I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A great historical novel. Highly recommend

BLETCHLEY PARK’S SECRET SOURCE

This is an extremely detailed and informative book about the British Wrens (Women’s Royal Naval Service) during WWII. The “Y Service”, or wireless and radio intercept service, was established to monitor German communications - mainly from enemy convoys and U boats along the English coast.

“We spent our war years on windswept cliffs overlooking the English Channel”.

Scattered all along the English Coast in hotels, cottages, huts, mansions, underground bunkers, golf courses, clubhouses and vans, these intelligent women with linguistic and math skills, and determination, patiently spent long hours carefully dialing into noises and sounds - gathering messages to be forwarded to Bletchley Park for decoding. They also worked on Directional Finding to determine the location of the transmissions, helping to locate enemy ships.

There was a ton of information on recruiting these women, skills needed, where they lived and what their uniforms looked like. Their social lives, which included parties and dances with the servicemen, seemed in many cases plentiful and a needed diversion from the pressures of war work.

There was also danger involved in being located near the cliff’s edge, including air raids, blackouts, and shelling from the British and the Germans occurring over their heads. Later in the war as Wrens were sent to provide Y services at places including Gibraltar, Ceylon, and Singapore, terrible accidents also occurred at sea.

Because of the secretive nature of their duties, many times these women never knew if their work contributed to the war effort. But, British military history shows that many victories for the Allies owe much to the Wrens’ contributions, and several of these successes are described in great detail.

Extensive notes, references, index and terrific photos are included. A great deal of effort was put into the preparation of this book and it is a valuable resource and a tribute to the women of the British Women’s Royal Navy Service. I was very impressed and grateful for how much I learned through reading this work. I would like to thank NetGalley, Peter Hore, and Greenhill Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Bletchley Park's Secret Source details the establishment of the Y Stations during World War II, which were staffed by WRNS (WRENS). These women came from all walks in life: from linguists, to mathematicians, to those with a talent for foreign languages. The WRNS listened, intercepted, and passed along messages to Station X for decryption.

I am a big fan of history, especially World War II, so I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, the information is presented in a way that is dry and uninteresting. History does not come to life throughout these pages and thinking back, I find that I do not remember much of what I read. Part of the issue that I have with the book is its lack of organization, as the author does not follow a linear path. Compiled from a number of sources, including biographies, autobiographies, and other documentation, the book reads more like a thesis than an actual history book. As many have written about Bletchley Park, I would not recommend Bletchley Park's Secret Source: Churchill's Wrens and the Y Service in World War II to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of Bletchley Park's Secret Source: Churchill's Wrens and the Y Service in World War II by NetGalley and the publisher, Greenhill Books. The decision to read and review this book was entirely my own.

I’ve read a lot of historical fiction books that talk about Bletchley Park, the WRENS, and the wireless operators who listened to enemy radio for a living, so it was fascinating to read the true stories of the place and the people. It was dry, but still interesting. 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I am a fan of books about WWII. I find the many unsung heroes often tell better stories than the ones at the forefront. I think the work done at Bletchley Park is phenomenal. When you think how long the stories swirling around those people and events stayed secret, it is with even greater awe you realize how humble and brave they were.

I had expected the stories about the people, mainly women, who through their tireless effort, provided the bright lights at Bletchley with the raw information. Often, their posts were right at the edge of the coast, sitting targets for overhead planes and shells. Yet, despite being so close to the action and for providing irreplaceable information under trying circumstances, the books is drier than I imagined it would be. The facts are interesting but unlike some of the books I have read about this time, it lacked the immediacy and spark. I think it did a disservice to the people who put all on the line.

Three purrs and one paw up.

The book tells the story of the women in the WRNS (WRENS) who worked in the Y Service during WWII. Everyone has heard of Bletchley Park – Station X - & the role it played in the code-breaking activities, but less well known are the activities of the Y stations. The Y stations, staffed by young Wrens, were the one who listened for & intercepted the messages which were then passed over to station X for decryption.
The book starts with the establishment of the Y service, and moves quickly on to how the Wrens were recruited (fluent German speakers, linguists, mathematicians – not uneducated young women!) and trained. It mentions the difficulties with uniform, the difficulties of not being able to explain what you were doing and the realities of the accommodation.
The book does jump around a bit, a result of the way it is compiled from a number of biographical/autobiographical sources and documentation. However the personal stories do make it very real and easy to read. So many stories of what women did during the war have never been told. It is often thought to have been menial work, secretarial etc, and it is important that we continue to uncover the role they played – which was often highly skilled, even if their training had to be done at night because the men were being trained during the day!
The stories are varied, at times heartbreaking. The story of the sinking of the Empress of Canada ship is sensitively written but harrowing.

I am very glad that I read this book, but was slightly disappointed to find that this was only focussed on the Naval station Y’s in the south & east – there was a number of others that are rarely mentioned especially those in the Midlands!

Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.
#BookReview #BletchleyParksSecretSource #NetGalley

Author, biographer, and obituarist Peter Hore (https://www.peterghore.co.uk) published the book Bletchley Park's Secret Source: Churchill's Wrens and the Y Service in World War II on March 23, 2021.

I categorize this book as ‘G’. The book tells the story of the British Wrens who worked in the Y Service during WWII. The part that Bletchley Park played in WWII is now well known. Their ability to decrypt Axis messages gave the Allies a huge advantage. This book looks at the source of many of those messages. Specifically, that is the Y Service or Radio Intercept Service. The Y Service was the code name for the British radio intercept stations. Most were located along the British coast, but some were located in remote spots around the world.

Most of the staff responsible for capturing and taking down the messages were young WRNS. The WRNS pronounced 'wrens' was the Women's Royal Naval Service. WWI saw the creation of the WRNS but it was disbanded after the war. In 1939 the WRNS were revived at the beginning of WWII.

Intercepted Axis messages captured by the Y Service as well as from hundreds of civilian volunteers. The messages were then forwarded to Station X - Bletchley Park for decoding.

The book talks about the Wrens' recruitment and their struggle with uniforms in the early days of the way. Wrens with language fluency were recruited for Special Duties at the intercept stations. Some lived with civilian families or in hotels. Others in a Wrennery - a dormitory for the Wrens. Some stations were in or near large towns while others were on the remote coastline of Brittain.

The book follows the wartime career of a few individual Wrens. Most made it through the war, but the Wrens did suffer casualties. The book tells how girls in their late teens and early twenties left home for months. They worked in isolation because of the Official Secrets Act. The Wrens received little recognition for their years of service. They were significant contributors to the Allied success in WWII. This book gives them their much-needed recognition.

I enjoyed the 8 hours I spent reading this 324-page WWII history. This was a very interesting book. I learned a lot about the Y Service. I like the selected cover art. I give this book a 4 out of 5.

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For anyone who has delved into the fascinating story of Bletchley Park during the Second World War this book provides is an interesting insight into just how Bletchley Park obtained it’s raw material. Compiling a coherent account from a number of autobiographical and similar accounts presents a challenge in terms of achieving a coherent account and the author perhaps doesn’t wholly succeed. However the stories of the individual members of the WRNS, whose role it was to listen to the wireless traffic night after night for the duration of the war manage to convey a sense of the extraordinary work undertaken by these largely forgotten and uncelebrated women. Their work, and in many cases their ultimate sacrifices, makes for sober reading to those of us born after the Second World War and who have never had to face the grim realities of total war. Recommended for those who want to explore further the work of Bletchley Park and naval signals intelligence in the Second World War.

I would imagine many hours of research, fact finding combined with first hand accounts of what happened during the years of listening in on radio messages made this book a labour of love. Promoting the work of women during the war, often disregarded as menial work this book really explains the sacrifice and study required to ensure this vital work is reported accurately. Explained the structure of the Y stations and global network of radio signals used during the famous war battles. Named individual Wrens whose secret efforts went unnoticed by senior hierarchy, and gave good descriptions of life at the time. This book will be wonderful for the families of those women who served their country, to understand what their previous generation achieved in what was a male world. Thankfully things have moved on and girls can aspire to be who they want to be. Thank you #NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Meticulously researched, drawing on lots of interviews with those who survived. This book aims to be the definitive history of the women who helped win the war.

The first part of the book, somewhat oddly, focuses on the men who set up the Y Service. While the background is important – I’m not sure there needs to be quite so much of the thrilling-adventures-of-manly-men.

There are amazing tales of high adventure and low skulduggery. But what interested me most was the way that sexism almost completely collapsed the war effort. From refusing to accept women, to preventing them from having uniforms, it seems like the British military did everything in its power to reduce its strength by 50%. When women travelled overseas to help the war effort, some were simply shipped back!

Frankly, it seems improbably that the British won the war. Everything was done on a shoestring budget, there was very little co-ordination, and it was led by lots of posh men who couldn’t see past their own blinkered existence.

There are some lovely personal stories tales in the book. From women falling in love, to single-handedly delivering crucial signals intercepts – it really is a glorious romp.

It does descend slightly into a list of events – battles, telegrams, and executive orders. And some of the military terminology – and outmoded British slang – is a bit dense to wade through. But, overall, it’s a great retelling of the experiences of a group of people who have been overlooked for too long.

At its core is a story of the power of appreciation.

Even in wartime, the SD Wrens were under-appreciated, and it is a common theme in their memoirs that they were kept in the dark, Rosemary Lyster joining the chorus of women who grumbled ‘No one, of course, told us if our work was valuable – we did not need to know!’

How do you keep up morale when you never tell people how vital their work has been? How do you encourage the next generation if you can never tell the story of success? How do you honour people when their existence is both sacred and scandalous?

This book goes some way to setting the record straight.

I always want to hear more about women's role in war, which does not receive nearly enough attention. The Y service is important in the narrative of Britain in World War II as it was a secret group of women doing important decoding and translation work. Where the book didn't work for me is the level of detail (too detailed) that made it difficult to focus on the overall story; it did not draw me in as I had hoped. I do think this book would have appeal to someone who has read more extensively on Britain in World War II and enjoys detail.

Peter Hore, Secret Source Churchill’s Wrens and the Y Service in World War 11, Greenhill Books, 2021

Thank you, Net Galley, for this copy for review.

I am not a reader of war books and before reading Secret Source my knowledge of women’s contribution to this aspect of the war was through novels; my research on Barbara Pym who was a Wren, but in a far more peaceful job than the Wrens in the Y Service, in Bristol; and a visit to Bletchley Park. I cannot recall whether the historical records on display at the latter included any reference to the women Peter Hore writes about in Secret Source, but they should. As Hore finishes his book, he acknowledges the lack of publicity and recognition given to the women about whom he writes. He also gives some of them the opportunity to air some anger at their treatment, particularly after their work was completed. But, at the same time, Hore also gives the women voice to say, ‘We all loved our part in it’.
Hore’s commitment to giving women a voice shines throughout this book. So many names, so many activities, so many anecdotes, so many thoughts: and they belong to women. How grateful I am that I chose this book to review. I began on the basis that I would like to improve my knowledge beyond that of the novel and ended having done so. What I could not imagine was having so much enjoyment while reading about women whose stories are usually open ended, with only glimpses into their work and social occasions. They begin with their similar ability to speak German which result in their induction into the Y Service, some marry, some die, some are bereaved, but these events are a small part of their story. Usually the women appear, demonstrate some of the activities with which the Wrens were associated, and then another takes her place: there is little of the satisfying resolution offered by fictional interpretations. However, resolved (as some were) or not, the women’s stories resonate. The glimpses through their words and the context provided by Hore are satisfying in their own way. Hore’s clever juxtaposition of context, the role of male protagonists in the training and recruitment, and the women’s voices, together with action and events is worthy of any fiction lover’s attention. The women’s stories, while vignettes of their lives, make a satisfying whole. This is indeed a history of a group of women with special abilities who as individuals and part of a group made an important contribution to the more well-known Bletchley successes.
Hore has also written a book that will satisfy the academic historian. He gives the women their voices, but where there is the possibility that there is an alternative interpretation of events it is included. His attention to the importance of memory, interpretation, and exaggeration, while never dismissing what he is told by the women involved is the work of a historian for whom the reader is also important. Some of the comments he makes in this context are delightful – both illuminating and sympathetic to the underlying motivations of the speaker. In the context of the academic reader, there are citations for each speaker and event, a strong bibliography, and an index. The last section of the book comprises well captioned photographs.
Peter Hore has written an account of the way in which many women contributed to the war effort as part of the Y Service, and in some cases, after hostilities with Germany ended. It is both academic and accessible to a wider audience. I enjoyed both aspects of the book, wearing both my historian and fiction lover hats very happily as I read this genuinely satisfying account.

Decoding is a compelling subject and this book describes it in meticulous detail, often in the words of those women who did it. In WWII the women decoders, Wrens (many specialties of Wrens), were responsible for so much yet their stories are rarely acknowledged and told and far less common than others who were involved in war efforts. In fact, they often saw more action than many. Some of the duties must have been incredibly difficult (forcing alertness on night shifts) and safety but others thrilling according to documentation. Wrens only numbered in the hundreds so the job was prestigious and highly secret and the women were justifiably proud. Training was tough so only the best were successful. Bletchley Park (Station X) was at the hub and where messages were deciphered. Talk about a fascinating process!

The author describes the experiences of several women throughout the book and what happened to some after the war. He describes the (mostly awful) uniforms, samples of actual codes (one incorrect/missing word could make ALL the difference), who was sought (linguists), the history of Morse code, Churchill's involvement and scary night watch stories. One of my favourite night watch stories was that of a woman who had to go to a tower to take bearings at night. Between her and the tower was no lighting at all (she couldn't use a torch outside, either) and ditches with wires she had to navigate on her hands and knees. In daylight she saw just how dangerous of a mission it was. Another woman sometimes got back to her accommodations to find her bed was warm, obviously slept in.

Heartbreakingly, ships and boats were torpedoed and sank, including the sinking of the Empress of Canada. Stories are told of men who swallowed too much oil in the water, others clinging together and some jumping off ships and swimming away as quickly as they could to avoid being sucked under. So many harrowing experiences, all real.

Read this book told from a completely different perspective. The amount of information I learned is unreal. The photographs are great!

My sincere thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for the privilege of reading the early ARC of this exceptional book.

I received this nonfiction ARC from NetGalley. I requested this because I was fascinated with a fictional ARC I had previously received about women working at Bletchley Park during WWII. The details about the code breaking station and its importance to the war are intriguing. The Y Service and Churchill’s Wrens were even more secretive and specific in their roles to help the Allied effort. These women were intelligent and brave and their efforts greatly helped the outcome of the war.

For anyone who likes historical fiction this is a must read. Bletchley Park code breaking activities are well recorded. This read is about the Y service, one of the biggest guarded secrets. It is both fascinating and captivating to read the story of the wireless operators, many of whom were civilians, and how they passed what they heard to intercept stations across the world. An enjoyable and insightful account of how some messages were decoded and used to track the enemy. The individual stories are moving and emotional, the strength and bravery of individuals is palpable across the pages. Well written, enjoyable and informative.

I was curious to read the history as I recently watched a series on Netflix about women who worked at Bletchley Park... The beginning of a a movement that often doesn't get noticed... always enjoy reading history and will definitely recommend

A fantastic read. I was interested from the first page all the way to the last. I wasn't bored and felt like I had a bunch of facts just thrown at me. Never random, I enjoyed reading this book.