The Petard Pinch Film Online and Accessible for All
A specially commissioned animation telling the dramatic story of The Petard Pinch is now available with subtitles and British Sign Language on the Bletchley Park website.
The moving film forms the centrepiece of a new mini exhibition within naval codebreaking Hut 8, telling the incredible story of the capture of crucial Enigma codebooks. These enabled Bletchley Park to break back into the German naval Enigma network codenamed Shark, following a devastating ten-month blackout. The Admiralty could then re-route vital convoys coming in from the USA, saving thousands of tons of shipping and countless lives.
Sarah Kay, Bletchley Park’s Digitisation and Exhibitions Officer, says “This is a step towards making Bletchley Park’s uniquely historic collection accessible to all. This remarkable story shows that not everything which contributed to the success of codebreaking during World War Two happened at Bletchley Park – there was real peril involved, and the loss of young lives.”
On 30 October 1942, Lt Tony Fasson and Able Seaman Colin Grazier, along with NAAFI canteen assistant Tommy Brown, made their way towards the stricken U-559, which was sinking after being hit by depth charges for ten hours.
While the U-boat was gradually filling with water, Fasson and Grazier boarded the submarine and handed various Enigma ‘treasures’ to Brown on the U-boat’s conning tower.
The U-Boat sank, taking Fasson and Grazier with it, while Brown was rescued by the crew. Their bodies were never recovered.
The demand for intelligence was never more closely linked to heroic sacrifice but Fasson and Grazier did not die in vain. Just three weeks later the vital documents taken from the U-559 arrived at Bletchley Park. On 13 December 1942, Hut 8 broke back into Shark, unlocking vital intelligence about the U-Boats’ movements.