45. Secret codes in World War II: what did it take to break them?

Today, we’re looking at how the Allied side – that includes the US, UK and Australia – broke the enemy’s secret codes during World War II. We see how Alan Turing and General MacArthur were central to wartime code-breaking, on different sides of the world. We are joined by a special guest, author David Dufty, who wrote ‘The Code Breakers of Central Bureau’ and ‘Radio Girl’. And we have Dad’s best Dad jokes about spies! Here are some questions to see how well you understood today’s episode: What’s Morse code? Name of the man who invented the computer that code breakers used at Bletchley Park, in England. What was the biggest achievement of the British code breakers during World War II? What was the name of the American general who set-up the Central Bureau code breakers in Australia? What subject do you need to study hard at school if you’re going to be a code breaker? What did the Central Bureau code breakers achieve in World War II? Read industry reviews of Dad’s World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available on Kindle, as well as in paperback. Dad’s first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II. Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. And share our podcast on social media and recommend it to friends – that's how we'll keep going. We’ll be back on the first Monday of next month! Podcast cover art by Molly Austin All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Sound effects used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2021 © BBC