The 11-minute silent film shows smiling staff who worked for MI6 Section VIII at Whaddon Hall in Buckinghamshire – a secret site next to Bletchley Park. The footage, which has been donated to Bletchley Park, has been described as an “astonishing” discovery because filming and photography were strictly forbidden at the site. Codebreakers at Bletchley Park decrypted the Nazis’ Enigma machine messages, helping Allied commanders to shorten the war.

Bletchley Park historian Dr David Kenyon said: “We don’t know who filmed this and the footage doesn’t give away any state secrets or any clues about the work the people in it are doing.

“If it fell into the wrong hands it would have given little away but for us today it is an astonishing discovery and important record of one of the most secret and valuable aspects of Bletchley Park’s work.”

The reel, which is preserved in its original canister, was handed in by an anonymous donor.

It shows the personal lives of the men and women off-duty, with images of the Whaddon Hunt, a football game and a cricket match.

War veteran Geoffrey Pidgeon, who joined the unit when he was 17, was shown the footage. He was able to spot his father, Horace “Pidge” Pidgeon, who also worked at the site between 1940 and 1945.

Mr Pigeon said: “I’d never seen my father on a cinefilm before. I was very surprised and moved to watch it for the first time.”

An edit of the film has been put on the Bletchley Park website and YouTube channel.

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