Rebuilt Enigma machine shaping up to be a cracker

Published on Wednesday 6 September 2006 11:48

SECOND World War code breakers are cracking the Enigma code today for the first time since VE Day in 1945.

Using painstakingly rebuilt original equipment, it is the first time in 60 years they will be able to show the world how they helped win the war.

The demonstration on the Turing Bombe at Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, will show how the British used the Enigma machine to crack codes which the Germans thought were unbreakable.

The techniques are still used in counter terrorism today, the National Codes Centre at Bletchley Park said.

Rebuilding the Bombe was a labour of love for a team of dedicated enthusiasts, made all the more difficult because of the tight security which has surrounded the machine for nearly 50 years.

The Bombe was the brainchild of mathematical geniuses Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman, combined with the engineering skills of the British Tabulating Machine Company.

The machines enabled Bletchley Park's cryptographers to decode more than 3000 enemy messages a day and turn the course of the war. Before the Turing Bombes, decoding took weeks.

The project will be launched to the public at the Churchill and Enigma Reunion weekend on September 23 and 24. This will also be a reunion of Bletchley Park's WWII veterans.