Secret Sisters of Bletchley Park

Description

The code-breaking successes of the Bletchley Park operation during World War II have become justly famous. Less well-known, but just as important, were the covert intelligence activities that were located only a few miles away from Bletchley Park. They were Bletchley Park’s “Secret Sisters.”
The district was chosen by the Government because it was a quiet rural area, largely free from the risk of bombing raids and it had excellent road, rail and telephonic communications with London.
These centres began a clever and highly subversive campaign to undermine and confuse German intelligence. Highly educated refugees from the Nazi regime were recruited to write propaganda for broadcast to German occupied territory. As the war progressed the operation became more sophisticated and in some instances the frequencies of German radio stations were ‘captured’ and, by mimicking regular announcers, misinformation was successfully broadcast. It was also possible to transmit information decoded by the Bletchley Park operatives to Allied commanders in the field.
The varied operations, based in houses around Woburn and Aspley Guise, Whaddon Hall and later Hanslope Park, and including recording studios at Milton Bryan and transmission bases at Gawcott and Potsgrove, became the work places of some highly intelligent people.