Queen to unveil Bletchley tribute

The Queen is to pay tribute to the codebreakers who worked at Bletchley Park, the secret cypher base in WWII which broke the German Enigma codes.

She will visit the site in Milton Keynes with Prince Philip, and unveil a memorial to the men and women who worked there.
Some historians estimate that breakthroughs made there shortened the war by two years.
Some of the surviving codebreakers will be present for the event.
Though the role codebreaking played in the war is now widely celebrated in films such as Enigma, for 30 years after the end of the war Bletchley Park's role remained a secret.

Analysis

Nicholas Witchell Royal correspondent

Its existence was one of the most closely guarded secrets in WWII; its contribution to the Allied victory in that conflict was such that one historian has said that without it, the war would have lasted for at least two more years.
It was at Bletchley Park that some of Britain's best crossword experts, mathematicians and chess champions wrestled with the supposedly unbreakable German radio messages sent with their Enigma encryption machines.
That they did break the Enigma codes made an incalculable contribution to the battle of the Atlantic, allowing the movement of U-Boats to be discovered

Simon Greenish, director of the Bletchley Park Trust, said: "Nobody knew what had gone on at Bletchley Park for in excess of 30 years after the war, and only then the stories started to come out. So I think there's certainly an argument that the codebreakers are being recognised late in the day for what they did."

He said that Her Majesty's visit would be the "culmination of that recognition".
"There is no doubt that it shortened the war by several years and saved many many lives in the process," he said. "Some historians are beginning to think that perhaps it was the bit that made the difference"
During her visit, the Queen will see the restoration of a Colossus machine and an Enigma display, before seeing a rebuilt working Turing Bombe machine which was used to crack the codes.
More than 9,000 staff worked at the Government Code and Cypher school, as Bletchley Park was known.
Two years ago commemorative badges were awarded by the government to surviving staff. The memorial, designed and sculpted by the artist Charles Gurrey, is intended to remember those who have died.

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