Bletchley Park faces a bleak future

Monthly Newsletter September 2008

Written by Pauline Brace, Principal Information Security Consultant at GSS.

Back when Bletchley Park was under threat from being bulldozed, I was privileged enough to meet and work alongside Dr. Donald Davies, a distinguished cryptographer and pioneer of secure networking. Donald, if I remember correctly, developed Packet-switch networks. He told of his time working as a co-worker of Alan Turing – now considered the “father” of computing from his work developing the Colossus decryption computer. Colossus was given birth to at Bletchley with the help of a group of brains.

Later, I also met and prepared some training material for Tony Sale, the leading campaigner to save Bletchley and rebuild Colossus – I remember Tony telling me that his team had to search dozens of dusty old post office telephone stores in an attempt to locate the old valves needed for the rebuild. I remember him showing me the photographs of what remained of the original colossus – which looked to me little more than a wall full of some old racking and wires. Tony also brought along an original Enigma machine and told us the (alleged anyway) true story of how the machine that was used to break the Enigma code was given to the Brits by the Polish (not saved by the yanks from U-571). These were two fascinating people with an incredible story. Bletchley Park is a place of great significance and must be preserved for future generations.

Unfortunately, Bletchley is again under threat. Unlike the majority of museums, Bletchley Park receives no government funding. But you can help. There’s never been a better time to show your support for this country’s technological brilliance. To sign the e-petition, visit http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BletchleyPark/

For more info, the appeal article is at: http://www.itpro.co.uk/604953/sos-bletchley-park

This story was originally featured in the GSS Monthly Newsletter September 2008