Over the weekend 5 and 6 September, Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire will be marking the 70th anniversary of the arrival of Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman at Bletchley Park with an Enigma Weekend. Their usual Enigma exhibits will multiply when over 70 more previously top-secret machines from all around the world will be on display. Another highlight will be a talk on Saturday 5 September by Prof. Tom Perera, W1YP*, entitled The U-Boat Menace and the Enigma.
As a retired "Old Crow"--Signal Intelligence soldier--I'd love to visit Bletchly Park someday.
Probably not coincidentally, the Beeb meanwhile reports that
Thousands call for Turing apology: Writer Ian McEwan is among thousands of people calling for a posthumous government apology to World War II code breaker Alan Turing.Alan Turing certainly did more than his fair share to make victory in WWII possible, not to mention being considered the father of computer science, but he was later the victim of a government witch hunt, he also being gay; the persecution led to his suicide in 1954.
ooo
*From the call sign, Professor Perera is an American ham radio operator. In fact, it would seem that the Radio Society of Great Britain got it wrong, Professor Perera is W1TP. I feel dumb just having looked at his web site.
3 comments:
WOW!!
I would love to be there.
I was introduced to Tom Perera last May in Dayton by Roberta X. He has an astounding collection of Morse keys, and one of only two known examples of a Soviet crypto machine.
Some pix at:
http://turonistan.blogspot.com/2009/05/spring-break.html
Sorry to monopolize your comments section, but I didn't know you were an Old Crow. I'm not a member, but I live about half a mile from the "AOC" building in Alexandria. Most locals just scratch their heads and wonder why the sign has a big black crow perched on it.
I should have said "former Old Crow..."
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