The computer that unraveled Nazi code in World War II – 01/18/2024 – Tech

The UK’s Government Communications Office (GCHQ) has released never-before-seen images of Colossus, the secret code-breaking computer that helped the Allies win the Second World War.

The British intelligence agency published the photos, shared with the permission of the director of GCHQ, to mark the 80th anniversary of the device’s invention.

According to a statement released by the organization, the photographs “shed new light” on “the genesis and functioning of the Colossus”, which is considered by many to be the first digital computer.

The existence of the technology was kept practically completely secret until the early 2000s.

Anne Keast-Butler, director of GCHQ, said the photos were a reminder of “the creativity and ingenuity” it took to keep the country safe.

“Technological innovation has always been at the heart of our work here at GCHQ, and Colossus is a perfect example of how our team keeps us at the forefront of new technologies — even when we can’t talk about it,” she added.

The first Colossus began operating at Bletchley Park, the home of UK codebreakers, in early 1944. By the end of the war, 10 such computers were helping to decipher Nazi messages.

Equipped with 2,500 valves and more than 2 meters tall, the Colossus required a team of qualified operators and technicians to keep it running.

Often these people were part of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens) — one of the new images shows these women working with the machine.

Diagrams of the Colossus’ inner workings were also released for the first time, along with an intercepted letter that mentions “rather alarming German instructions” as well as audio of the machine in operation.

By the end of the war, 63 million characters of German messages had been decrypted by the 550 people working on the computers.

One of the notable successes of this work was to help the Allies learn that Hitler had fallen into the trap and hoped that the D-Day landings in June 1944 would take place in the city of Calais rather than Normandy.

Historians believe that computers shortened the war and helped save many lives.

In the dark

Despite its enormous impact, the engineers and codebreakers who worked on the Colossus program were sworn to secrecy — and the existence of this vital piece was kept out of the history books for nearly six decades.

Colossus was not formally disclosed as a tool of the UK intelligence services until the 2000s.

After the war, eight of the 10 computers were destroyed.

Tommy Flowers, the engineer who designed them, was ordered to hand over all documentation for the machinery to GCHQ.

Attempts to keep the project secret were so successful that Bill Marshall, a former GCHQ engineer who worked on the Colossus in the 1960s, said he had no idea of ​​the technology’s wartime role.

Marshall stated that he is now “very proud to have been involved with Colossus, even in a small way.”

Andrew Herbert, chairman of the board of directors of the National Computing Museum, based in Bletchley Park, said the release of the images was another opportunity to celebrate the lasting impact this computer had.

“From a technical standpoint, the Colossus was an important precursor to the modern digital electronic computer,” he said.

“Many of those who used Colossus at Bletchley Park became important pioneers and leaders of British computing in the decades following the war, and often lead the world in that field,” he concluded.

This text was originally published here.