The Road to Bletchley Park

Today Bletchley Park’s Royal Patron, HRH The Duke of Kent, will officially open a major new exhibition telling the story of Codebreaking in World War One, The Road to Bletchley Park. The Duke will meet representatives of the exhibition’s sponsors, BAE Systems and Ultra Electronics, as well as visiting new displays and exhibitions updated since his last visit in 2009.

Timed to coincide with the exhibition opening, the Bletchley Park Trust is delighted to republish a unique parody of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice in ID25 poked fun at the wartime work of the Naval Intelligence Codebreaking section Room 40, which became known from 1917 as ID25.

Originally written by the Codebreakers Frank Birch and Dilly Knox at the end of WW1, it was performed privately as a pantomime in London in December 1918. The parody described life in Room 40 and the people who worked there, and remained under wraps for many decades afterwards.

Friends of Bletchley Park were first to see The Road to Bletchley Park exhibition, at an exclusive preview. The Bletchley Park Podcast was there to capture their first impressions of the fascinating, untold story which is brought to life by this exhibition.

Image courtesy of Churchill Archives Centre, Papers of Alexander Guthrie Denniston, DENN 3/2 and 3/3. Copyright unknown.

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