The working-class hero of Bletchley Park you didn't see in the movies
10 hours ago
- #World War II
- #Computing History
- #Codebreaking
- The story of Alan Turing cracking the Enigma code is well-known, but the first digital electronic computer was actually built by Tommy Flowers, a Post Office engineer.
- Tommy Flowers designed and built Colossus, the world's first special-purpose electronic digital computer, to break the Lorenz SZ40 (Tunny) cipher used by Nazi high command.
- Colossus was operational by January 1944 and played a crucial role in Allied codebreaking efforts, though its existence was classified until decades later.
- Flowers' background was working-class, and he faced skepticism from Bletchley Park's elite, but his innovations in using thermionic valves for digital computation were groundbreaking.
- After the war, most Colossus machines were destroyed, and Flowers received little recognition, while American engineers were credited with building the first computer (ENIAC).
- Tommy Flowers' contributions are now being acknowledged, with efforts like the Tommy Flowers Foundation and a mural at the National Museum of Computing.
- Bletchley Park evolved from a small codebreaking unit to a massive intelligence factory, employing over 10,000 people, mostly women, by 1943.
- The breaking of Tunny involved multiple breakthroughs, including Bill Tutte's mathematical formula and Max Newman's Heath Robinson machine, which preceded Colossus.
- Flowers' legacy is celebrated as a pioneer of computing, though he remained humble and never sought personal fame.