Since this week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is NUMBERS, that’s all self could think of when she was in Bletchley Park, today.
The grounds are very beautiful. Self was so glad she decided to go.
Since she comes from Silicon Valley, she was most interested in checking out the claim that the world’s first electronic computer (Ahem!) was built on-site by Alan Turing’s team (And to think, all these years, self thought the first computer was made by IBM!)
Approximately 9,000 people worked here toward the end of World War II. All of them left the premises, the day after Germany made its official announcement of unconditional surrender. The documents were shredded, the machines dismantled, and the huts torn down. But the Bletchley Park Foundation has done a superb job at recreating the offices.
It’s only an hour away from London by train.
Self saw two Enigma machines and a fragment of a Colossus.
As well as tons of World War II memorabilia. One small cabinet in the Main House contains a series of memos, one dated December 1941 saying that Bletchley’s request for more material to build code-breaking machines had been denied. Right next to it is a message that came straight from the “Prime Minister’s Office” and was signed by Winston Churchill, May 1942. It’s only two sentences, the gist being: “Whatever they need, give it to them.”
Self imagined it would be inundated by people on a Saturday. But it wasn’t.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
