Computing Trip to Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park was recently awarded Best Heritage Venue at this year’s School Travel Awards and on the 7th of July, 40 Year 10 Computer Science students visited this home of the famous codebreakers during the 2nd World War. These students were not only given a tour of the grounds and living space of the codebreakers, but they were also treated to a short film revolving around the work of Alan Turing and William Tutte.
The first half of the day saw us take part in a complex workshop which detailed the use of encryption in transmitting sensitive data across a network, as well as watching a short documentary on the secret acts of the codebreakers in intercepting enemy transmissions. This documentary also showed how the acts of the codebreakers shortened the war, consequentially saving millions of lives.
After a refreshing break in the shade from the sweltering sun, we were given a guided tour of the grounds. We then ventured inside the mansion which served as the headquarters for cryptology prior to the war. We also visited the office of Commander Denniston, the head of the Government Code and Cypher School. We were then shown the numerous huts within which the transmissions would be decoded by the many people employed as the codebreakers.
Finally, we were taught about the underground people who aided our efforts, such as the three Polish scientists, Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski who originally cracked the enigma code in 1932. These scientists have a memorial at Bletchley, in the form of a stone book. Alan Turing used their original machine as the basis for his Enigma machine. By the end of this visit, we were far more informed of the lengths gone to by many different people to ensure victory and minimise the loss of life.
We are incredibly grateful to the teachers who organised this opportunity for us, Mr King, Mr Hawkins, Mr Ahmed and Mr Eaton.
Oliver Fance – 10H
