Aviation - Bletchley Park - 2008.
The Bletchley Park trip took place on the 2nd May 2008. A fascinating day.
Bletchley Park
Photographs by John Robson
During the war Bletchley Park was devoted to cracking enemy codes, in particular those
produced by the Enigma Machine
Simple 3 drum Enigma machine
Work was carried out in several wooden huts; Hut 6 housed the group working on breaking the
German army Enigma code. The naval code was tackled in hut 8 and was initially
broken by June 1941, this brought about a dramatic reduction in the loss of allied shipping in the Atlantic
Hut 6 before restortation.
More sophisticated ciphers were used during later stages of the war and the Colossus computer, containing 2,400 valves and weighing a ton, was completed in 1944. This machine was the first computer and succeeded in breaking the Lorenz code used by Hitler and his generals. This was designed and built by the late Tommy Flowers of the British Post Office.
Rebuilt Colussus.
Exploring Bletchley Park is tiring but, at the end of the day, we had the opportunity to relax.
Resting at the end of the day.
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© Maldon U3A 2008
Last revised: 21st May 2008. Created this page.