The Bletchley Girls

by Tessa Dunlop | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 1444795740 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingcestmoiwing of Hamilton, Ontario Canada on 4/4/2023
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingcestmoiwing from Hamilton, Ontario Canada on Tuesday, April 4, 2023
I picked this up at Neighbour2Neighbour (N2N) Community Bookstore at 28 Athens Street in Hamilton, ON. Most of the books are $2 with newer books around $5-7. The proceeds support the community with a food bank, winter coats and other services. Well worth checking out if you're in the neighbourhood :) There's also a Little Free Library in the Community Gardens immediately to the north of the building.

Neighbour2Neighbour The bookstore is open M-F (except holidays) from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is on the second floor.

From amazon.com:
The Bletchley Girls weaves together the lives of fifteen women who were all selected to work in Britain's most secret organisation - Bletchley Park. It is their story, told in their voices; Tessa met and talked to 15 veterans, often visiting them several times. Firm friendships were made as their epic journey unfolded on paper.

The scale of female involvement in Britain during the Second World War wasn't matched in any other country. From 8 million working women just over 7000 were hand-picked to work at Bletchley Park and its outstations. There had always been girls at the Park but soon they outnumbered the men three to one.

A refugee from Belgium, a Scottish debutante, a Jewish 14-year-old, and a factory worker from Northamptonshire - the Bletchley Girls confound stereotypes. But they all have one common bond, the war and their highly confidential part in it. In the middle of the night, hunched over meaningless pieces of paper, tending mind-blowing machines, sitting listening for hours on end, theirs was invariably confusing, monotonous and meticulous work, about which they could not breathe a word.

By meeting and talking to these fascinating female secret-keepers who are still alive today, Tessa Dunlop captures their extraordinary journeys into an adult world of war, secrecy, love and loss. Through the voices of the women themselves, this is a portrait of life at Bletchley Park beyond the celebrated code-breakers, it's the story of the girls behind Britain's ability to consistently out-smart the enemy, and an insight into the women they have become.

Journal Entry 2 by wingcestmoiwing at Hamilton, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, April 5, 2023
This book follows the lives of several young women who worked at Bletchley Park or contributed to the work there. The author tells us of their childhood and the circumstances that led them to work for the war effort and what became of them after.

The women were sworn to secrecy and even at the ages of 90+ were reluctant to talk about what they actually did and what they learned during the course of the work. They come across as young women who were paid to do a job - so they did. They knew their work was important because of the secrecy but they didn't really know all the pieces of the war effort, they were literally cogs in a wheel and for the most part, didn't even know how big the wheel was, where it was or how it worked.

Perhaps, because of that, I found the book to be interesting - I loved learning about their daily lives and getting to know them through their stories and experiences, but I felt a bit short-changed in not learning more about the work at Bletchley Park.

Journal Entry 3 by wingcestmoiwing at Harbord House Pub in Toronto, Ontario Canada on Saturday, June 3, 2023

Released 9 mos ago (6/3/2023 UTC) at Harbord House Pub in Toronto, Ontario Canada

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Journal Entry 4 by jessibud at Toronto, Ontario Canada on Sunday, June 4, 2023
I have heard about this story, in parts, and this sounds like a good book to explore more in-depth about their contributions to the war effort. I love historical books based on true stories!

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