----- Original Message -----
From: "Shawn T. Rutledge" <rutledge_at_cx47646-a.phnx1.az.home.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 7:08 AM
Subject: British digital computers in 1944
> Interesting bit of discussion...I know better than to repeat the
headline
> claiming it was the first though. :-)
>
> http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/10/01/0042253&mode=thread
My understanding is that this statement is essentially correct. The
existence of Colussus I and II has been a matter of public record for
some years now, although the engineering details were not. The
GeheimSchreiber (Secret Writer) known to the BP crew as the "Fish"
machine was I think a predecessor to the Lorenz "Tunny" described in the
article, or it may even be the same machine. The ENIAC was not built
until well after the end of WWII so Colussus I and II predate it by at
least 2 years. I recall readin about it in at least 2 books, "Most
Secret War" by Dr.R.V. Jones (Head of British Scientific Intelligence
during WWII) and "The Ultra Secret" author?Possibly Fred Winterbotham -
(who was also involved in the early stages of establishing effective
British photo reconaissance - see a book called "Evidence in Camera" by
Constance Babbington-Smith, former RAF Photographic interpreter) both
mention it, and there are a couple of pictures of the original Colussus
in one or the other. Much of the detail was still classified as late
as 1980, and some specific details are STILL classified. A working
replica of the original Colossus has been built at Bletchley Park and
there is also a plan to build a replica of one of the "Bombes" used to
crack the Enigma code, following the discovery of the plans (long
thought to have been lost) in the records of the former British
Tabulating Machine Company, who were the builders. There was a brief
mention of it in the the BBC TV series "The Secret War" though it
focused more on the Enigma effort, and some details that could have gone
into the program (Made in the 80's after the bulk of material was
declassified) were still secret. ISTR that the episode of the "The
Secret War" that dealt with it was in fact called "Still Secret". Both
Constance Babbington-Smith and (now) Professor R.V. Jones appear in
several episodes of this series.
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Systems Manager
Saint Mark's College
Port Pirie,
South Australia
geoffrob_at_stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au
netcafe_at_tell.net.au
ICQ: 1970476
Received on Mon Oct 02 2000 - 20:34:52 BST