Bletchley Park Marks 80 Years Since Enigma Code Was Cracked
The British first successfully read a German Enigma code 80 years ago today.
Bletchley Park, the base of British codebreakers during the Second World War, has been celebrating 80 years since the cracking of the Enigma code.
The Germans had been using Enigma machines since 1924, with the cyphers it produced supposedly being unbreakable even by someone in possession of one of the machines that generated them.
However, Alan Turing and his team unlocked the key for the Allies while working at Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes.
By 1944, more than 3,000 German messages were being decrypted every single day.
The efforts of Mr Turing and his team are credited with shortening the war in Europe.
We are sure you are now wondering what was going on at Bletchley Park in December-January 1940 in the lead up to the break ⚙️#BletchleyParkEnigma80#Enigma80
— Bletchley Park (@bletchleypark) January 22, 2020
To mark the anniversary, Bletchley Park shared stories of the Codebreakers' crucial work on Twitter.
The museum posted a series of stories in a special '#Enigma80 Twitter Takeover'.
Despite the work of the Codebreakers, the public was not made aware of their role in the war effort until the mid-1970s due to the Official Secrets Act.
Mr Turing has since been posthumously celebrated, with his face now set to appear on the Bank of England’s new £50 note.
Cover image: PA.