Bombe machines were built at the British Tabulating Machine company in Letchworth, Hertfordshire in the UK, and under the direction of Harold Keen, or "Doc" Keen as he was known as he had a habit of carrying his paperwork around in what looked like a doctors bag. The original design of the Bombe was done by Alan Turing but the machine never worked well until Gordon Welchman made some important modifications to the electrical system after which it worked very well!

[@patrickdarcy3863]

@@fraser3099 Rubbish, Gordon Welchman only could de code the repeats. Turing did the Bombe and Gordon Welchman was left behind as history states.

[@LindenStead1844MbdTuB]

@@patrickdarcy3863 Where did you get that erroneous information from?? The Bombe machine did NOT work as predicted until Gordon Welchman redesigned the electrical circuits into what became known as the " Diagonal Board". After this modification the Bombe machine worked as it was originally designed to work and was producing results in a few hours as opposed to the two to three days that it was taking before he redesigned the electronics - get your facts right!!! I used to work at the Park so I have this information to hand!!

[@simpsonhenry7289]

We owe so much to those people.

[@jsmithmultimediatech]

Likely can't repay that debt either, amazing man I see Turing as a personal hero of mine, bless him :)

[@christophermorris7742]

13:45 'contrary to popular belief i wasn't around in those days' - I love it when a presenter shows their funny and human side. Turin is amazing, the whole story behind the enigma code is amazing.

[@brianmosse]

Makes you proud of the greatest generation. Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks for this wonderful presentation ,I found the presenter has an utterly agreeable cadence which made it a pleasure to watch and listen to,Thank you .

[@ichabodon]

A really excellent video tour and a great narrator. I have read many, many books on the achievements of Bletchley Park and I find it incredibly uplifting. What the people there did is just unbelievable. The minds of these people were on a different plane to the rest of us. Very sad that most of them have now gone. Most of them should have been knighted. Even the thousands of military members deserved to be recognised. I could say it must have been wonderful to have been there, but of course there was a war on. Absoulutely incredible.

[@ronaldkelly1878]

Agree with your comments.try going there as I did last week and feel the atmosphere and wonder how they achieved so much with the limited facilities; heroes all!

[@taketimeout2share]

My mum worked there. She described it as moving giant Bobbins (as in an old sewing machine) around. At the time she told us I myself was more interested in Led Zeppelin so didn't really pay much attention. Her name was June Hopewell. If anyone, including PA3DMI yourself, could reveal more about her time there I would be extremely grateful.I know this very late in the day but I cant find any details about her anywhere. Watching this video made me realize this is the best I have so far watched and the most appropriate to make this appeal for information. It goes without saying I eenjoyed watching this very much. Thank you for uploading it.

[@beagle7622]

Wow he really nailed it. What a mountain of information in a short program. Brilliant.I have never seen a program that very simply explained the code breaking.It is staggering that the other side did not know how comprehensively that these codes was broken.The other thing my father grew up with the computer industry and lectured part timein programming. I remember as a kid him bringing home small plug boards, to demonstrate programing. At retirement he was in charge of a dept with 4 large mainframes and about 300 people. His career was interesting and fascinating. He would have loved watching this because it became his life but in an interesting way, he was always investigating where computing would go, nothing ever surprised him about what came up. But this is where it started for him code & plug boards.

[@oz5crc]

What an interesting docu about the code breakers.. The human mind is truly amazing !! Highly recommend to watch this.. A fine way to honor the heroes of that era.. Thanks for sharing..

[@freeversejams]

This is OUTSTANDING. Historical. Ingenious. Eternally relevant. Look at your cell phone. This story was the beginning of that. In a word, this is British. Mind you, I'm a flag-waving American. My whole life, i have been aware that England is the greatest country in history. If I were asked what I wish I could be other than an American, it would take me a millionth of a second to say: "How I wish - to be - a British - gentleman."

[@fraser3099]

Many thanks for yhour kind comments! During the War both England and America worked together to do what we could to break the Axis Powers codes and shorten the War.

[@MartinInAmsterdam]

I'm a born Brit. The electric light bulb was also a British invention of Joseph Swan. Edison tried to sue him for patent infringement but lost. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_and_Swan_Electric_Light_Company

[@johnlewis9158]

the intelligence of these men and women is almost overwhelming. I listened to your words intently but i have to say i am none the wiser. This is not a criticism of you i hasten to add more proof of my shortcomings with this sort of thing. In a way not understanding much of it makes it more entertaining. It just shows The brilliance of these people

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

As a Brit myself, that is a great compliment, thank you.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Free Verse--OOh I say old chap, that's jolly decent of you----And-I'm so proud that we are cousins.

[@wepprop]

This is the best video on KZbin. Period.

[@johnshares]

Great video, thank you. I visited Bletchley Park back in 2012, we arrived at 9.00 am expecting to spend an hour or so but found the displays and stories so jolly interesting that we stayed until 5.00 pm. I might add that I thought your camera work was pretty darn good, so please ignore the criticism of those, they know not what they say 🤦🏻‍♂️ greeting from Perth Australia.

[@mj41374]

I studied Computer Science at my University (awarded both a Bachelors a Masters degree at the University) and we only glossed over these developments. However, I had always wondered about the details that you have so wonderfully brought to life and discussed! With the recent Touring movie, I had hoped there was something of substance to be found on the Internet, and you, sir, have truly enlightened and entertained - and more importantly, educated. Thank you! My only wish, now, is to further share this documentary with others that I know would love to hear and watch it!

[@stratman9479]

Don't go by what you might have seen in the movie "The Imitation Game". Biggest load of rubbish I have ever seen supposedly appertaining to Bletchley Park. I used to work there and, believe me, very little in that film is actually accurate!!! But, as a film, is very entertaining, providing you don't actually know what went on there during the war!!!

[@georgegoodyear9631]

Thank you for a clear, comprehensible exposition, aimed at an interested-but-non-scientific member of the general public, such as myself.

[@spunkmayer34]

hear! hear!

[@TheTazz969]

Hats Off..!! Great video. Visited Bletchley Park a few times. As a design engineer, I find this early logic switching interesting, Enjoyed the spy section, gun display and most of all the rebuild. The nostalgia, walking through the huts and buildings makes you wish, you had been part of this operation...........see you have hecklers already...sad people. Conclusion....if you want a great educational day out, and keep the kids entertained..Bletchley Park is a fraction of the cost of theme parks, and will take you more than one day to see it all.....Keep up the good work.

[@fallyhag]

I started watching and nearly stopped because of the quality of production and sound. But then I realised I was learning. Proof that glossy videos are not always the best. I finished watching knowing more than I did when I started. Thank you for sharing :)

[@phearz0r]

fallyhag umm the problem here is NOT the video, its the insane background noise on the audio track shame really, does seem like a fascinating documentary

[@fraser3099]

+VideosVideosVideos Thank you for your comments but, as I have said before, I am not a professional and did not have access to pro equipment - I just did the best I could with the amateur equipment that was available to me!

[@phearz0r]

Jason Bourne hey Jason. I did read that, and I totally understand I still managed to make it through, and absolutely loved this clip it is one of the BEST videos about bletchley park and enigma (and the rest of the crypto tools) You don't happen to still have any of the original material do you? Thanks SO much for this!!! even tho the audio is rough :)

[@fraser3099]

+VideosVideosVideos Hi there, Sorry to be so long in replying to your question but when I left the Park I also deleted all the BP stuff off my computer! At that time I saw no reason to keep it! Now I work in TNMoC and have nothing to do with the Park and I don't think they would let me back in to shoot another video!!!!!! Kind regards.

[@phearz0r]

Jason Bourne not a problem! thanks for getting back to me... You seriously have one of the best documentaries about this subject. I feel it's worthy of a re-make :) thanks a lot again for this, I hope it stays up forever

[@johnshaw5356]

Best docu ever showing the incredible electro/mechanical equipment invented to hack Enigma and Lorenz. I've watched so many on BP, Turing, Tom Flowers and others and wish I had seen this one first. It displays the incredible complexity of the machines a few gifted people created. Now I would like to see a docu showing 10,000 people working at BP and making it all happen. Of course it would require Computer Generated Graphics but could show the enormous amount of labor and sacrifice of normal people living on tea and British war time rations.

[@btjmrp]

What an enthralling documentary! You have imparted important information imparting information in a scholarly way that will be accessible to all generations. I have shared it with my children,grandchildreN a will copy it for my great grannies. You see, I am a child of the war it. was a huge part of my young life and it’s rare to find a good informative documentary told without hysterics but filled with clear information. My computer mad grandson was fascinated! And I think I may have gone up a notch in his estimation now that he’s seen the very beginnings of artificial intelligence .I thank you on so many levels, your undramatic telling of the horror of Alan Turings end. I so. Hope that my children have a clearer idea of uninformed bigotry and how that mind set can lead us to become brutes even to such a genius through ignorance, Thanh you from Lucy IZod Australia '

[@fraser3099]

I shot this video several years ago when I was a tour guide with Bletchley Park. In January 2013 I left the Park as I was becoming decidedly disenchanted with the new Management and Regime! In 2014 I rejoined the Park but taking tours in the National Museum of Computing - which is on the same site. There is no way that I will ever be a Tour Guide in Bletchley Park as long as the present Board of Trustees, and the present Park Management, are still in charge. This is such a pity as BP has a tremendous amount to offer but NOT the way it is currently managed!!!

[@billyrubin7378]

Yes! I gather Jerry Roberts (R I P) was hopping mad about what was going on. Especially about Collossus. When I visited there a few years ago there was tension in the air. It all smelled like a "wonderful" codebreaking media and flashing lights "experience." i.e. one coat of paint thick -- and about was much substance -- as compared with the REAL B P as was. The word 'travesty' comes to mind.

[@kenhedges8178]

A great presentation, next time in England I will visit Bletchley Park

[@beagle7622]

Seen documentaries about Enigma for some years. The whole story about breaking this code and Lorenz just amazes me. The people who did the hack work were amazing. I am still surprised that the other side were not fully aware of how badly their codes had been compromised.

[@dolfin9879]

Thanks for your excellent short description of what went on at Bletchley it’s amazing how much ground you covered in just over an hour I visited Bletchley a few years ago and found it an absolutely fascinating place I was lucky enough to go on a guided tour of the park which made things much clearer to me prior to that I had a little interest in computing and mathematics but ever since I regularly study the work at Bletchley and try to understand what is a most complex and fascinating subject. By chance I saw the bombe machine and Colossus in action and was there when one of the staff opened the glass case covering an Enigma machine to let us take a better photo of it My visit was purely by chance I had been visiting a friend a few miles away and had seen the town of Bletchley on an ordinance survey map on the wall I asked if this was the famous Bletchley Park from the war and was told yes so I changed my plans and visited the park and I’m eternally grateful that I did. I can truly say it is the most amazing place I have ever been and I can thoroughly recommend you pay a visit it if you get the chance. I suggest you should study the work of the park before you go and make sure you book onto a guided tour. If you don’t go on a guided tour you will find yourself wandering around a large area of different buildings without really understanding what was going on in them. My visit to Bletchley lasted five hours and was thoroughly worthwhile The movies. Enigma and The imitation game do not convey one tenth of the extraordinary work that went on at Bletchley and the amazing people who worked there. There were many very bright people working there and Turing was just one of them. The movies are okay is a bit of light entertainment but that is all

[@kallewirsch2263]

many many thanks for this documentation. For me it is the first docu, which explains in greater detail, how all this code breaking and machinery works. Which, as beeing a computer scientist, is enormously interesing for me. And all I can say: I lift my hat and bow in front of all those people. What they were capable of doing is truly amazing.

[@kallewirsch2263]

Unfortunately for the presenter I learned in the meantime, what the principle of breaking the code really was and what was the deal with the "menues". The point is: It didn't work as is described in this video beginning with 24:00 For the very simple reason, that what he calls the Indicator - or what the Germans called "Spruchschluesselverdopplung" - was no longer used after May 1st 1940. This was the way the polnish codebreakers cracked the enigma-coding, but Turing had to come up with something completely different as the point of attack could no longer be used. What Turing used, what the bomb did and what the menu was a graphical representation of, was information of the form: In my message at position 0 the letter of eg. 'A' is encoded to 'Z', at position 12 'Z' is encoded into eg. 'F', at 7 'F' is encoded into 'D' and at position 4 'D' is encoded into 'A'. So what they needed (this restriction was later removed) was a sort of enocding ring, where a sequence of encodings came back to the letter it began with. So when in the preprocessing the crib matching came up with a position in the code text which could contain the crib, the guys preparing the menu tried to find such encoding rings. The point is: while there might be more then 1 key which creates this encoding ring, usually the number of possible solutions is small. And this was exactly what the bomba did: it checked all key settings if such a ring formed. If it did then a possible key was found. The whole process is described much more in detail here www.ellsbury.com/enigmabombe.htm but the point is: Turing did not attack the indicator. For the simple reason that the method used for creating the indicator has changed in 1940 and did no longer create a point of attack. And if you think of it, what he describes doesn't even make sense. If you want to attack the indicator, then you do not need cribs or menues. You "just" have to find the settings which when given a plain text which had the 1st and the 3rd letter the same, the 2nd and the 4th, the 3rd and the 6th the same. That still was an impossible task, but the polnish code breakers found a way to simplify this task, such that 6 small hand held devices could do the job in a short amount of time. But as said: at the moment he is saying "Turing attacked the indicator" he is as wrong as he can be.

[@stratman9479]

@@kallewirsch2263 Thank you for the above points - I have one or two observations. Much of what you said in the first part of your post I did actually say in the video, albeit in a somewhat different form! I don't think I actually said "Turing attacked the indicator" I know perfectly well that the sending of the indicator did change but let me ask you a question: you have seen and, I assume read, all the information that is printed on the website whose address you gave. Whilst it says that the sending of the double indicator ceased in 1940 it does not go into any real detail as to what replaced it and how it then worked! Secondly, I thought that you would have realised that this video was not made for the benefit of computer scientists; I made it for Mr & Mrs Average who might have an interest in Bletchley Park. What I said, therefore, was as simple as I could make it but still get across the salient details whilst still retaining interest. If I had gone into all the detail that is included in that website the video might have been 100% factually correct but it would also have been at least twice as long and, hence, virtually everybody would have switched off! I think it's called "poetic licence"!!!

[@kallewirsch2263]

@@stratman9479 The practice of sending the indicator twice in the beginning simply was dropped. Originally it was done to have some way of check for the operator that the deciphering of the indicator part was correct. The duplication wasn't needed to for the operation of the encoding or decoding. Just a single indicator worked perfectly fine. I appreciate the effort you put in this video and my response wasn't ment to attack you. The point is: I have seen so many videos which suggest tht the whole point of Turings work was based on that indicator duplication. Well it wasn't. Actually (at this time) it wasn't easy to find information on how Turings method really worked and how it differed from the method used by the polnish code breakers. As it turned out, those two methods had nothing in common. This is not ment to diminsh the work of the polnish code breakers, without their work Turing could not have come up with his method. I would need to rewatch the video to figure out if you literlly said "He attacked the indicator". My intention is not to attack you, but to make people aware that this is not what Turings method was based on, even if a lot of videos I have seen seem to suggest this. Turings method had a completely different operating principle in which the indicator actually had no contribution at all. I have seen so many videos which put an emphasis on this indicator, go into detail of how they needed a "crip" and how they obtained it, then talk about the alignment of the crip with the cypher text and then - some magic happens - the cipher text is decoded. I was never satisfied with that simpe explanations thus I searched for a long time how it really worked. As it turned out the part "some magic happens" isn't some minor detail but is an amazing process to come up with most of the videos seem to never address. The beauty of Turings method is located in the way this "some magic happens" part worked, this is where all the brain power went into.)

[@stratman9479]

@@kallewirsch2263 Hi there; thanks for the above. I assume you have got your information from a variety of sources (I would like to know which ones and how accurate they are) the problem is many sources do tend to contradict each other. When we joined BP as Tour Guides the "scripts" we were given to learn, and impart that information to the visitors, were all based on the work done by Tony Sale who was one of the first Trustees of the Park and who set up TNMoC and the rebuild of Tunny, Robinson and Colossus. I don't know how his work varies with what you have found out but you can find his information at: www.codesandciphers.org.uk/enigma/

[@kallewirsch2263]

@@stratman9479 My main source is this www.ellsbury.com/enigmabombe.htm This is the first web site I found which actually described the whole process and the principle it is based on, which made complete sense and describes an actual working process without any "white spots" in the algorithm.

[@kateadler6131]

Thank you for this amazing tour! I've been fascinated by the codebreakers for years and am in awe of the Britons who endured the bombings. Now visiting Bletchley Park is on my to-do list! 🇬🇧🇺🇸

[@patrickyoung3503]

Likewise I have been interested in the going on in Blechley Park & will make an effort to go on a guided tour . I know & appreciate all the work done by everybody connected with the "Park "

[@XX-fj2ky]

Fascinating! My wife and I did the conference then the tour, had lunch there and spent another couple of hours talking to a historian chap. Yeah, we are dedicated visitors! 😎

[@ElementoryMyDearWatson]

Mind-boggling iingenuty. Can't thank you enough for such a tremendous insight into this pivatol time and group of people. Outstanding.

[@BillHalliwell]

Thank you so much for this video. Ever since the existence of Bletchley Park became public every documentary merely showed us depressing images of empty huts with bits of old rubbish on the floors; paint peeling off the walls and no visible evidence of the magnificent work that once took place there. It's truly wonderful that, finally, Churchill's order to erase the Park's activities from the pages of history has been countermanded. On the other hand, it's a sad state of affairs that HM's government hasn't footed the entire bill for the restoration of Bletchley Park. The volunteers have done a magnificent job and this film shows us the progress that had been made up till 2012. I hope, by now, it has been fully restored to how it was during WW2. I have studied just about every scrap of information that is available on Bletchley Park and I'm endlessly fascinated by the truly remarkable level of intellectual expertise that was brought to bear against the Nazis, the Russians and the Japanese. Nearly 99 per cent of those people who worked at B.P. are unknown to this day and those who are still with us will probably never be properly thanked in public. The scope and the results of their collective skills is utterly astounding. Similar to the UK's missed opportunities in cutting-edge aviation; thanks to Churchill's 'destruct order', the UK might have become the world's leader in electronic computing technology. The code decrypting 'machinery' developed at B.P. was far in advance of anything the Americans or Russians were doing at the time. Even the presence of the Russian double agent, John Cairncross, at B.P.'s Hut 3 failed to do any lasting damage to the establishment's effectiveness. Most of the volumes of Enigma decrypts Cairncross gave to Russian intelligence were disbelieved by the paranoid Stalin who was also suspicious of officially provided information of the results of decrypts coming from Bletchley. Thanks again for this historically important video. Cheers, BH

[@ernestnewbury3805]

This is the most significant aspect of the World War two And that what they did was so incredibly important for we the people of Great Britain to survive . I can't thank you enough for this interesting story about Bletchley Park thank you very much yours ernest Newbury from Nottingham

[@charlieindigo]

I've seen several videos and films on Bletchley and , of course Alan Turing, and found them very interesting; However, this series of videos by Mr Stead was absolutely fascinating, enjoyable, enlightening and even entertaining. The presentation was entirely flawless - no mumbling, no "aw's and um's - perfect delivery by a man with an obvious knowledge and passion for his subject, and with the ability to convey to even a simpleton like me, what is indeed a very complex system of codes and ciphers. Absolutely fascinating, and great credit richly deserved. Thank you so much for this.

[@LindenStead1844MbdTuB]

Hi Charles, Many thanks for your very kind comments! Unfortunately, I no longer work for the Park, or TNMOC, as I have moved house up to North Yorkshire - to be beside the Sea - so I no longer have a day to day interest in either but I still maintain a material interest and would love to see all of the problems that beset the Park resolved - will it ever happen - unfortunately I think not!!

[@stephenmorse8811]

I have just watched this documentary, having for a number of years been fascinated by the BP story. Indeed I have visited BP twice, in 2013 and 2014. I was prompted to watch this superb presentation having recently re-watched the brilliant 2001 film Enigma, starring Kate Winslett and others. Linden Stead's presentation of this programme is just right and he explains everything with great clarity. I'm so pleased to have found this. Thank you for making it available.

[@RobinWootton]

Fascinating and astonishing. The decryption was all the more impressive for the wartime deadline they were working to; and this video is all the more enjoyable for the lack of distracting graphics. The modest production makes this film a fitting bridge to the bygone days of diligence and substance.

[@StephenTinius]

Outstanding show, thanks for all of the information.A very nice tribute to the heroes at Bletchley Park.

[@ernestnewbury3805]

And I want to Bletchley Park about this time last year and I am going again next month armed with the information that you have given me and to look out for all the other things I did not get to see because I didn't know they were there so a big thank you and you never know I might get to see and of course that would be very great pleasure for my lovely wife and my self now. Yours Ernest Newbury.

[@scottlakey1136]

What a fantastic documentary many thanks for posting im not sure when this documentary was made ?.i went to bletchley park 2 days ago and i can see that the money has been well spent its fantastic and a place everyone should see.the debt we owe to those codebreakers is beyond description.

[@Ra-zor]

Superb! Enjoyed every minute.

[@sammedic]

viery nicely narrated and filmed ...excellent

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

I have been to Bletchley and have seen the reconditioned huts back in early 2017. This documentary was so good I can't put it into words. Such detail, so professionally put together. I saw part of this last night and was compelled to go and watch "The Imitation Game". I saw the rest tonight and was blown away again. Thank you for such a good documentary. I know I will watch this over and over, maybe so I can finally get it in my head how these systems were operated.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Better still, watch the BBC Docu-Drama of the same title (which was nicked by Hollywood) ) starring Ed Stoppard, a brilliant and believable portrayal of Turing. It's on DVD

[@stratman9479]

Many thanks for your kind comments. The Imitation Game was OK, very inaccurate but good entertainment but a better film is "Enigma" with Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet. Unfortunately I no longer work at the Park as I have moved house and now live in the North of England but please enjoy all the videos about BP.

[@muppetrowlf1473]

Great film. Coming back this weekend. First visit was a quiet weekday afternoon in 2003. Walked in a building across the site with much anticipation to see Collossus. A lone man was operating and fettling it. He was very polite and took time to talk to me and my mate. Turned out we were talking to Tony Sale.

[@MrNurdiboy]

Fantastic to watch this , I visited Bletchley Park today and left feeling truly inspired, great video, well done

[@ELECTR0HERMIT]

Wow, you know your stuff. Excellent presentation and breakdown of a complicated subject. Best I've seen so far, very well done.

[@wasiemqutteneh7346]

Absolutely fascinating to see the ingenuity that went into making these machines; just mesmerizing.

[@mikesonneson2824]

Bravo! Thank you for that wonderful tour.

[@petrasant5495]

Absolutely brilliant presentation !

[@qqq1q1qqqqqqq]

Based on the timestamp I am watching this 10 years after it was posted. Still as important as ever. Maybe more so, given then current state of world affairs. Here we are in April of 2022 and some parts of the world may as well be back in 1939. Don't get me wrong, I love America and what she stands for, but the world has obviously not learned from it's mistakes. So much came from that war, both evil and greatness. Huge strides we're made in so many areas. Yet it seems we have become so enamored with the era we are doomed to repeat it. I LOVE history and a good documentary. I am appreciative that someone who actually worked at the Park was willing to take us on and information filled, educational and yet entertaining tour of this part of history. I hope through the years more and more see the value in these types of videos. My best to all who made the effort to put this together and to those who are interested enough to watch it.

[@andyjg48]

brilliant great video . very clear explanation of a complicated machine

[@clayz1]

This is so cool. The Enigma-Lorenz story is every bit as engaging, and thrilling, as any good book. Truth really is better than human made fiction. This is the first documentary I've seen that shows, in sequence, what the various machines did, and why they needed faster ones, in a way that is easy for this lay-person to understand. Gripping, and well presented. Thanks so much! I just have one question, and that is why are there pigeons cooing in the background through the whole video?

[@user-uv4xe3cq2y]

I think that continuous background sound is the camera man biding his time in a creaky old rocking chair.

[@philipsugden1849]

Superb documentary and brilliantly presented. Many thanks for this

[@stevenclarke5606]

I’ve been on a tour of Bletchley Park, and I can thoroughly recommend a visit, it’s really fascinating and there are some very good tour guides to pass on the stories.

[@Erik-rp1hi]

Thank you for this video. Well made production.

[@Systemrat2008]

Fantastic video - Thank you.

[@ilanzk]

Loved It. Thank you for a great hour.

[@venussingh2787]

Thanks for a very detailed explanation. Appreciate your dedication & efforts. 👍

[@valsutcliffe3713]

Thank you for an amazing documentary. I visited BP in 2015 - a memorable day indeed!

[@laurakirk4129]

This video is amazing and soooooooooooooooo fascinating! Thank you for sharing this for all. So many heros from Bletchley Park

[@TurboJon]

Excellent presentation and story.

[@stevedoubleu99B]

We owe these amazing people a LOT!!! Also, I found the presentation excellent. I did get lost with the Enigma explanation, but that was me!!

[@CH67guy1]

This video was so well done. Thank you.

[@georgenaylor2381]

Loved this video! Fantastic, really enjoyed it and learnt a great deal! Thank you!

[@gregsummers7350]

A great job on this video and very well presented. I first read the Ultra Secret in about 1976. Thank you so much to the many thousands who worked at Bletchley Park during WW2.

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

The standard German typewriter keyboard has always been QUERTZ. Those radio operators who intercepted total gibberish in Morse and transcribed it accurately must have been exceptionally good; most likely, the best ones were Aspies. We Aspies can be very literal.

[@charlesmulchrone1484]

Well done Tommy Flowers, wow ! I am an lod Telephone engineer what you did was Brilliant, well done , you should have had more honors.

[@MrDaiseymay]

SADLY--LIKE ALL THOSE WORKING ON THE PROJECT, SECRECY WAS PARAMOUNT. THEY WERE BOUND BY THE SECRECY ACT THEY HAD ALL SIGNED. NONE OF TOMMY'S BOSSES KNEW WHAT HE HAD DONE FOR THE GOVERNMENT IN THE WAR; HE JUST WENT BACK TO HIS NORMAL JOB, NOT EVEN A SECRET CASH REWARD , AND WASN'T EVEN AWARDED HONOUR'S TILL THE END OF HIS LIFE. HE TOO COULD HAVE BECOME FABULOUSLY WEALTHY AND WORLD RENOWNED--( IF HE HAD BEEN AMERICAN)

[@NicklasWesterholm]

Wow, great video. Just what I was looking for. This week I saw the movie Imitation game and immediately felt the urge to get to know more about the Enigma machine and Bletchley Park. This video gave me lots and lots of great information. Thanks and greetings from Sweden.

[@LindenStead1844MbdTuB]

Forget "The Imitation Game"; God awful film full of inaccuracies and downright lies!! A much better film was "Enigma" starring Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott. This was a film made from a fictional story by Robert Harris but all the techie detail in it was absolutely correct! Far better film and much more entertaining!

[@LindenStead1844MbdTuB]

The Imitation Game absolute rubbish !!! A film so full of inacciuraCIES

[@marksullivan2230]

Excellent doco. Very professional.

[@alancordwell9759]

What an excellent documentary and tour, very well presented by Linden. I thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks for sharing :)

[@RawBejkon]

What you did with this video is amazing, telling the story and doing it in a fantastic way. The story of people that changed the course of the world. People that accomplished amazing things, but could not tell anyone. They are the people that deserve wealth and prosperity. Sadly that did not happen. Thank you for your work. Hope more people see this!

[@mattintx]

Brilliant. Thank you so much for providing some of the many details that Hollywood has left out.

[@suzan1mal]

This is absolutely amazing! 😲 To think of the brain power then to create all this! I’m so glad to have watched this. My brain 🧠 is not wired for this, but can absolutely appreciate the genius and intelligence that created it.

[@NinoNiemanThe1st]

Great tour and explanation. I've been interested in Enigma ever since Simon Singh's fabulous book about 10 year ago and plan on visiting Bletchley Park one day, but appreciate the tour and the interesting anecdotes...well done! To those interested, Simon Singh's "The Code Book" is a fantastic read.

[@dave-in-nj9393]

This was a wonderful video. makes one think and it was presented to make it easy to understand. very well done. in the end, it made me think of what else was destroyed or what other work was done that will never be released because it is gone for posterity.

[@markmcewen3959]

Marvelous documentary. I have been looking for something like this for ages. I admit to being surprised that a site so significant in British history - world history - has still not been repaired and rejuvenated. Then again, that’s someone from the young colonies speaking: I suppose that Britain has no shortage of much older historical sites waiting attention. Thank you to the poster.

[@goober6391]

Excellent Documentary! British docs are the best, thank you! 🙏🏻

[@kenfourey-jones3121]

Brilliant! I have visited the park, a couple of years ago, but there was so much to see I could not comprehend most of it. This presentation has put things not only in perspective but in a manner that I can understand. Indeed, your final comments are as suited, if not more so than our great leaders words describing the achievements of the pilots in the Battle of Britain.

[@billstory8034]

This is so well done.

[@timroscoe4519]

Great video. Amazing story and incredibly smart people to figure all this out in the time that they did.

[@capeacperapa7642]

very well explained thanks sir

[@PeterCursons]

Excellent tour

[@mylifepart2]

awesome thx you ... wonderful to watch and listen....beautifully presented...thx you

[@fandangofandango2022]

Dear Sir, A Great Doco.

[@bryede]

As someone who grew up in the age of the personal computer, I'm fascinated by these machines that were made to do things that had never been done before and how our modern systems eventually grew out of what was learned along the way. Of course, Colossus didn't contribute directly since it was made completely in secret, but what a great piece of engineering. I would love to see these machines one day.

[@simonstrandgaard5503]

Great walkthrough.

[@TheHornoxx]

... Prima! Even only this introduction sequence at the beginning was worth watching! Best from D

[@James_Bowie]

Great detailed explanation of BP technology. 👍👍👍

[@friendo760]

Fantastic presentation and better than any movie made on the subject.

[@jamesdavis8021]

I truly loved this video.

[@mikemccartneyable]

That was an absolutely amazing account.

[@fraser3099]

Come to TNMoc at Bletchley Park; and come on Saturday afternoons - that's when I work there and run tours and I would love to see you all!!!

[@tompahdea9263]

This is a very good explanation of the Park

[@debbiewilson9712]

Thanks so much for this!! Simply amazing they did all that AND that you were able to explain it so clearly. I still can't wrap my head around it all, but it was fantastic nonetheless.

[@lindenstead3915]

Hi Debbie, many thanks for your kind comments. When you have gone through it about 20 times it all starts to make sense LOL!!!

[@joohop]

excellent video brother thanks :)

[@jackelectron6897]

I attended Carlett Park FE College in 1971 a temporary Maths lecturer told me he had worked at a code breaking establishment during the war a certain “ Station X” I don’t think there was much info at that time. I think one of the first books about Bletchley was published about a year later. It was more than a decade later that I rediscovered the Station X story. To my regret I cannot remember his name but he told a few interested students about his time there, he was very modest and From what I remember he was in one of the huts.

[@lalaLAX219]

This was really wonderful, thank you!! I hope very much to visit one day if I’m ever in the UK.

[@CrazyTobster]

Awesome documentary! Bletchley Park has had a lot of funding since this video was made, all done up, all freshly painted and a lot of investment gone into educational material. It worth pointing out, there is a 30 year ratio from mainframe to consumer level computing. - A 1985 mainframe computer probably has the same computing power as the latest iPad.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Due to national Guilt

[@gasgas2689]

A 1975 mainframe computer could do all the accounts necessary for a 300 branch bank, on 30Mb of hard disc. I know, I was working in the computer centre of Nationwide Building Society.

[@ninoporcino5790]

fantastic documentary, I didn't even know there was a Lorentz machine.

[@MrDaiseymay]

MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T, UNTIL THE WHOLE BLETCHLEY STORY WAS ALLOWED OUT. WHAT MADE ME LAUGH, WAS THAT WE DIDN'T TELL THE GERMANS TILL 1978.

[@buzzkemper]

Very informative; thank you for putting this out. As an audio engineer, I would point out that your narration track is panned nearly entirely to the left side. If you re-mix, please consider panning the narration to center.

[@dweb6]

Great; By content AND presentation!

[@Willam_J]

The US contemporary to Heath Robinson, was Rube Goldberg. He was the subject of a long-running newspaper cartoon series where he also created very elaborate machines, to accomplish very simple tasks. In fact, we still have Rube Goldberg competitions, with machines made by high school students. I worked at a US national laboratory and we sponsored the Rube Goldberg competition in Chicago. It was amazing to see the ingenuity of these students. It was also interesting to see how each team took a different approach to solving the problem.

[@scb2scb2]

Hi, if you visit please consider that the place has now had a massive upgrade its a wonderful place to visit both this and the Museum of Computing. Good to see so much has been changed since 2012.

[@drgrahambeards9776]

Excellent!

[@fraser3099]

Hi Phil (and all others), Many thanks for your kind comments. Unfortunately, due to the deteriorating atmosphere in the Park I left in January 2013 but came back again in 2014, albeit as a Tour Guide in The National Museum of Computing (TNMoC) which is on the same site. It is just a pity that the Bletchley Park Trust (BPT) and the Management of the Park can't get their act together to work in closer cooperation with TNMoC; this has led to the now toxic relationship between the two. There are quite a few things in the original video that I shot that I would love to change but, due to the current situation, that is now not going to happen. I think this is sad but, c'est la vie!!! In fact, if any of the staff of TNMoC want to go into the Park (which we could do on an unlimited basis before all of the renovations were done) we have to go through the Visitor Centre and pay £15 to get in!!!??? AND WE WORK ON SITE!! If you want to visit the Park, and TNMoC, and you want to chat to me, come on a Saturday afternoon, which is when I work there. I'm usually found in the Tunny and Colossus Galleries.

[@LindenStead1844MbdTuB]

@@foobarmaximus3506 What on earth is your problem? Not only have you put a post on here giving erroneous information about the work done by the Polish Cypher Bureau but now you insist on having a pop at me (not for the first time, I might add) but suggesting that I was "fired" from the Park! If you had actually read what I have previously posted you would know that I left voluntarily due to the degenerating atmosphere there and subsequently went to work at the National Museum of Computing which is on the same site! Why don't you get a life and stop being such a pratt??!!

[@stratman9479]

@@LindenStead1844MbdTuB P.S. I was slightly interest in your choice of handle for your posts as I had heard the word "FooBar" before, so I looked it up. It has connotations with computer programming but I think the best definition I found was in the Urban Dictionary and I quote: "FooBar: When '' is used in connection with '' it has generally traced to the WWII-era FUBAR ('Fucked Up Beyond All Repair' or 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition'), later modified to . I

[@stratman9479]

P.S. I don't quite know what happened to my post above as it came out truncated; it should have read: When '' is used in connection with '' it has generally traced to the WWII-era FUBAR ('Fucked Up Beyond All Repair' or 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition'), later modified to .

[@stratman9479]

Things going haywire here, I think I'll quit while I'm ahead!! Sorry about that.