A week of Lectures and Workshops on Codes, Ciphers and Spying

Northern Ireland is holding it's first ever Codes and Ciphers week starting the 11th February.

All events are free of charge to the general public and held at the Somme Heritage Centre unless specified otherwise. No booking is required but admittance is on a first come first served basis.

Monday 11th February
3:00 p.m. 'The art of spying' - a general talk including stories about some famous/infamous spies by John Alexander.
7:30 p.m. 'Enigma and Friends' - a specialised talk given by John Alexander that is suitable for radio 'hams' and the technically- minded.

Tuesday 12th February
2:30 p.m. 'Communications and Spying through the Ages' - a general talk on the history of spying by Ian Foulkes.
7:30 p.m. 'World War 2: Communications, Codes and Deception' - a general talk on how coded messages were sent to agents behind enemy lines and the deception of Operation Fortitude by Ian Foulkes and John Alexander. This
talk will be held at Coleraine Town Hall.
7:30 p.m. Code breaking workshop - an interactive session on breaking codes from around the world - suitable for all ages with Vicky Worpole.

Wednesday 13th February
3:00 p.m. 'World War 2: Communications, Codes and Deception' - a general talk on how coded messages were sent to agents behind enemy lines and the deception of Operation Fortitude by Ian Foulkes and John Alexander.
7:30 p.m. 'Communications in World War 1, the Royal Signals Regiment and the work of Room 40' - a general talk by Ian Foulkes and John Alexander.

Thursday 14th February
7:30 p.m. 'World War 2: Communications, Codes and Deception' - a general talk on how coded messages were sent to agents behind enemy lines and the deception of Operation Fortitude by Ian Foulkes and John Alexander. This
talk will be held at Ballyearl Leisure Centre, Newtownabbey.
7:30 p.m. Code breaking workshop - an interactive session on breaking codes from around the world - suitable for all ages with Vicky Worpole.

Friday 15th February
10:00 a.m. An Enigma machine and other coding and spy equipment will be on display at the museum until lunch time.

John Alexander is a leading private collector of coding machines and lectures extensively on the mainland. Ian Foulkes is a Museum Warden and lecturer at the Royal Signals Museum, Blandford. Vicky Worpole is the Education Officer at Bletchley Park.

The museum will be closed to the general public each morning, Monday to Thursday, so that a spying exercise designed for primary school pupils called 'Operation Whitespots' can take place. Two new exhibitions will also
be on display at the museum. The first is the story of the alleged German spy who lived in the Whitespots area, near Conlig, during World War 1 and the second is the remarkable untold work during World War 2 and beyond of the Gilnahirk Wireless Station. The enigma machine will be on view throughout the week.

Sponsored by the Northern Ireland Museums Council and funded by the Big Lottery Fund

Somme Heritage Centre
http://www.irishsoldier.org/