Hut 6

Hut 6 was a wartime section of Bletchley Park tasked with the solution of German Army and Air Force Enigma machine ciphers. Hut 8, by contrast, attacked Naval Enigma. Hut 6 was established at the initiative of Gordon Welchman, and was run initially by Welchman and fellow Cambridge mathematician John Jeffreys.

Welchman's deputy, Stuart Milner-Barry, succeeded Welchman as head of Hut 6 in September 1943, at which point over 450 people were working in the section.^[1]

Hut 6 was partnered with Hut 3, which handled the translation and intelligence analysis of the raw decrypts provided by Hut 6.

Location

Hut 6 was originally named for the building in which the section was located. Welchman says the hut was 60 ft (18m) long by 30 ft (9m) wide, with two large rooms at the far end - and no toilets. Staff had to go to another building.

As the number of personnel increased, the section relocated to additional buildings around Bletchley Park, but its name was retained, with each new location also being known as 'Hut 6'. The original building was then re-named 'Hut 16'.

Personnel

• James Macrae Aitken
• Hugh Alexander, member February 1940 - March 1941 (later head of Hut 8)
• Asa Briggs, member of the Watch
• John Herivel, arrived at Bletchley Park in January 1940; discoverer of the "Herivel Tip", later worked in administration in the Newmanry.
• John Jeffreys, initially in charge of the Hut with Welchman until May 1940 (died in early 1941)
• Stuart Milner-Barry, member from early 1940 to the end of the war; head from autumn 1943
• David Rees
• Bob Roseveare mathematician, schoolteacher
• Derek Taunt—arrived at Bletchley Park in August 1941
• Gordon Welchman, initially in charge of the Hut with Jeffreys, becoming official head of the section until Autumn 1943 (later Assistant Director of Mechanisation at Bletchley Park)

• Madge Allen
• Dennis Babbage
• Clarence Barasch, American Observer to British Intelligence
• Edna Garbutt, member of A watch
• Reginald H Parker, discoverer of "Parkerismus"

See also

• Bombe
• Cryptanalysis of the Enigma
• Hut 8

References

1. ^ Ralph Erskine, "Barry, Sir (Philip) Stuart Milner- (1906–1995)" in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004

• Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story: Breaking the Enigma Codes (1982: London, Allen Lane & New York, McGraw-Hill) ISBN 0713912944
• Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story: Breaking the Enigma Codes (1997: Cleobury Mortimer, Baldwin) ISBN 978-0-947712-34-1
• Stuart Milner-Barry, "Hut 6: Early days", pp. 89-99 in Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park, edited by F. H. Hinsley, and Alan Stripp, Oxford University Press, 2003
• Derek Taunt, "Hut 6: 1941-1945", pp. 100-112 in Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park, edited by F. H. Hinsley, and Alan Stripp, Oxford University Press, 2003