The Daily Telegraph

Cracking the code of love: why Bletchley became a hotbed for romance

Directors of Second World War intelligen­ce base fed blossoming relationsh­ips to keep workers motivated

- By Olivia Rudgard SOCIAL AFFAIRS CORRESPOND­ENT

BLETCHLEY PARK’S codebreake­rs were actively encouraged to fall in love with each other because authoritie­s thought that it would help the war effort, a historian has found.

The Second World War base is famed for its success at dismantlin­g German and Japanese codes, which is thought to have shortened the war by two years and saved thousands of lives.

However, it was also “stuffed” with romance which, far from being frowned upon, was encouraged by directors, suggests a leading historian.

Speaking at the Chalke Valley History Festival, Sinclair Mckay said his interviews with the codebreake­rs who worked there found that the Buckingham­shire base had been a “hotbed of romance”. Mr Mckay said the British female codebreake­rs were captivated by the American cryptograp­hers who came to help dismantle Nazi Germany’s enigma code.

“The clichés really are true. British women, and Bletchley’s were no exception, were bowled over by the influx of American men,” he said.

Mr Mckay explained how tight security protocols meant each individual codebreake­r had little sense of the wider context of their work. Each “hut” did not communicat­e with other groups for fear of spreading informatio­n that could allow an individual to become too well-informed.

Yet the strict rules did not prevent lovers from different huts developing relationsh­ips. On the contrary, said Mr Mckay, his research had found the park’s directors encouraged blossoming romances to keep codebreake­rs happy.

One couple who met there, Mavis Lever and Keith Batey, were even given a dedicated area of the canteen where they could canoodle.

Miss Lever, who later became Mrs Batey, was an accomplish­ed linguist whose talent with the German language led her to work at Bletchley. At the age of 19 she made a significan­t breakthrou­gh, cracking the Italian naval enigma system and uncovering a plan to attack a Royal Navy convoy.

Mr Mckay said: “I asked Keith and Mavis Batey, whose eyes met across the enigma machine, whether the authoritie­s were concerned about their romance. Mrs Batey said actually no, the authoritie­s did everything in their power to encourage the romance, to the extent of setting up special places in the canteen for them.

“I think they felt that romance was a healthy thing, and it was fantastic to have that in such a pressurise­d environmen­t. So while there was security, there was also a very real understand­ing of human psychology.”

At its peak, around 10,000 people worked at Bletchley Park, 75 per cent of whom were women. “The romances would make your head spin. The park was stuffed with them,” said Mr Mckay.

He added that another codebreake­r, Sheila Mackenzie, a 19-year-old linguist from Scotland, “devoted some of her off-duty hours to Highland dancing, where she met hut six codebreake­r Oliver Lawn. What followed was decades of happy marriage.

“Bletchley gave many young women a voice at a time when it was hard for women to be heard profession­ally.”

 ??  ?? Keith Batey and Mavis Lever, below, were just one of the couples who met at Bletchley Park and went on to marry
Keith Batey and Mavis Lever, below, were just one of the couples who met at Bletchley Park and went on to marry

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom