It was in late August 1938 that Captain Ridley and his shooting party first strode into Bletchley Park, a country estate some 50 miles north-west of London – and reversed the tide of history. For the new arrivals were, in reality, a select band of mathematicians and code-breakers destined to crack the Nazi Enigma cypher, the backbone of German military intelligence.

This long-weekend course will unravel the myriad clandestine stratagems dreamt up by British Intelligence during World War II. An extensive behind-the-scenes visit to Bletchley Park will help us to fathom the mysteries of “Station X”, where one of the highlights will be a demonstration of the rebuilt Colossus computer. Mark Baldwin, our course director, will lay bare the secrets of his “typewriter in a wooden box“ – his very own Enigma machine.

Our course will chart the history of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), whose tasks included supporting allied resistance cells, and Operation Carpetbagger, a secret USAAF campaign that dropped supplies and small combat teams behind enemy lines. The majority of SOE flights operated from RAF Tempsford, whilst Carpetbagger missions were masterminded from RAF Harrington – both of which feature on our itinerary.

The many highlights at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford include the newly-opened Airborne Forces Museum, which traces the history of the Parachute Regiment and recounts the dramatic but unsuccessful assault on Arnhem during Operation Market Garden.

We will be based throughout at the Moore Place Hotel in the village of Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire. A Georgian manor house built in 1786, this elegant three-star hotel was once used by the Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. Aspley Guise also hosted the secret headquarters of the Psychological Warfare Executive during World War II.