Hush-Hush

Abstract

The Bedford Japanese School was the brainchild of Colonel John Tiltman of the Government Code & Cypher School, which had moved to Bletchley Park in 1939. Tiltman considered that a crash course aimed at classicists from Oxford and Cambridge might produce the linguists urgently needed at Bletchley Park, and he chose Oswald Tuck, a retired naval captain, as the teacher. The first course began in February 1942 and lasted for less than 6 months. Although Tiltman had not expected it to produce more than a handful of suitable linguists, the course was an unqualified success, and the graduates of the first course were employed all over the world as codebreakers and linguists. This was largely due to Tuck’s pedagogical skills, personal charm and shrewd understanding of how the course could be pared down to the minimum. In all eleven courses were run, and Tuck was helped by Eric Ceadel, who had completed the first course.