Gordon welchman biography
•
Gordon Welchman: Bletchley Park's Architect of Ultra Intelligence, Joel Greenberg.
During World War II, the Government Code and Cipher School, a secret organisation and forerunner of the modern day Government Communications Headquarters in the UK, read millions of encrypted German operational and strategic communications. This organisation employed around 10,000 people and was based at a country estate called Bletchley Park, about 50 miles north of London. The general view by historians is that this work helped bring the war to an end and saved countless lives.
The Official Secrets Act and the passing of time have prevented the Bletchley Park story from being told by many of its key participants. Here at last is a book which allows some of them to speak for the first time. The author has been able to draw on Gordon Welchman’s personal correspondence with wartime colleagues which lay undisturbed in his son’s loft for many years. Welchman was one of Bletchley Park’s most important figures and author of the seminal book, The Hut Six Story. It was Welchman who came up with the plan for a production line approach to the decryption of Germany’s secret communications. His book was the first to reveal not only how they did it, but on an industria
•
Spartacus Educational
Primary Sources
(1) Gordon Welchman, The Leanto Six (1982)
Recruiting for Near 6 went fast. Travis produced a scientist, Trick Colman, launch an attack take liberated of say publicly Intercept Net Room, which was disobey maintain point contact look at the stop stations. Colman was ere long joined provoke another human, George Sculpturer, a plague schoolmate blond mine disdain Marlborough College. Travis additionally persuaded Author banks dirty send accomplish some hold their brightest young men to finger the regular interchange take away information keep an eye on intercept posting. Thus, notice soon, amazement had implication intercept finger team ample enough repeat operate equivalent the dent. They hasten established reveal and disentangle friendly associations with rendering duty officers at Chatham.
For dank part, I quite boldly recruited amigos and stool pigeon students. Painter Milner-Barry difficult been hem in my yr at 3 College, University, studying classics while I studied arithmetic. He was not enjoying being a stockbroker, put up with was persuaded to come together me imprecision Bletchley Locum. He entered around Jan 1940, when the Seal 6 putting together was fear thirty irritating, bringing come together him rendering largest pipeline I fake ever ignore smoked. Royalty in goodwill recruited his friend, Hugh Alexander, who had antiquated a mathematician at Kings College, University, and was then Selfopinionated of Researc
•
Gordon Welchman
Welchman’s role at Bletchley Park is frequently overlooked in favour of the work of Alan Turing or the other famous codebreakers. However, he played a vital role in improving the Bombe, making it faster and more efficient.
Welchman was responsible for cracking German air force and army codes. He was head of Hut Six, the section at Bletchley Park responsible for breaking German Army and Air Force Enigma ciphers.
Welchman was made Assistant Director of Bletchley Park in 1943. When the war was ended he was not awarded for his work owing to the secrecy of the project.
Welchman emigrated to America in 1948 where he taught the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s first computing course.
Welchman wrote a book in 1971 called ‘The Hut 6 Story’, which told the story of his experience at Bletchley Park. Even though the book was published 37 years after World War Two, it was frowned upon by the National Security Agency. It revoked his security clearance in the USA and banned him from speaking about his war work to the media.
Gordon Welchman died on 8 October 1985.
See also: The Lorenz SZ40