'Decoding the war' : Letters to The Telegraph, 'Y' service

Letters to The Telegraph
16 Nov 2014

Decoding the war
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SIR – The story of Alan Turing and his team at Bletchley Park is very 
interesting, but it is only part of the story.

The origins of decoding can be found in the First World War, when wireless 
was in its infancy. Mata Hari, the Belgian courtesan and dancer, was 
caught by a wireless operator passing vital information to the Germans. 
She was tried and shot. Winston Churchill heard about the incident and 
encouraged the Armed Forces to set up wireless intercepting units.

My father was a railway telegraphist and a 1914 volunteer to the Army. The 
First World War ended and he came home safely. In 1938 he responded to the 
government’s appeal for civilian wireless enthusiasts. He was interviewed, 
signed the Official Secrets Act, and was accepted, becoming one of 1,600 
top-secret civilian “Y” outworkers around the British Isles. Bletchley 
Park became top secret station “X”.

As a family we knew nothing of this. I remember hearing the Morse code 
sounds, wireless whistles and shushings coming from under the stairs and 
thinking it was Dad’s hobby.

M I Osbourne
Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/11231479/Letters-We-need-to-broaden-our-skill-set-to-combat-excessive-immigration.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/11229240/The-Imitation-Game-who-were-the-real-Bletchley-Park-codebreakers.html