Bletchley Park commemorates those brave chaps

[Doggy Styles]

You should, you really should. Get there early too, there is lots to take in.

I will. Even my kids and Mrs Styles have been. I've read the books and everything. It's stupid really, but I never seem to get round to it.

[RichardCranium]

Did Turing commit suicide or was he suicided for his efforts?

In short: he refused to be discrete in his homosexuality, was sentenced to female hormone injections as a condition of being allowed to continue his work, was then not allowed to continue his work, became depressed and when he grew boobs and fat, saw no point carrying on.

A terrible waste. A modern-day Socrates who, but for a handful of people in the IT industry, would have buried by history.

Alan Turing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As for Bletchley Park, if you consider yourself a European or British IT professional it is a temple that requires one pilgrimage in your lifetime.

[Troll]

Didn't the Germans crack our codes without a cipher machine?

[doodab]

Didn't the Germans crack our codes without a cipher machine?

The Germans had some rather groovy mechanical and relay based computing machines but they were only used for calculations AFAIK.

[Dearnla]

I did 21 months at the place, training with the CAA. Only ever got in the mansion once, but our bedrooms and lecture rooms were the old brickbuilt huts.
I do seem to remember a drunken bonfire party on the frozen lake just before Easter one April. We lacked fireworks so thought Brut cans were a good substitute. We were right.....

[Churchill]

In short: he refused to be discrete in his homosexuality, was sentenced to female hormone injections as a condition of being allowed to continue his work, was then not allowed to continue his work, became depressed and when he grew boobs and fat, saw no point carrying on.

A terrible waste. A modern-day Socrates who, but for a handful of people in the IT industry, would have buried by history.

Alan Turing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As for Bletchley Park, if you consider yourself a European or British IT professional it is a temple that requires one pilgrimage in your lifetime.

Hmmm, Alan Turing lived in Wilmslow. I wonder if the boards resident (aledged)kiddie-fiddler is aware of that fact.

[TykeMerc]

Never been there, I'll have to go.

[NickFitz]

Didn't the Germans crack our codes without a cipher machine?

They did crack a number of the most important naval cyphers and various less important cyphers of other services throughout the earlier years of war. From late 1943 onwards they were pretty much stuck though.

They also spent six weeks trying to break the Typex (which was used for the most important communications by the RAF, Army and various branches of government) before giving up in the belief it was uncrackable.

[OwlHoot]

They also spent six weeks trying to break the Typex (which was used for the most important communications by the RAF, Army and various branches of government) before giving up in the belief it was uncrackable.

You'd think that if the Germans even remotely suspected that any Enigma machines had been captured by the allies, the differences of the Typex would have alerted them to potential security flaws which the allies had spotted, with the corollary that Enigma might have been been cracked using those flaws.

But then the Head of the Abwer (sp?), Admiral Canaris, was supposedly a double agent. So possibly he scoffed at the idea of any Enigma machines having been captured, precisely to head off suspicions along those lines.

[EternalOptimist]

You'd think that if the Germans even remotely suspected that any Enigma machines had been captured by the allies, the differences of the Typex would have alerted them to potential security flaws which the allies had spotted, with the corollary that Enigma might have been been cracked using those flaws.

But then the Head of the Abwer (sp?), Admiral Canaris, was supposedly a double agent. So possibly he scoffed at the idea of any Enigma machines having been captured, precisely to head off suspicions along those lines.

I seriously doubt that Canaris was a double agent. He was anti nazi for sure, and knew the war was unwinnable. But he was also extremely honourable, non devious and very pro German uber state.
A very good reason for scoffing at the idea of a machine being captured, was self preservation. He might have been shot