CODE BREAK

Bletchley Park staff given two day hols for VJ Dáy... and told not to come back

- BY LUCY THORNTON

TOP secret letters have been released by GCHQ showing that wartime codebreakers were granted a rare two days holiday to mark victory over Japan.

A second letter coldly told the unsung heroes that their job was done and they had been fired.

The intelligence agency published the documents to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day.

They shed light on what happened to staff who had shortened the Second World War by deciphering Nazi messages.

A first letter dated August 12, 1945, three months after the defeat of Germany, was sent to staff at GCHQ's wartime HQ Bletchley Park, in Milton Keynes, Bucks, days before VJ Day was formally declared on August 15.

It said: "All staff except the absolute minimum necessary to maintain essential services will be granted two days paid holidays to mark the end of hostilities in Asia."

HOSTILITIES

The document to staff at the agency, then called GC&CS [Government Code and Cypher School], added: "After the VJ holidays, it is hoped that there will be no further shift working at B/P except for 'essential services."