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The Secret Listeners
- How the Y Service Intercepted the Secret German Codes for Bletchley Park
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Military & War
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Summary
Before Bletchley Park could break the German war machine’s code, its daily military communications had to be monitored and recording by "the Listening Service" - the wartime department whose bases moved with every theatre of war: Cairo, Malta, Gibraltar, Iraq, Cyprus, as well as having listening stations along the eastern coast of Britain to intercept radio traffic in the European theatre. This is the story of the - usually very young - men and women sent out to far-flung outposts to listen in for Bletchley Park, an oral history of exotic locations and ordinary lives turned upside down by a sudden remote posting - the heady nightlife in Cairo, filing cabinets full of snakes in North Africa, and flights out to Delhi by luxurious flying boat.
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What listeners say about The Secret Listeners
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dinah
- 31-12-13
The Wartime "Listeners" for the Codebreakers
What did you like most about The Secret Listeners?
This is a series of 'biographies' from ordinary people whose lives were changed, and often enhanced, by the urgency and drama of their vital information gathering work leading up to and during World War II.
What did you like best about this story?
I enjoyed the descriptions of life for the, often very young, 'listeners' as they were posted all over the world; to Cairo, Gibraltar, Iraq, Cyprus, North Africa, Delhi. But I also enjoyed the descriptions of the unusual 'listening centres' in the British Isles, mainly along the east coast. The people of all ranks in the service came to adjust, each in their own way, to their new assignments.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
One of the 'listening centres' was based at Wormwood Scrubs. There is a charming account of how Hugh Trevor-Roper, then a research fellow in Oxford, had to 'endure' working in east Acton and, oh dear, having to live in nearby Ealing.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I found many of the individual stories very moving, particularly in view of how young the men and women 'listeners' were.
Any additional comments?
I am pleased that, after the recent attention given to the 'codebreakers' of Bletchley Park, recognition has now been given to these numbers of individual information gatherers. Without their work of monitoring and recording the daily German military communications, the team at Bletchley would not have been able to break the German war machine's code.
7 people found this helpful
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- Ian1956
- 19-04-13
Well read and informative
This is not an aspect of the Second World War that many know much about. Largely compiled from verbatim accounts of servicemen and women and civilians, there is much here that fleshes out a more general appreciation of the various campaigns and phases of the war. Special people, but all very much individuals with whom the reader can identify.
6 people found this helpful
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- EuroGamer
- 23-12-12
An amazing story of the unsong heroes
So much is made of station x and the decryption team at Bletchley Park yet their work would have been nothing for the men and women on the front line Y-Stations.
This is their story, a story of danger, love and secrecy which is beautifully narrated. A must for anyone with an interest in the Bletchley Park story which is incomplete without the Y-Station girls.
5 people found this helpful
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- J
- 08-04-14
Only for the enthusiast.
Would you try another book written by Sinclair McKay or narrated by Gordon Griffin?
Would not be interested in another work by Sinclair McKay but would consider listening to Gordon Griffin.
What other book might you compare The Secret Listeners to, and why?
A Man called Intrepid, heavily connected to Bletchley Park
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
Yes
Did The Secret Listeners inspire you to do anything?
No.
Any additional comments?
I could relate to the content, having spent 26 years as a military crypto trained Radio Telegraphist.
2 people found this helpful
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- Joe
- 07-03-14
Fascinating!
A most engaging account of the exploits and conditions of those doing vital work at Bletchley. Learning how closely the secrets were guarded was most enlightening.
1 person found this helpful
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- Bookworm
- 24-04-20
What an Amazing Book
I am fascinated by the history of World War 1 & 2. As there are fewer survivors around these days you need authors like Sinclair McKay who researched the hidden section of the listeners Y Sectiin who Bletchlry Park Z Section wanted to keep quiet and nearly succeeded. Book takes us through the formation , training and the different parts that this group of people were so pivotal in beating Hitler during the Second World War. From the phoney war to Victoria in Jàpan. I loved the narrator and will be listening to more of Mczkays books.
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- Anonymous User
- 14-01-20
Captivating & very informative
Interesting & captivating from cover to cover. Informative with the human factor in focus. I'm very pleased that much is being publicized about this time in history, and the womens contribution.
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- Col
- 14-06-19
Another world
A fascinating insight into how very ordinary people did extraordinary acts out of loyalty to their country. Not many of them saw it that way, it was just something that had to be done and they luckily had the right skill to do it. The book takes you back to that world in a very down to earth manner. I loved it.
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- Dave Robinson
- 25-05-19
A brilliant story.
A wonderful story of a forgotten contribution to the war effort. I can recommend this book.
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- ECI
- 20-05-18
Well documented and interesting history
The personal history of individuals involved with Y Radio with it's local history of Bletchley Park and Chicksands.
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- Jeanette Finan
- 06-02-13
A Truly Fascinating Read
I found this book to be especially interesting because it covers so much that I never had an inkling about before. I should have, but it just never occurred to me. Common sense should have told me that the program had to have had existed. I read about Enigma and the Benchley code breakers practically ad nauseam and never once wondered how they came by all those codes they were breaking in the first place.
The book gives a fascinating insight into the critical information-gathering role women played in both the European and Far Eastern theatres of war, many of them barely out of their teens - were frequently located at various, and generally extremely isolated, locations in the UK. But many of them were also shipped off to exotic overseas locations which, occasionally, were dangerously close to the front line. It was inevitable that many of the girls had to put up with decidedly chauvinistic comments from both troops and officers who, completely ignorant of what the girls were doing, considered the battlefield no place for women. The feminist in me loves the fact that in the 1940's women in this program managed by sheer ability to overcome the "don't worry your pretty little head" or the "just hand me the bullets honey while I fire the gun" myth.
9 people found this helpful
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- Bronwen
- 18-06-15
Fascinating, well-written & well-read
A unique, interesting, and well read account of the wiretappers of World War II. The men and women who listen to the Morse signals, and passed them onto Bletchley park to be decoded. Often working in real time, the wire listeners played an extremely important role in the second world war. This is the first work I have seen on the subject, but I would love to see more! The author treats the subject with sympathy, speaking with several of the remaining wire listeners. He's able to give an account of their personal lives as well as the important work that they performed in the war. Great author, great reader. Definitely recommend it!
2 people found this helpful
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- Sean
- 10-12-12
Unsung heroes, but no "James Bond" moments
The story of the people who monitored enemy radio traffic for the Brits and passed it on to Bletchley Park for crypt-analysis consists of long periods of boredom punctuated with occasional episodes of excitement. The book credits the essential but un-glamorous work of the people who collected the raw material for the boffins to work on.
Unfortunately, the book is much longer than it needs to be. Most people's entire careers can be summed up as "we sat at a radio every night for 5 years and one time something interesting happened."
The author correctly wants to acknowledge the risks and sacrifices these people made for the war effort, but the plain truth is that the work was not terribly exciting and dwelling on the details does not make it more interesting. The book mostly chronicles bureaucratic pettiness and occasional brushes with danger.
Many of these people never told their families about the hours they spent at this important work and they do deserve to be honored for their labor. But there is not enough material to sustain 12 hours of reading.
3 people found this helpful