The historic codebreaking centre that gave birth to the modern computer and provided vital assistance to the Allies in the Second World War is falling into ‘rack and ruin’, scores of computer scientists warned today. They say Bletchley Park needs cash, and fast.

In a letter to the London Times they write:

Although there has recently been some progress in generating income, without fundamental support Bletchley Park is still under threat, this time from the ravages of age and a lack of investment. Many of the huts where the codebreaking occurred are in a terrible state of disrepair.

Bletchley was home to the work that saw one of the first ever programmable computers used to crack the German ‘Enigma’ code. In its news article, the Times says:

Its mathematicians, led by the erratically brilliant Alan Turing, managed to crack the brain-achingly complex Engima codes, which the Germans thought were unbreakable. The intelligence that this generated saved countless Allied lives and may have shortened the war significantly.

As the German ciphers became ever more elaborate, the codebreakers fought back, and their efforts culminated in the Colossus, one of the world’s first programmable electronic computers. It was an advance that kick-started modern British computing.

In May the Register noted the poor state of the park, saying £1m was needed for work on the central mansion’s roof and some codebreaking huts were in “a desperate state of decay”, according to the charitable trust that runs the site.

More

Celebrating the UK’s computer pioneers – BBC history of UK computing

Photos: The Colossus WWII codebreaking machine – an exclusive peek behind the scenes at Bletchley Park from Silicon.com

Radio feature about the letter from the BBC (at 0842)