In 2015, to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the British Academy began to commemorate, by means of a simple list, those men and women who helped bring about victory through their work in military intelligence and who were already – or, more usually, would go on to become – humanities academics.
This list began as a supplement to the British Academy Review article by Nigel Vincent and Helen Wallace entitled ‘Lost without translation: Why codebreaking is not just a numbers game’ (February 2015).
This list remains a work in progress (lasted updated 31 July 2023). Amendments and additions to this list would be welcome and should be emailed to [email protected]
The lists below include the names of humanities scholars who were recruited to work at Bletchley Park (BP) or other cognate units working on military signals intelligence during the Second World War. Many were classicists (among the non-academics were poets, novelists, politicians, insurance agents, etc.). They were mostly not German scholars (though there must have been more than are included in this list); the bulk of German-speaking posts seem to have been recruited from among young women who had studied or who planned to study German at university or who had some other reason for being fluent – the team of all women which Edward Rushworth led was so composed. There were two particular reasons for favouring classicists: in those days some of the brightest students (mostly boys) were encouraged to study the classics; and classicists were accustomed to working with fragmentary information and unfamiliar terms – apparently the study of Greek and Roman military history was especially useful in figuring out German military operations. Note: An initial list that formed the starting point of this webpage was compiled by Helen Wallace FBA; particularly helpful in tracking down the classicists were two articles by John Richmond: ‘Classics and Intelligence: Part I’, Classics Ireland, vol 8 (2001), and ‘Classics and Intelligence: Part II’, Classics Ireland, vol 9 (2002); other names were extracted from among the numerous volumes on the story of BP, as well as oral memories.
In 1942 one group of around twenty classical scholars were recruited to do a special 6-month crash course in Japanese, at Bedford, close to Bletchley, as it became clear that more work was needed to break and interpret Japanese codes. Several subsequent intensive courses were organised. At the time SOAS was the only UK university that taught Japanese. Its initial proposal to the War Office to train personnel in Japanese and other languages had initially been rebuffed, but subsequently SOAS was to train many. Some of these went on to develop Japanese studies at other universities. See the books by Peter F Kornicki FBA: Captain Oswald Tuck and the Bedford Japanese School, 1942-1945 (2019); and Eavesdropping on the Emperor: Interrogators and Codebreakers in Britain’s War with Japan (2021).
FBA = became a Fellow of the British Academy
BA obit = British Academy obituary available
BPRoH = entry in the Bletchley Park Roll of Honour
JR = mentioned in John Richmond’s articles, (1) ‘Classics and Intelligence: Part I’, or (2) ‘Classics and Intelligence: Part II’.
PK = mentioned in Peter Kornicki’s books, (1) Captain Oswald Tuck and the Bedford Japanese School, or (2) Eavesdropping on the Emperor.
The following is a list of humanities scholars who appear in the Bletchley Park Roll of Honour. The list is almost certainly incomplete, since so many BP veterans took their stories to their graves.
Frank Adcock FBA, ancient history, Cambridge; BPRoH; BA obit; JR(1)
Dilly Knox, papyrologist at Cambridge, who between the wars had already permanently switched from academia to code-breaking work; BPRoH; JR(1,2)
In addition to several of those in the ‘Bletchley Park Roll of Honour’ list above, other humanities academics learned Japanese for intelligence purposes. These include:
Hugh E Wilkinson, modern languages, Aoyama Gakuin University; PK(1)
Ian Willison, book history, British Library; PK(1,2)
(Note that several of those who first learned Japanese for intelligence purposes subsequently pursued academic careers in Japanese and other oriental studies.)
Other humanities scholars used their skills in different types of intelligence gathering and analysis. Examples include:
J L Austin FBA, philosopher, Oxford; worked at supreme allied command; BA obit; JR(1)
Thomas S Wyatt, French & German, Cambridge; RAF intelligence gathering from German prisoners (including at Latimer House)
A number of archaeologists were deployed to RAF Medmenham to work on photographic intelligence. Scholars working in this area of intelligence included:
Arnold J Taylor FBA, archaeologist, Ancient Monuments Inspectorate; BA obit
Further teams of academics worked for the Naval Intelligence Division, compiling and analysing information for the Navy. Many were based in two centres – one in Oxford, headed by Kenneth Mason, the first Professor of Geography there, the other in Cambridge, headed by Clifford Darby – from which compendious ‘Handbooks’ emerged. Examples of scholars working in naval intelligence include: