TODDINGTON STATION, COLOSSUS AND THE BLETCHLEY PARK ENGINEER#

During a journey, on a steam train from Winchcombe to Toddington Station, I met David who told me, "I was at Bletchley Park#." Working with Bill Tutt and Tommy Flowers, he helped build Colossus# which was used for intercepting messages to German High Command and Hitler's instructions to his generals! David said his work involved wiring and installing plates. "My job was to keep Colossus going," David said, "we worked on it while it was live - 350 volts - you could get a shock!" "We worked with one hand in our pockets, because if you worked on two different parts of the machine, the current could go straight through you." After WWII, David continued his top secret work with GCHQ.

Considered to be the first version of a program controlled computer, Colossus was developed at a Post Office Research Station (GPO) and was moved to Bletchley Park in December 1943.  By January/February 1944 it was operational and working around the clock to decode German transmissions, and provide Britain with crucial information. It also confirmed that false information about Britain's invasion plans and tactics, a deliberate decoy, had been believed by Germany. Eventually there were ten machines at Bletchley Park!

The interception of the German Lorenze# SZ-40 cipher machine transmissions (tunny) led to the success of the D Day invasion, and the shortening of the war saving countless lives. This is a remarkable story and the work of David and the Bletchley Park Engineers has never fully received the acknowledgement it deserves.


Source
The Secret Life of Bletchley Park   Sinclair McKay
Station X   Michael Smith
The Colossus its Purpose.. Tony Sale  www.codesandcyphers.org.uk.lorenz/colossus
The Colossus Gallery  www.tnmoc.org/explore/colossus-gallery
Colossus   http://cryptomuseum.com/crypto/colossus/index.htm