Northchurch Social Centre, Berkhamsted
MONDAY 7 September, 10:00 REFRESHMENTS,
10.30 PRESENTATION
doors open 09:45
About eight years ago, after a career in international IT and Management Consultancy, Mike became a volunteer at Bletchley Park, having attended as a visitor for perhaps ten years previously as a visitor. Mike serves as a volunteer Guide at the BP heritage museum and also demonstrates the Turing-Welchman Bombe and Enigma codebreaking at the National Museum of Computing.
In 2024, Mike Barbakoff entertained us with his presentation about The Women of Bletchley Park. He now presents “Codebreaking against the Land of the Rising Sun”. This talk embraces the inception of the UK/USA Special Relationship and highlights the Signals Intelligence activities of the United Kingdom and United States against Japan in the Second World War. It covers the efforts of Bletchley Park and its overseas outstations as well as the enormous contribution of the Unites States Navy and Army, Australia and New Zealand SIGINT operations. Failures such as Pearl Harbor and successes such as the Battle of Midway are used to illustrate the effectiveness of Signals Intelligence
No fee to be paid
Contact: Groups via this link (select addressee: Groups)
The meeting will be hybrid, if you wish to participate on Zoom, use the link that will be supplied in the Group News closer to the date.
If you experience difficulty with the sound, turning on Captions, at the bottom of the Zoom screen on a PC or by clicking on More … on an iPad, should assist greatly. Please bear in mind that the task of getting both sound and picture to members on Zoom is fraught with difficulties. We continue to struggle on, it may not always be totally successful.
Directions
Directions
Northchurch Social Centre
Bell Lane, Northchurch
Berkhamsted
HP4 3RD
There is parking at the centre. Please double park!
Directions
Buses between Hemel and Berkhamsted: 500 and X500 bus.
Buses are approximately every 30 minutes: 500 and X500 Timetable
2026 Dates (see below for Refreshments Rota)
3 August Hemel: John Tyler – The Seasons, A year in the English Countryside
7 September Northchurch: Mike Barbakoff – Codebreaking against the Land of the Rising Sun
5 October Hemel: Andrew Baker – New Elizabethan Age
2 November Hemel: Ann Fletcher – The tale of the man that broke the bank at Monte Carlo
7 December Hemel: Ukulele & Folk Singing – Christmas Party
Refreshments Rota
3 August Garden Visiting
7 September Exploring Towns and Villages
5 October Cribbage and Scrabble
2 November Italian (Step 2)
7 December Walking
This may change close to given date if a group notifies me that they are unable to find enough people
2027 Dates
4 January Hemel: Bobbie Derbyshire – Where a writer gets inspiration
1 February Hemel: Paul Barwick – The Salisbury Novichok Poisonings
1 March Northchurch: Roger Gibbons – Butterflies of Britain and Europe
See Northchurch Map
See Hemel Map
Last updated: 8 Aug ’26
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