On July 8, Troy and I took a train from Euston Station to Bletchley, to visit the top-secret WW2 site,
Station X, known today as Bletchley Park. It was here that British code-breakers managed to decrypt the highly complex
Enigma machine used by German military command to encrypt secret messages. Today, Bletchley Park is a run-down museum that operates without government-funding. It's a shame, and a slap-in-the-face from the authorities, especially given that the efforts of Station X managed to shorten the war by
at least eighteen months, saving millions of lives. The mathematical genius
Alan Turing is a central figure to the story of Bletchley Park, as it was his electro-mechanical Turing Bombes that first allowed Station X to decrypt German ciphers. Tortured by his homosexuality in an oppressive period, Turing later committed suicide... or perhaps not... either way, by eating a poisoned apple.
Station X also holds great significance for computer science, as it was here that the world's first electronic computer,
Colossus, was built and used. The Americans originally laid claim to this achievement, and it was only in the mid-Seventies, 30 years after the war, when Colossus was declassified, that the Brits could publicly challenge the American achievement. Colossus was not programmable, however, meaning it could only decrypt the highly complex 12-ring Enigma cyphers used by the most senior German command, and do nothing else. So the Americans still have the distinction of producing the world's first
programmable computer (which could perform multiple functions, once it was
reprogrammed). But because of Bletchley's Park importance to the history fo computer science, there is a fab little
computer museum within the park. Other attractions include a
Harrier Jump Jet, and part of a
German U-Boat.
After the war, Churchill ordered the destruction of Colossus and
all Turing Bombes, in fear that they might be appropriated by a new enemy. There is now a reconstructed Colossus at Station X, built by volunteers, which is an incredible feat given that there are only eight surviving photos of the machine, and a few bare schematics. The volunteer at the Colossus building explained to me that while the reconstruction effort began ten years ago, one small section had to be delayed until a few years back, because its design was still classified, and still employed by the the British government until very recently. And that sums up the advanced technological output of Station X.
