ID………. BP-1939
SITE…….. Bletchley Park — Government Code & Cypher School (GC&CS)
LOCATION…. Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, UK
PERIOD…… Sep 1939 – Jun 1946
MISSION….. Decrypt Axis communications (Enigma, Lorenz, Purple)
STAFF……. ≈10 000 personnel (≈75 % women)TURING…… Alan M. Turing (1912–1954) — mathematician, computing pioneer
ROLE…….. Designed electromechanical “Bombes”; led Hut 8 (naval Enigma)
IMPACT…… Shortened WWII by an estimated 2–4 years; seeded electronic computing (Colossus)
KEY TIMELINE
1939 First code-breaking teams (Turing, Knox, Welchman)
1940 Bombe Mark I in service; Luftwaffe traffic read
1941 Breakthrough on U-boat cipher (Hut 8)
1943 Colossus operational vs. Lorenz cipher
1945 Operations end; secrecy imposed
1974 Public revelations; Turing’s role recognised
1993 Bletchley Park Trust founded (site saved)
2023 AI Safety Summit hosted at Bletchley Park
NOTABLE FEATURES
- Victorian mansion + wooden/brick “huts” (Hut 6, Hut 8, Block B…)
- Pioneering tech: Bombes, Colossus, high-speed teleprinters
- Cultural legacy: interactive museum, statues & films (The Imitation Game), Turing £50 banknote
TURING NOTES
– Conceived the “universal machine” (1936) and the “Turing test” (1950)
– Persecuted for homosexuality; posthumous pardon (2013) and “Turing law” (2017)
