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Foreign Secretary presents commemorative badges to Bletchley Park veterans |
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Men and women who worked in top secret to break enemy military codes during the Second World War were publicly honoured at a ceremony on Friday 9th October at Bletchley Park, when they received commemorative badges from the Foreign Secretary David Miliband. The 35 veterans present at the event were chosen by ballot from the 1500 plus applications for badges received by GCHQ so far. They formed a representative cross section of veterans that worked at Bletchley Park and its outstations.
Iain Lobban, Director GCHQ, hosted the occasion. He paid tribute to the selfless commitment of the 35 assembled veterans and said: "It is a privilege to be serving as Director GCHQ at the time that we recognise Bletchley Park veterans". He added "The 35 veterans here today represent the selfless commitment that was shown by all the people who worked in signals intelligence and I would like to thank you personally for all that you did and for the inspiration you have given to those who follow in your footsteps". The Foreign Secretary presented each veteran with their commemorative badge and certificate and described how proud he was: "it is a source of honour and humility for me to be here today". He said that the achievements of Bletchley Park were as important today as they were 64 years ago and deserved to be remembered. He also announced that he and GCHQ were looking at options for a public memorial. Video of the Bletchley Park commemoration event (on You Tube). 'Bletchley codebreakers recognised' - BBC website 23 October 2009  |
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