Hut 8 Bletchley Park |
Hob Uid: 1534548 | |
Location : Milton Keynes West Bletchley
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Grid Ref : SP8646933944 |
Summary : Hut 8 formed part of the Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park. It was built in early 1940 and was occupied by was occupied by the section of the same name Hut 8, headed by Alan Turing, which was responsible for decoding Naval Enigma traffic - including U-boat ciphers. At this time the north end of the hut was occupied by the `Big Room' where intercepted traffic was prepared for the `Banburists', the mathematicians who began the process of analysis which reduced the number of code variables which had to be tested for. The Big Room was also used for testing of results generated by bombes (the purpose-built electromagnetic machines which were used to break the daily Enigma keys), the decoding of traffic, and routine clerical work. The decrypts of the German Enigma traffic were sent to the Naval Section known as Hut 4 and from there, as Z material, to the Admiralty. Hut 8 moved to Block D (Monument HOB UID 1525316) in February 1943. The Hut was renamed Hut 18 and until October 1943 housed ISOS which dealt with Abwehr Engima traffic. During the winter of 1943-44 the hut was ccupied by Naval Section 5 Training School. In April 1944 the hut was converted into a temporary Naval Morse intercept room or Y until for the early stages of Operation Overlord. Telescopic HF aerial 30 foot high were erected outside the hut. Post war uses include use by Bletchley Park history writers in July 1945 and as a canteen for the Government Communications Headquarters training school in 1978. At the time of survey in 2004 it was used. The hut is a single-storey building, rectangular on plan and aligned north-south. It has brick sleeper walls and a timber frame with boarding of possibly asbestos and a bitumen felt roof. Parts of a blast wall survive around the southwest corner of the building. |
More information : Hut 8 formed part of the Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park. It was built in early 1940 and was occupied by was occupied by the section of the same name Hut 8, headed by Alan Turing, which was responsible for decoding Naval Enigma traffic - including U-boat ciphers. At this time the north end of the hut was occupied by the `Big Room' where intercepted traffic was prepared for the `Banburists', the mathematicians who began the process of analysis which reduced the number of code variables which had to be tested for. The Big Room was also used for testing of results generated by bombes (the purpose-built electromagnetic machines which were used to break the daily Enigma keys), the decoding of traffic, and routine clerical work. The decrypts of the German Enigma traffic were sent to the Naval Section known as Hut 4 and from there, as Z material, to the Admiralty.
Hut 8 moved to Block D (Monument HOB UID 1525316) in February 1943. The Hut was renamed Hut 18 and until October 1943 housed ISOS which dealt with Abwehr Engima traffic. During the winter of 1943-44 the hut was ccupied by Naval Section 5 Training School. In April 1944 the hut was converted into a temporary Naval Morse intercept room or Y until for the early stages of Operation Overlord. Telescopic HF aerial 30 foot high were erected outside the hut. Post war uses include use by Bletchley Park history writers in July 1945 and as a canteen for the Government Communications Headquarters training school in 1978. At the time of survey in 2004 it was used.
The hut is a single-storey building, rectangular on plan and aligned north-south. It has brick sleeper walls and a timber frame with boarding of possibly asbestos and a bitumen felt roof. Parts of a blast wall survive around the southwest corner of the building. (1-2) |