British digital computers in 1944

----- Original Message ----- From: "Shawn T. Rutledge" <rutledge(a)cx47646-a.phnx1.az.home.com> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 7:08 AM Subject: British digital computers in 1944 headline My understanding is that this statement is essentially correct. The existence of Colussus I and II has been a matter of public record for some years now, although the engineering details were not. The GeheimSchreiber (Secret Writer) known to the BP crew as the "Fish" machine was I think a predecessor to the Lorenz "Tunny" described in the article, or it may even be the same machine. The ENIAC was not built until well after the end of WWII so Colussus I and II predate it by at least 2 years. I recall readin about it in at least 2 books, "Most Secret War" by Dr.R.V. Jones (Head of British Scientific Intelligence during WWII) and "The Ultra Secret" author?Possibly Fred Winterbotham - (who was also involved in the early stages of establishing effective British photo reconaissance - see a book called "Evidence in Camera" by Constance Babbington-Smith, former RAF Photographic interpreter) both mention it, and there are a couple of pictures of the original Colussus in one or the other. Much of the detail was still classified as late as 1980, and some specific details are STILL classified. A working replica of the original Colossus has been built at Bletchley Park and there is also a plan to build a replica of one of the "Bombes" used to crack the Enigma code, following the discovery of the plans (long thought to have been lost) in the records of the former British Tabulating Machine Company, who were the builders. There was a brief mention of it in the the BBC TV series "The Secret War" though it focused more on the Enigma effort, and some details that could have gone into the program (Made in the 80's after the bulk of material was declassified) were still secret. ISTR that the episode of the "The Secret War" that dealt with it was in fact called "Still Secret". Both Constance Babbington-Smith and (now) Professor R.V. Jones appear in several episodes of this series. Cheers Geoff Roberts Computer Systems Manager Saint Mark's College Port Pirie, South Australia geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au netcafe(a)tell.net.au ICQ: 1970476