Did you know that the building in this photograph is a major historical monument?
This is Hut 6 at Bletchley Park in the UK. Inside this modest structure, cryptanalysts and linguists worked round the clock to crack German Army & Air Force ciphers. As a direct result, World War II ended several years earlier than it might otherwise have done, saving the lives of millions of troops and civilians.
You may not know the name Bletchley Park. But you have almost certainly heard of Alan Turing and the Enigma cipher. Bletchley Park is where Turing worked, and his cryptanalysis of wartime ciphers – including Enigma – was inextricably linked with his development of information theory, and his invention of the computer as we know it today.
As the picture above suggests, this historical monument is now falling into disrepair due to lack of funding. Yet it seems important to maintain it for present and future generations…
To read more about Bletchley Park, visit the official web site at http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/.
Thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers, a campaign is in progress. For more information visit http://savingbletchleypark.org.
Last but not least, you can follow the progress of the campaign on Twitter through @Dr_Black, @mrshb2b, @bletchleypark or the #bpark hashtag.
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