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| Alan Turing Tribute, Bletchley Park |
He said:
Another soggy, wet day, so we're glad to not be walking for hours in the rain.
Our day was spent doing a tour of Bletchley Park.
Bletchley Park is the secret location where Axis military communication encryption codes and methodology were cracked during the 2nd world war. The Enigma machine was a portable device used for encrypting or decrypting messages, and all german ships, U boats, army, SS units had them along with the many command centers. The Enigma unit took a text message and turned it into a very scrambled, or encrypted text message, it then took just the right method to decrypt that message. The encrypted message was broadcast by radio as morse code, which anyone could pick up, but without the method to decrypt it, the message was meaningless.
The Enigma codes were just one part of process of using the Enigma machine to establish "secure" communications links. There were 3 wheels on the unit that were changed daily according to a chart, the chart was changed monthly. There was also a random 3 digit code used and chosen by the sender, this was one of the most difficult parts to crack. Once the process and methodology were finally "cracked", the Axis Powers secure communications could be decrypted and so understood by the allies within hours of their transmission. The german and japanese forces and leadership never found out that their communications were being intercepted and understood, partly because the allied commanders were very sly about what they did with the information they obtained.
The general public did not find out about this Bletchley Park secret activity until 1974 since the system was still in use during the cold war when the USSR used the same Enigma system. The Soviets had captured Enigma units from Germany during the war on the eastern front.
Alan Turing, a Cambridge mathematician, was one of the main thinkers of the code breakers, and invented algorithms, systems, and machines that could quickly find the encryption/decryption codes, which were changed every 24 hours at midnight Berlin time. We saw a demonstration of the Turing Bombe, this was an electromechanical system which ran for some time and allowed for the discovery of the daily random encryption entries used with the Enigma. Over time, these large physical systems evolved to higher performance and became the first high speed computers ever created.
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| rebuilt Turing Bombe demonstration |
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| Enigma machine |
After leaving Bletchley Park, we were taken around to see other places in Buckinghamshire where my family had ancestors a few hundred years ago. We walked around in Aylesbury first, this is an old market town.
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| Aylesbury |
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| Aylesbury |
Then Swanbourne, a small hamlet with a church, St Swithun's
Then on to Thornborough
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| St Mary, Thornborough |
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| St Mary, Thornborough |
Tomorrow, we are off to the Heathrow area in preparation for our trip home.
She said:
Winslow (Just So Cottage B+B)
Bletchley Park
Aylesbury
Swanbourne
Thornborough
Our B+B mate, Ben, is a professional cricket umpire. He is in the area to umpire several league games which were, unfortunately, cancelled because of the rain. He says that the players don't always mind, as they get paid whether they play or not. His kids are coming to Winslow today, so we may meet them all later downstairs around the table.
Our driver, Ajim, picked us up at 9:30, and off we went to Bletchley Park. Ajim is of Indian descent, but was born in England. His dad was from Calcutta and was born under the Raj. He was interested that we were doing an Ancestry thing (R's family) as he goes back to India now and again, too, even though 70% of his family lives in England. He's a great conversationalist and knows the area well.
First stop, Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is the sight of the code-breaking facility used during WWII. We always knew the work was arduous and intricate, but touring the "campus" really gives a sense of the urgency, secrecy, camaraderie and importance of code-breaking.
The original property has Roman and Saxon roots (and archeological finds), of course.
During WWI, all of Britain's intelligence facilities were in London, but when WWII broke out, it was clear that top secret code-breaking should be housed outside of London, as London was such a prime target for German bombs.
Bletchley was a perfect sight, as it had a rail station and the A5 motorway very near by, so good transport options, and it was close enough to Oxford and Cambridge so that the best academic minds could be pilfered and commandeered for code work.
One recruiting method of the time was the crossword puzzle in the Daily Telegraph Newspaper. If one was able to solve it in 12 minutes, they were asked to come to Bletchley Park (BP) for further testing. The best mathematicians from the universities were also recruited and the best military intelligence minds pitched in, too.
BP was a very egalitarian mix of military, academics and civilians.
As you enter the museum, which is the entire campus, refurbished to look as it did during its WWII use, you are able to access an interactive touchscreen that takes you through how the Enigma machine worked.
The Enigma was the coding machine that the Germans used to send their messages during the war and Churchill was convinced that if Britain could not break the Enigma, the war would be lost.
Touring BP, you feel that Churchill was absolutely correct.
One of the British code breakers was a guy who invented (perfected?) the "punched card" operation - shout out to sister Murry who was a key punch operator in her young career days - who knew she was working on machines that were intertwined with breaking codes?
The Germans would send their encrypted messages via Morse Code, because they were absolutely sure that no one could figure out the codes of the Enigma machine.
So, anyone listening could intercept the Morse Code signals. Now, if the British could crack the many safeguards of Enigma, the benefits could be (and were) enormous.
"The Girls" of BP were crucial to the support of the code breaking effort. And, they were just that - girls. The average age was 19, with many so much younger. 17 1/2 was the minimum age the girls were supposed to be to work there, but some lied about their age and some were as young as 15!
To think of their responsibilities and dedication is extraordinary.
They were the ones who listened to the Morse Code transmissions, copied them out meticulously, typed them endlessly, and gave them to the guy code breakers. The work was intense, especially when you realize that what they were copying out made no sense - it was just lines and lines of letters that had to be transcribed without mistake.
The BP Girls swore an oath to King George to not reveal what they were working on - not even to their parents or boyfriends. They were not even able to talk about what they were doing to other girls in other buildings at BP - that is, what they did in their building, stayed in their building - no cross pollination!
It is remarkable that there were no security breaches at all. These were young girls yet they took their oath and their jobs so seriously, that they never broke their silence.
Our tour guide told us that they sometimes get ex-BP girls through and they still do not talk about their specific work.
BP was a huge operation - 3000 people worked there and came in and went out every day. The townspeople knew that something Top Secret was going on there, but they never asked what and they never questioned the need. It was a very cohesive country during that war.
The British got their big break when a German submarine was hit and sinking. Three British sailors (one was a kitchen sailor!) dove down into the sub, grabbed the Enigma "codes of the day" (they were complex and changed every day), kept the code papers dry on the way up, and got the info to BP. Unfortunately, two of the sailors were trapped in the sub and drowned, but Tommy Brown (the kitchen sailor, not even a fighting man, and not even a man - just 17 years old!) made it out with the codes, and the 4 wheel Enigma, that one act probably, really, won the war.
Since he was underage (remember, 17 1/2 was the youngest one could be) the government gave him medal, a fancy clock, and then booted him out of the Royal Navy! Crazy!
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| Tommy Brown Clock |
Alan Turing was the big computing/mathematical brain behind cracking the Enigma. His contributions to the effort were legendary and BP would not have succeeded without him. The permutations of the Enigma were estimated at, are you ready?:
158 million trillion!!!
In order to "test" the theory code breaks, the British would need to run over 17,500 "tests" a day. Impossible for humans to do without a large machine.
So, Alan Turing knitted all the needs and possible ways to solve the problems together and came up with the first real computer to run those tests.
Is he The Father of Computing?
Unfortunately, Turing was gay at a time when being gay was against the law. After the war, his options were prison or hormone treatments. He took the hormone treatments, went into a deep depression, and committed suicide.
Here's the interesting thing, Silicon Valley-wise: Turing killed himself by injecting an apple with cyanide. When he was found dead in his bed, an apple, with a bite taken out of it, was on his bedside table.
BP wonders if Steve Jobs knew this story and if the Apple logo is an homage to Alan Turing.
I hope so - it's a great story.
We had a good curry for lunch at the cafe on the BP campus.
Bletchley Park was the most wonderful museum. Our tickets are good for one year and I hope we come back to England next year in time to use them again and see more of this fascinating place.
Ajim picked us up and we went off to the first of three villages that we know have a connection to the Brooks ancestry - Aylesbury.
(Thank you Carrie for researching the Brooks family history.)
Ajim had a bit of British lore for us on the way - one of the towns in the district of Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire, is named Stoney Stratford and it is the birthplace of the saying "Cock and Bull Story".
Stoney Stratford was a coaching stop and had two inns, The Cock and The Bull. The way that people heard news then, was via coach or horse rider. It was said that the news heard at The Cock would be so distorted by the time it made it over to The Bull, that a "Cock and Bull Story" was known to be greatly different, embellished, changed, etc. from the original tale.
Another Ajim fact: The A5 is the main artery across Britain that is a straight shot. It follows a Roman road, known for their absolutely straight roads. It is said that the way they accomplished their straight roads was to build a fire in one place and another in the direction they wanted the road to go, shoot a fiery arrow from the first to the next, and so on until their perfectly straight road was built.
Aylesbury is actually a good sized town with a bustling village square that was having a market day when we were there. We went to the Tourist Information office, housed in the coaching courtyard of The King's Head, dating to 1455. The Tourist Info ladies there were quite helpful and directed us to St. Mary's Church, built in 1180. In keeping with Carrie's finding of the earliest Brooks name (de Brooke), we found that all the surnames listed in the Church up until 1380 had "de" before them.
We also learned that the market in Aylesbury has been continuously held in the square since 1577 - and that the Brooks were farming people, so it is entirely possible that R's ancestors came to that square to buy and/or sell produce.
The old, original part of Aylesbury is quite quaint and beautiful - narrow cobblestone streets and many medieval stucco and timber houses, tilted at crazy angles.
We were driven next to Swanbourne, through tiny lanes lined high with hedgerows. Very rural, no real center or High Street. A very small village, maybe even a hamlet. The church there is St. Swithun's. On entering, the first piece of info I read was a plea from the Swanbourne History Group, looking for anyone who is looking for their ancestors! (We documented the contact info for Carrie.). The History Group has been awarded a grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund, so they are keen to help all who ask.
On the WWI War Memorial summary outside the church, we found written "George Richard Brooks" - a solid connection in Swanbourne.
Next to Thornborough and another St. Mary's Church, this time St. Mary the Virgin and another memorial to The Great War - WWI. Two Brooks listed - HBR Brookes and C Brookes.
Again, the listings in the church itself (Deacons, in this case) all had "de" before their surnames until 1361.
A long and tiny-typed history of Thornborough and Buckingham inside the church made reference to Thomas de Broke, in 1351!
Thornborough still has some decayed stocks on the green and the houses are 17th century stone houses and cottages with thatched roofs!
It is not unusual or unrealistic that the Brooks name would have different spellings at different times in history and since these communities were very small and close knit and very close to each other, it is highly probable that all the de Broke, de Brooke, Brookes, Brooks surnames have blood relations.
A very productive day.
Take away fish and chips for supper. Tucked in for the night. Blog is written and Spring Watch is on.
Over and out.
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