Wartime carrier pigeon found in chimney

Pigeon code from BBC News site (link below)

Delighted by today's news that the remains of a carrier pigeon have been found in a Surrey chimney, with the red canister still attached. (Not so good for the unfortunate pigeon of course). According to Colin Hill, who looks after the Pigeon Exhibition at Bletchley Park, the message is unusual because it is in code not longhand. GCHQ are now tasked with decoding it. See the report by the BBC's John Maguire here. A photograph of the bones and the code can be found here (thanks to Bletchley Park Research).

Further pigeon news: War Horse author Michael Morpurgo has revealed that he's writing a story about a wartime pigeon.

And more pigeonry: Dennis da Silva's short film Gustav was premiered on the final day of the Ghost Station exhibition at Bletchley Park (which Station X was part of). The film is based on the story of the  pigeon that delivered the first message of the D Day Landings at Normandy on 6th June 1944. 

An update to the chimney pigeon story from the BBC News site, December 16, 2012. 

Dr Black's book (and socks)

Rachael Marshall, Histories, Block D, Bletchley Park. Photograph printed on acoustically transparent speaker grille, 23.3 x 15.2 x 0.3 inches. 2010. [On speaker]

Caroline Devine, Carrier Waves right channel (dur 35'50") [Audio]

While installing Station X in Hut 8 during the blisteringly hot first week in September I spotted a familiar face being filmed outside Hut 3. With pillar-box-red hair and a black 'Enigma' t-shirt it could only be Dr. Sue Black. We haven't actually met yet but Sue is very well known at Bletchley Park and on Twitter for her Saving Bletchley Park campaign. 

Sue has written a book about how it all started with her first visit to the site back in 2008, her tweet to a certain Mr Fry, (who happened to be stuck in a lift when he received it) and all the people involved with raising awareness of, and raising funds for this unique and historic place. The book, also called Saving Bletchley Park is being crowdfunded on Unbound Books. Please take a look here to find out how to make a pledge, and to see the video that Sue was making in the sunshine while I was building things in the blacked-out Teleprinter Room of Hut 8. (I'm disappointed that the limited edition Enigma socks had already been snapped up by the time I saw the page). Ten per cent of all profits from the book will go to the Bletchley Park Trust.

Here's an extract of the pitch about the Saving Bletchley Park on Unbound Books: 

On more than one occasion Bletchley Park has been in the shadow of bulldozers, but it still stands as a testament to those who worked there during World War II, and those who have tirelessly campaigned to save it. During the many years that Bletchley Park’s future has hung in the balance, the campaign has been kept alive by the unerring belief that something so significant to our wartime victory in 1945 should be preserved for future generations. 

Selecting an image for this post was easy: it's called 'Histories'.

100 year old aerial photographs taken by pigeons

An image by Julius Neubronner and one of his pigeons (1908)

Image: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

Julius Neubronner with pigeon and camera (1914)

Image: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
 
An unexpected outcome of working at Bletchley Park is my huge affection and admiration for the wartime pigeons and those who worked with them. Stephen Messenger has written this article for Treehugger about the aerial photographs he obtained using carrier pigeons, with several examples.

Meanwhile we're still waiting for news about when the Station X exhibition will be reopened.

Six days left to see Ghost Station

Rachael Marshall, Documenting Blocks C and D II, Bletchley Park, Ten projected photographs, 2010-2012. 

The Ghost Station exhibition will be closing this Sunday, 30th September. However, Station X, which includes my photographs, will remain in Hut 8. 

Ghost Station features the work of 23 artists, all inspired by different aspects of Bletchley Park and its wartime work. 'Gustav', a film about a wartime pigeon by Dennis Da Silva, will be shown at 2pm on Sunday, as part of the closing party for the ArtHertz show. 

It was great to meet many of the artists on the opening night. Here's a list of them, with links where possible: 

Hannah Elizabeth Allan
Hannah Rae Alton 
Angelo Cerantola
Al Croseri
Dennis Da Silva
Elizabeth Dismorr
Bradley Hayman 
Birgitta Hosea
Lloyd Hughes
Hannah Hull
Esther Johnson 
Adrian Lee 
Gemma Marmalade
Fleur Melbourn 
Catrin Morgan 
Paul Matosic
Ingrid Plum 
Julia Roach 
Colin Turner 
Station X (that's Caroline Devine, Maya Ramsay, Luke Williams and me).

Station X in the Teleprinter Room at Bletchley Park

Rachael Marshall, Creep, Block C, Bletchley Park. Acrylic mounted photograph, 16 x 24 inches. 2011.

Station X is now installed in the Teleprinter Room in Hut 8, Alan Turing's hut. It's currently part of Ghost Station, the ArtHertz exhibition for Milton Keynes Heritage Open Days, but will remain in the room on a loan to the Bletchley Park Trust's collection. 

Thank you to everyone who attended the Private View last night, including Councillor Catriona Morris, Mayor of Milton Keynes. It was great to meet some of the other 20 artists who are showing work inspired by the unique history of Bletchley Park. Also huge thanks to all the staff and volunteers of Bletchley Park, ArtHertz and everyone who assisted us with the tricky installation; securing artworks and AV equipment in a listed building is not easy! Special thanks to Dad, whose first post-retirement project was plinth-making, Pete, for stepping in with various tools, Gary for loan of equipment (and a tutorial in using it) and Mussy for last-minute help with wiring and nerve-calming.

Also, huge thanks once again to our supporters PMC Speakers and the Milton Keynes Community Foundation: installing Station X at Bletchley Park could not have happened without your help.

We've already had some lovely comments from people who saw the show last night - a testament to what a strong team the four of us are. Me getting stuck inside one of the projector plinths was just one of many funny moments from this week. Luckily no-one took a photo of that.

Finally I have a chance to catch up with the rest of the country and watch The Bletchley Circle! 

Ghost Station at Bletchley Park

Ghost Station flyer by ArtHertz

Ghost Station is the new exhibition from ArtHertz, staged at Bletchley Park - the home of code breaking during World War II and the birthplace of modern technology. The month long event is part of the Milton Keynes Heritage Open Days - Summer of Culture 2012 and explores themes of codes, code-breaking and messages, Alan Turing, the role of pigeons and women in World War II. The exhibition also explores the ongoing ArtHertz agenda of the analogue / digital distinction. Ghost Station will also include the critically acclaimed collaborative piece, Station X (featured on BBC Radio 4) - an installation that documents the Bletchley buildings with sound, film, photography and surfaces.

Over 20 selected contemporary artists' work will be interspersed amongst the museum's exhibits in Hut 8, the Bombe Hut and Hut 11. The Enigma Cinema at Bletchley will also play host to screenings of short films curated by Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival and ArtHertz presenting the UK Premiere of Al Croseri's feature length film,The Pigeoneers, Esther Johnson's 'Analogue Kingdom' and 'Tune In'. There will also be a closing party and premiere of the war pigeon short, 'Gustav' by Dennis Da Silva on 30th September.

Station X in Hut 8 at Bletchley Park

The bicycle shed outside Hut 8. Photograph by Rachael Marshall.

The Station X work is returning to the place where it was created: Bletchley Park. We'll be exhibiting in Hut 8, which was refurbished to resemble its wartime layout in 2005 and currently houses displays about leisure time for the codebreakers and the heroic carrier pigeons.

Our work will be part of Ghost Station, an exhibition by a range of artists inspired by codebreakers and the site they worked at in secrecy. More information about Ghost Station can be found here.

Pigeons and an interview with the BBC

Rachael Marshall, Image from Documenting Station X, Blocks C and D I, Ten projected photographs, 2010-2012.

An interview with Caroline, Maya and me has just been published on BBC News Beds, Herts & Bucks.

"They have lifted rust-covered surfaces from walls, recorded the squawking of pigeons and other sounds from inside the decaying buildings, and those that come from outside like the rumble of trains from the nearby West Coast line."

The Pigeon Museum in Hut 8 at Bletchley Park celebrates the wartime contributions of carrier pigeons and displays pigeon boxes, official documents, photographs and a list of the 32 pigeons that received the Dickin Medal. Pigeons were often parachuted to locations in enemy territories with tiny messages in cylinders attached to their legs, and flew back to their lofts carrying a reply. 

World War II Parachute Container. These were used to supply European Resistance Groups with pigeon message carriers. Donated by Mrs Challis. Photograph by Rachael Marshall.

The pigeons at Bletchley Park are such a  big part of the Station X project, so I went back to the Hut 8 for another look at the collection yesterday. This was after a quick look inside Block D, where I noticed that the bird that is on top of an old file in one of my photographs, 'Histories', in the exhibition is now on the floor where the sunlight doesn't reach its wings.

Review of Station X

Rachael Marshall, Locked, Block D, Bletchley Park. Acrylic mounted photograph, 16 x 24 inches. 2011.

From a review of Station X:

"The combination of the, at once familiar, yet other worldly, sounds and atmospheric photographs of dust, cobwebs and the odd decaying bird, along with the physical ‘casts’ of the walls themselves all give a very peculiar overall feeling."

Read the full review on Paul Caplewell's blog.

The exhibition opened last Thursday and runs until May 27, 2012. 

 

Pigeon fancier

German Camera Pigeon, WWI, licensed under Creative Commons.

 

Poorly pigeon in Block D, yesterday. Photograph by Rachael Marshall.

We've got to know the pigeons of Blocks C and D quite well while working at Bletchley Park. There's a group of three, one brown, one white and one grey, that is always in the room next to the 'rat room' in C, on a ledge in a corner that gets a chink of sunlight through gaps in the window hoardings. You get used to them flying around and scurrying unseen in ceiling voids above your head and I like to to think they're used to our visits. 

Inevitably some floors in both blocks are pigeon toilets and graveyards. We really have to watch where we're putting our feet and tripod legs. Tiny eggs, mostly broken, are scattered around too. The deterioration of the dead birds is fascinating once you're over any squeamishness. Yesterday I found a near-perfect skeleton in a corridor, arranged as if it was in flight. The beautiful full-feathered wings of a white bird looked like they'd been left behind by an angel. 

Caroline told me about the little chap in the photo above when I arrived yesterday. He'd been in the same spot for a few hours, barely moving, just blinking and panting. Later on in the day a shaft of sunlight came through the skylight and this seemed to revive him (or her?) a bit. He moved around a bit and reacted more to my presence. I doubt he'll live long and it was awful to see him suffering.

Pigeons were crucial to intelligence operations on both sides during the first and second World Wars. Bletchley Park has an exhibition about them in Hut 8 and you can read more and see some photographs inside Hut 8 here, on Alan and Pat Machin's site. Perhaps the pigeons of Blocks C and D are descendants of the wartime birds? 

(Bletchley Park staff are aware of the poorly bird - seemed a bit daft to tell them when the place is littered with bodies, but horrid to see an animal struggle).

Station X flyer

Station X exhibition flyer

Station X exhibition flyer

The dates, times and venue for the Station X exhibition cannot possibly change now that the flyers are ordered, and if anyone spots a typo on this I really don't want to know!

We're very pleased to have the support of both the Milton Keynes Community Foundation and PMC Loudspeakers.

So much to see at Bletchley Park

Wartime living room and kitchen with mannequin wearing Girl Guide uniform in Bletchley Park Museum. Photograph by Rachael Marshall.

When I get chatting about Bletchley Park with people that haven't visited yet they often don't know that it's open to the public, and has been for some years. All sorts of fascinating collections are there, including World War Two era rooms like the one above, Jack and Rita Darrah's amazing Churchill Collection, the Post Office, which issues first day and commemorative covers, the Museum of Cinema Technology and of course the recently opened Turing Exhibition. 

The full list of attractions at Bletchley Park is here. Which is your favourite?

Most of my time is spent in the non-public buildings but next time I'll be going to see the Turing Exhibition. The Life and Works of Alan Turing is on the shortlist for the Art Fund Prize 2012 and needs your vote!

Caroline at work in Block D

Caroline listening to Block D. Photograph by Rachael Marshall. 

A rather vocal pigeon was skittering along some trunking near the ceiling, its calls echoing around the room and occasionally being answered by another bird. 

Tuesday at Bletchley Park was blessed with bright sunshine and lots of visitors. Have you visited yet? Did you know that the Alan Turing exhibition is on the shortlist for an Art Fund Award? Cast your vote and see the other nominations here: Art Fund Prize.

In the northern end of Block C

Maya and Luke in Block C

Working in the buildings is tough at this time of year because of the cold and damp. This photograph of Maya and Luke was taken at the northern end of Block C, where the only light is from the roof and occasional chinks in the timber hoardings on the windows. 

Our visit was brief - we spent just a couple of hours in Block C and then had some meetings about the show. The gallery is just over the road from the John Lewis end of the (recently Grade II listed) Milton Keynes Shopping Centre. An enormous pancake in the cafe was such a treat after spending the morning in conditions like the photograph above. 

For once I was glad to get togged up in an overall because bending down to pick up a coffee before starting work my jeans ripped in a place that you really don't want holes! Luckily I was wearing thermals underneath. Photographing Bletchley Park is not a glamorous occupation.

You might have noticed that I'm only posting one photograph with each blog post now. This is because I'm saving them for the show of course and I hope you can come to experience the sights, sounds and textures of the unused buildings before they're refurbished. 

This week I've updated my biography for the exhibition, which you can find under About, and we've added a Facebook page about the Station X project too. Thank you to everyone who's given it a like so far.

Feeling chilly?

Cottage near Basingstoke, covered in snow. Photograph by Rachael Marshall.

This post is the only one so far without an image of Bletchley Park, but please read on and it will make sense.

Caroline, Maya and I are delighted to have the support of the Milton Keynes Community Foundation, which has just celebrated its 25th year. The current campaign is called Surviving Winter and is making a positive difference to homeless and older people in the Milton Keynes area.

The weather is milder now than it has been recently but please pay a visit to older friends or family to check they've got warm clothes, adequate heating and hot meals, and to make sure that they know that help is available. Half an hour or so of your time could make a world of difference to someone who lives alone, and it could mean the difference between life and death.

The MK Community Foundation is an independent charity working for and at the heart of Milton Keynes. 

Age UK is one of the best places to go for advice for older people and Shelter for housing and homelessness issues.

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MK Gallery Project Space Exhibition

Caroline and Maya outside the Milton Keynes Gallery Project Space. Photograph by Rachael Marshall.

The Station X Exhibition will be at the MK Gallery Project Space from May 4th to June 3rd 2012. Details of the gallery can be found here: MK Gallery Project Space. Looking forward to seeing you! 

Click here for more information about the artists and their work.

Architectural histories: Block C is listed

Three pigeons on a ledge inside Block C at Bletchley Park. Photograph by Rachael Marshall.

Histories is the title of a module taught by Professor Colin Davies at London Metropolitan University's Architecture School that I took a few years ago. Referring to the history of a place, person or idea now seems wrong to me because any account of an event in the past is more revealing of contemporary values and attitudes than those of the time of the subject.

I mention this for two reasons. Firstly, I watched Enigma over Christmas for the first time since I saw it after its release in 2001. Anyone who knows Bletchley Park would spot immediately that the mansion house is not the real one. According to the IMDB this is because "Bletchley Park did not look enough like Bletchley Park to the production company to have been used in the film". More controversially, the main character Tom Jericho's achievements at Bletchley Park are obviously based on those of Alan Turing but Tom, who has a relationship with Kate Winslet's character in the film is not Alan, who despite an engagement to a co-worker, was homosexual. 

Enigma set out to tell a story and was inspired by historical events but not bound by them. I remember reading somewhere that good fictional dialogue is not achieved by writing in the way that people actually speak; to read a section of text written in this way is likely to be dull. Good dialogue needs flow, drama and pauses, but people in conversation meander, interrupt and hesitate. For a complete understanding of the true history of the codebreakers (or any history) perhaps we would have to invent time-travel and revisit not just the moments of drama and intrigue but experience moment-by-moment the painstaking and repetitive hard slog of the decryption process. That would be fascinating for a short time, but not a way to tell an engaging and powerful story. 

I've mentioned before that I think I was aware of the code-breaking activity at Bletchley Park before Enigma was released but for me the film brought to life the seriousness and importance of the work. I happened to watch the film with an IT enthusiast who explained the inaccuracies as soon as it was over, and I expect that these were widely debated in the media back in 2001. The story in Enigma therefore prompted interest in the Bletchley Park historical activities for many people who may not otherwise have heard of it.

I began writing this with the intention of comparing the idea of histories with story-telling and the UK system of listing and preserving certain buildings because Bletchley Park Block C joined the other remaining buildings in being Grade II listed last week. The story of Bletchley Park's buildings continues, and with it the  histories of the codebreakers, wars and education. That's enough about the listing process for now. The pigeons will have a home until funds are raised for the restoration works. 

Work produced by Caroline Devine, Maya Ramsay and myself will be on show in the Milton Keynes Gallery Project Space in May 2012. Details are here.