80 years since D-Day: a look back at the role played by codebreakers in Bletchley
What is now a museum once was the home of secret services where German secrets were decoded
80 years ago today was D-Day, one of the most important days of the Second World War as hundreds of thousands of troops took part in the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Troops from the UK, the USA, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the beaches at Normandy in northern France on June 6, 1944.
The Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history, with the 1944 battle laying the foundation for an Allied victory.
Part of the success of the Allies lied in the breaking of secret codes, informing troops of the movements of their enemy.
Bletchley, 80 years on
Bletchley Park, known for its critical role in code-breaking, contributed significantly to the Allied forces' strategic planning.
With an exhibit dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, Dr Thomas Cheetham, Research Officer at Bletchley Park, took us back through years of intelligence.
He said: "Until fairly recently, little was said about what impact it actually had on the war, but it really did make a difference, and D-Day is an excellent example of that."
It's a really good case study in the difference all of this decryption makes, so before the invasion, Bletchley Park are feeding intelligence into the wider allied knowledge."
The intelligence gathered there included crucial information about German defences in France, the disposition of German forces, and their expectations for the invasion.
This intelligence was vital for the planning and execution of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944.
Dr Thomas Cheetham said: "We nowadays talk about signals intelligence done by organisations like Government Communication Headquarters, GCHQ and the National Security Agency in the USA, and Bletchley Park is the direct predecessor of GCHQ and it's a forerunner of those modern agencies."
"This is where it happens first and where all those ideas are developed, and so what you really get coming out about in this place is a system that takes in foreign communications and it outputs war-winning intelligence."
Bletchley Park housed the Government Code and Cypher School, Britain's code-breaking agency, and by the midpoint of the war, it had evolved into an all-source intelligence agency.
The selection of Bletchley Park as the site for these operations was initially due to its safety and proximity to transport and communication links.
However, as the war progressed, the site expanded from housing 150 people in 1939 to nearly 9,000 by 1945. This expansion included the construction of numerous huts and office blocks to accommodate the growing workforce and code-breaking machinery.
Dr. Cheetham spoke of the comprehensive nature of the intelligence work at Bletchley Park, adding: "The Allies had information supremacy, they knew almost everything worth knowing about Axis forces, while the Axis powers were often in the dark about Allied plans."
The exhibit at Bletchley Park provides a detailed account of these efforts, highlighting the critical role of intelligence in the success of D-Day and the broader war effort.
D-Day commemorations in the UK and Normandy
A range of events have been organised across the UK, including across Buckinghamshire Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, to commemorate D-Day.
And miles away from the UK across the Channel, in Normandy, where soldiers landed 80 years ago, British veterans have gathered to retrace the steps of this historical day.
Amongst many who made their way to Normandy once again is Doug Baldwin, from Bedfordshire, who is 98.
This is where the official British commemoration for the 80th anniversary of D-Day will take place, at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, where the King will join French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Sunak.