An exclusive peek behind the scenes at Bletchley Park
By Andy McCue
Published: 18 March 2008 12:00 GMT
Photo 2 of 8
Go to photo
This is the rebuilt Colossus Mk II computer at Bletchley Park's National Museum of Computing.
The original Colossus machine was built using more than 1,500 valves by Post Office engineer Tommy Flowers to speed up the breaking of German codes - in particular that of the Lorenz cipher.
The very existence of Colossus was kept secret as its success relied on the German's not knowing that the code could be broken.
At the end of the war destruction of most of the Colossus machines was ordered because of the secrecy around the machines, while the blueprints were burnt in a furnace – although contrary to popular belief it was not Winston Churchill who ordered the Colossus machines to be dismantled..
The machine pictured here was painstakingly rebuilt over 14 years by computer expert and former spy Tony Sale, who collected valves from decommissioned BT exchanges.
Photo Credit: Andy McCue
See more photos from Colossus here…
Photo 2 of 8
Go to photo
Thank God it was built by Bletchley Park and not M...
W.S.Becket
And the Americans reckon they invented the compute...
Don Tregartha
Sir Tommy Flowers, if you don't mind.
It took h...
Dr John Dimmock
"Am I right in thinking this predated the ENIAC or...
James Lewis-Williams
So who did order the destruction of the Colossi?
Philip Virgo
My client, a market leading producer of fruit machines and arcade games are seeking an experienced software engineer to join their development team. ...
Director of Engineering, as the Software Engineer your responsibilities will include: - Assisting with the development and testing of custom designs ...
In short, all parts of 45 staff strong firm.The goal will be to continue the market success by maintaining its position as the number one supplier of ...
Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright © 2008 CBS Interactive Limited. All rights reserved. Top of page
Digg
Slashdot
Del.icio.us
Stumble
Reddit
RSS Feeds
Seb Janacek Magic Mouse - Apple's best ever? Minority Report: After years of disappointment, one Mac lover has hope
Bethan Jones Can I use a netbook as my everyday work machine? Why silicon.com's sub editor is ditching her laptop for a sprightly mini-laptop