Women held numerous roles at Bletchley Park, ranging from administrators, index card compilers and dispatch riders, to a very few as code-breaking specialists. Initially many of the men in charge were skeptical that women would be able to operate the Bombe machines and the Colossus computers; in one section which employed women, including college graduates, the male section head opined that “women wouldn't like to do any intellectual work”. Gordon Preston persuaded Max Newman (who thought that the women would not care for the "intellectual effort") to authorise talks to the Wrens to explain their work mathematically, and the talks were very popular. Women in Bletchley Park soon proved themselves to be up to the task, as they performed good work in any position they held at Bletchley Park.
