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Powys County Times
7 days ago
- General
- Powys County Times
Letter reveals how wartime codebreakers were told jobs had ended after VJ Day
Letters released by GCHQ have revealed how wartime codebreakers were granted holiday and told their jobs were over after VJ Day. The intelligence agency has published historic documents to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Japan Day, shedding light on what happened to staff who deciphered Nazi messages during the Second World War. A first letter dated August 12 1945 was sent to staff at GCHQ's wartime headquarters, Bletchley Park, days before VJ Day was declared on August 15. It said: 'All staff except the absolute minimum necessary to maintain essential services, will be granted two days paid holidays to mark the end of hostilities in Asia.' According to GCHQ, extra holiday would not have been usual for staff working at the agency, then called GC&CS (Government Code and Cypher School). The document added: 'After the VJ holidays, it is hoped that there will be no further shift working at B/P except for 'essential services'.' GCHQ staff were bound by the Official Secrets Act and were unable to talk about their secret work they carried out during the war. The second letter documents a template for telling staff their employment had ended. Their managers would have filled in the correct dates and sent it to their teams. It reads: 'Owing to the cessation of the hostilities, there is no further work for you to do in this organisation. In these circumstances there is no object in continuing to report here for duty, and with effect from ****** you are free to absent yourself. 'This letter is to be taken as formal notice of the termination of your employment in this department.' The documents show what happened to British war efforts in the days surrounding the surrender of Imperial Japan in the Second World War. At the once-secret site, wartime codebreakers used early forms of computer intelligence – cryptanalytical machines called bombes – to break the Enigma code used by the Nazis to encrypt messages, changing the course of the war and saving millions of lives. Their work enabled British intelligence to move more quickly and act on the information the Bletchley team gave them, contributing to a number of key military victories. It also sparked the industrialisation of codebreaking and helped pave the way for the first forms of the computers used today. After the war, in 1946, GC&CS became GCHQ and moved out of Bletchley Park, developing into the intelligence and cyber agency it is today. GCHQ director of technology futures Marsha Quallo-Wright said: 'As someone working at the forefront of new and emerging technology for GCHQ, understanding our rich history is as important to me as looking to our future. 'We have a lot to thank our predecessors for, and the dedication and innovation shown by those working at Bletchley Park, GCHQ's wartime home, never ceases to amaze me. 'These documents help us to understand what happened to that workforce after six long years when VJ Day was declared. I'm pleased that we're able to offer this insight into their world.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Alan Turing papers saved from shredder could fetch £150,000
Widely considered the father of theoretical computer science, Alan Turing's influence on modern life continues to be felt in the age of artificial intelligence. But despite this legacy, a cache of his most important papers was nearly shredded – only to be saved at the last minute when their significance was recognised at a family event. At auction next month, the papers are expected to sell for as much as £150,000 in 13 separate lots. Among the collection is the wartime codebreaker's personal signed copy of his 1938 PhD dissertation, Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals, valued at between £40,000 to £60,000. Also featured is his paper On Computable Numbers, also known as Turing's proof, which introduced the world to the idea of a universal computing machine in 1936. It has been described as the first programming manual of the computer age and also has a guide price of £40,000 to £60,000. The papers, known as offprints, were produced in very small numbers and distributed among fellow scholars, making these incredibly scarce survivors of a kind that rarely appear on the market. Jim Spencer, the director of Rare Book Auctions of Lichfield, Staffordshire, was asked to assess the papers, which were handed to him in a carrier bag, and he is overseeing their sale. 'Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to find in that carrier bag. I opened it and thought 'good lord',' he said. 'Intensively researching and cataloguing these papers has left me feeling that Alan Turing was superhuman. For me, it's like studying the language of another planet, something composed by an ultra-intelligent civilisation.' Turing played a vital role in cracking the German Enigma code when he worked at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, which was crucial to the allied victory in the second world war. His theories have been credited with informing and shaping modern artificial intelligence. Spencer said he expected interest would be strong in Silicon Valley, where Turing's influence continues. Turing was later persecuted for being gay and took his own life in 1954 aged 41. The discovery of the papers was the result of a series of serendipitous events. After Turing's death, his mother, Ethel, gave his papers to his friend and fellow mathematician Norman Routledge, who stored them in the loft of his home in Bermondsey, south London. Routledge died in 2013 and his sister recovered the documents during a clearout. She stored them in her attic where they remained until she moved into a care home. Her daughters then came across the papers but did not realise their significance and planned to put them through a shredder along with other documents. But last November they took them to a family reunion event and one relative suggested they seek an expert opinion. This was where Spencer came in. 'These seemingly plain papers – perfectly preserved in the muted colours of their unadorned, academic wrappers – represent the foundations of computer science and modern digital computing,' he said. The papers include The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis, from 1952. This is described as Turing's lesser-known masterpiece of mathematical biology, and his last major published work. It has since become a basic model in theoretical biology. Charged as a criminal, barred from GCHQ, banned from the US and forced to undergo chemical castration, Turing killed himself two years after his conviction. 'This injustice, and the fact he didn't survive to see his enormous influence and impact, makes these papers feel so special,' Spencer said. The sale takes place on 17 June.
