Colossus - The Greatest Secret in the History of Computing

Chris Shore talks about Colossus, how it came to be, how it worked and how it changed the course of World War II. Essential viewing!
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[@antronargaiv3283]

I, too, did degree in computer engineering, almost oblivious of my mother's codebreaking work during the war (she dropped hints) at Nebraska Avenue (the BP of the US Navy). I have her discharge papers, and especially enjoy the printed notice that she was "engaged in vital work during the war which cannot be further disclosed". She was supposed to show that to prospective employers. She ended up continuing to work for the government (since she had a Top Secret clearance) until she resigned to get married and have me. As I said, we still don't know what she did, because she died in 1985, and we never pumped her for the details. One of her hints, when I started doing computer programming in high school, was to mention to me that she could sight read paper tape...of course, I pooh-poohed that, because nobody was using 5-level tape any more. Little did I know.

[@adamconroy2146]

Thanks for your story m8. A vow to non disclosure is a powerful thing hey.

[@cigmorfil4101]

I was using paper tape in 1986/7 as an off line self storage backup for data on my university machine as we had limited disk storage quota (and I had to delete some as I was running out of quota) There were also punched cards available - the bits of card punched out to make the holes are about the right size for model railway roof tiles (I collected a bag full for my brother).

[@WJV9]

Yes, I could also 'sight read' punched paper tape which was used for the Source Code for either compiler or assembler language code input. Usually the punched paper tape was a 7 bit ASCII code that was used by Teletype machines. Each line in the tape represented an ASCII character and the entire alphabet was a binary sequence starting with 'A' as 41h in Hexidecimal. In the machine shop there was another paper tape code that used a 7 bit ANSI code that was used for CNC machines and sheet metal drill and/or metal punch machines to cut patterns into sheet metal for front/rear panels of electronic controls. I also designed a code converter machine that would take in an ANSI and punch out ASCII code or vice versa read ASCII and punch ANSI code into the paper tape. We also punched mylar tape with a aluminum foil backing so that the tape could be used over and over for reproducing punch or drill patterns in sheet metal panels.

[@ronblack7870]

@@cigmorfil4101 we used punch cards at first year engineering in university in 1979. by 4th year it was terminals with a vax system. the pc had just come out as well.

[@georgen9755]

if your mom could do why then should be be digging into phones which do not belong to you

[@tomryan6461]

I thought I’d just grab a quick look at this and ended up completely absorbed for a whole hour. An incredible story, beautifully told.

[@lindaharwood6295]

Me to..... a friend sent it to me I know nothing, but he's so good That , now I'm smarter than I was yesterday!

[@jasonclairmonte8638]

Same here.

[@victorsauvage1890]

I also! (As the great German mathematician, Hilbert put it, one cannot say that one fully understands what one is doing, until one is able to explain it to the man in the street.)

[@donporter8432]

Same here! Mind-blowing!

[@chronosschiron]

really me too

[@cedriclynch]

My father Arnold Lynch (1914-2004) worked on the optical tape reader for Colossus at the Post Office Research Station. He said nothing at all about it until the mid 1970s when the USA authorities released a lot of formerly secret papers without looking closely at those that were more than 30 years old. Some of these papers contained mentions of Colossus but not details of how it was used. My father said very little about Colossus from then until about 2000, by which time he was participating in Tony Sale's rebuild and a lot more information was officially released. Then he said that the real secret was the fact that the UK intelligence could break the code generated by the Lorenz SZ40 and similar machines, because the diplomatic and intelligence services of numerous countries continued to use this type of machine in the belief that it was totally secure. Tony Sale originally got permission in the late 1990s to build only a non-working replica, and I heard that there was a bit of trouble when the authorities became aware that he was building a working replica although they then decided that he could continue with it. The Post Office Research Station moved to Martlesham, Suffolk in the 1970s and the Dollis Hill buildings were demolished and replaced by new houses. One of the new roads on the site is named after Tommy Flowers.

[@therealzilch]

Fascinating history, thanks very much. cheers from cloudy Vienna, Scott

[@marcosmark3007]

Hello, you historie is interesting, but, only one question, why the allied, USA, prohibited make a replica?, and, Colossus, maybe, you Mr. father explain how power?, power logic, programs?, maybe cards whit holes?, thanks for your answer, one greetings from LATAM friend

[@cedriclynch]

@@marcosmark3007 It was the UK authorities that wanted to keep Colossus secret. Many countries' diplomatic and intelligence services continued to use cryptography equipment such as the Lorenz, Enigma and Geheimschreiber until quite recently, believing them to be completely secure. The UK intelligence was able to read the messages using the Colossus. There were some weaknesses in the German cryptography machines that gave opportunities to crack the code, for example some of them would never encode a letter as that same letter. Also in some cases the machines were not being used to apply as many stages of scrambling as they were capable of. These weaknesses could have been fixed if the users of the equipment had realised that the messages were being successfully intercepted. This is why the real secret was the fact that the UK intelligence was successfully intercepting the messages. The intercepted information was always paraphrased and also given a plausible but false cover story about how it had been obtained before being passed to government officials, so that if any information leaked it would not be a word-for-word reproduction of the intercepted message and so it would not be obvious how it was obtained. It would only have needed one politician to boast "we are reading the enemy's secret messages" to bring the whole interception operation crashing down.

[@cedriclynch]

There are now books and television programmes that explain the principles on which the Colossus works. It does not use punched cards; the intercepted message in Morse code or teleprinter code is put on an endless loop of punched paper tape that can be run through the photocell-based reader at 5000 characters per second (the reader, which my father worked on the development of, could read 10000 characters per second but the tape was too liable to break if run as fast as this). The subsequent processing was all electronic. The machine has a memory of a few hundred bits, implemented by thyratron valves (called tubes in the USA) which have the characteristic that once signalled into an electrically conducting state they continue to conduct until the current is externally interrupted. This characteristic is obtained by filling the valve with mercury vapour. Normal valves/tubes have a vacuum inside them.

[@marcosmark3007]

​@@cedriclynch thanks for answer me, nice to meet you Mr., and i thing what the historie remenber every time to people how your father, that change the hitler crazy war, insane hitler, the manking are only one, but, maybe, the historie is for living, and people, genially people, coming to the this earth to do the good, should born in this dates, your father is one of this people, genially, again one greeting, bye

[@johnvanslykejr.8033]

To Chris Shore: I will be 80 in October and I began working with computers in 1962. By now, I have heard most of the stories about the seminal events spanning the precursor, birth and key developments of the computer industry. This story about what was achieved by a relative handful of people at Bletchley Park and the creation Collusus is right up at the top. You did a brilliant research -- teasing out information as you call it -- to assemble the facts and the story line., Your presentation flow was outstanding with elegant illustrations in the mathematical sense of the word elegant. Hear hear. Well done. Wonderful job story belling. I agree with the dedication at the end, and the poignancy of the words by the woman whose husband died without ever knowing what she did. The utter banality of the age in which we live here in the United States is in sharp contrast to the times and culture of the UK that produced the people you recognized and the 12,000 others at Bletchley Park. There will never be another group like them, nor a nation like the UK during World War II.

[@oldedwardian1778]

I was so happy to read your comments, I also am 80 yo and began my computer career in about 1963. I worked on a machine made by Remington Rand, a UNIVAC SS80. I was fascinated by the technology and this set me up for a wonderful career in computing and telecom. I was hired by an American corp and came to the USA in 1970, where is worked on a variety of machine from IBM 360, Honeywell 200, 400 and 800s. Then I worked for HO ON THE MARVELOUS HP3000. Then I changed to the networking world and actually knew Dr. Robert Metcalfe the developer of ETHERNET. Then I worked for CISCO Systems who have become the giant of networking, I ended up working for several Silicon Valley startups in the 1990s. I had a wonderful and exciting career, but knew comparatively little about Colossus and the people at Bletchley.

[@richardmcgraw9797]

There is a very interesting TV series called Bletchley Park, I think it was on Acorn Tv or BBC. It is well worth watching.

[@markiobook8639]

did you meet the true creator of digital computers Konrad Zuse?

[@nosadeussuramus9113]

The comment section is a pool of wonderful people meeting and exchanging old memories. Please share more, I love reading all about the great time and culture that era produced.

[@victorsauvage1890]

Chris Shore would be greatly moved by your comments.

[@neddreadmaynard]

"I hope you found it as fascinating as I did" Mate, I could have listened to a couple more hours of that. Wonderful.

[@puhnpicker]

Hear, hear !!!

[@wiseguy8828]

Same. If Chris Shore (the speaker) ever sees these comments…yes, I found this infinitely fascinating. It’s amazing that so many computers were “born” in the 40’s while the world was busy trying to destroy itself.

[@neddreadmaynard]

@@wiseguy8828 Absolutely. But there is a terrible flipside to that fact, often in history our biggest leaps in technology come from military intervention, the Apollo program being a prime example where the rockets were repurposed ICBM missiles. The desperation of war brings out the best in us...we're a funny old animal aren't we.

[@nicholasperry2380]

Yes. Yes. Yes. A piece of KZbin gold that made the last hour fly by. I wonder how many who've watched this had relatives there but never got to know?

[@JAckSprat]

Watch it again. It’s as fascinating as it was the first time.

[@Ferdybroom]

as a non mathematician I can only be in complete awe of the human intellects behind this breathtaking machine, and the profound and difficult insights that made it possible. Truly there were giants in those days, and thank god for it.

[@markiobook8639]

Konrad Zuse.

[@klystrom]

Many credit Herr Zuse with the invention of the stored programme computer

[@JohnMayo911]

As an ex-BT apprentice, I went to visit Colossus at Bletchley Park back in 2000, where a piece of paper proudly stated that Colossus had been demmed "Year 2000 compliant! I visited again a few years later when I donated an old RCA AR-88D radio receiver I used in by early HAM days to the museum. They used dozens of these as their listening sets. The sound of the uniselectors stepping through the settings before homing back to the start sent me right back to my days on maintenance in a Strowger exchange.

[@nicktangent9188]

I came looking for some intelligent entertainment -- I wound up deeply fascinated for an hour or more. Many of us Brits of a certain age will recognize how closely this touches our individual history. Thank you Chris!

[@N0B0DY_SP3C14L]

Well done, sir. I'm not a computer scientist, programmer or cryptographer, or anything remotely related to those fields, and yet this presentation was gripping, to the very end. Thank you, Mr. Shore, for sharing this piece of history, and making the honest effort to set our world's history straight. It matters more than any single government's pride.

[@simontay4851]

fuck the government and the official secrets act. Everyone who worked at bletchly park should've revealed their secrets before they died. Anyone still alive should also reveal any official secrets before they die.

[@gmailcom-ii2to]

Excellent presentation. I'm an American and visited Bletchley Park and the Computer History Museum. Both are worth visiting. As a Yank, you get a much different story about what went on at Bletchley Park during the war than what we are told and shown on TV. Incredible story, well told.

[@saturn5tony]

I have been in computer science most all of life looking at over 45 years and I have never been so moved. Colossus is the most amazing thing we ever did.

[@victorsauvage1890]

The lecturer would be warmed by your comment.

[@beagle7622]

I am just speechless. What these guys did was beyond anything I can even think.

[@bobanundson9247]

As a graduate in mathematics and employed as a programmer in 1965 I am truly grateful for your presentation. As you Britsh folks say, brilliant.

[@BronxGrrlX]

A wonderful presentation, thank you to Chris Shore! I was at the NSA museum 2007 or so and the curator, after seeing my interest in the ENIGMA machine exhibit, took me to their research area to show me items they had in the collection, at one point he solemnly said, here is a piece of the most important computer ever made, Colossus. It was a hand-sized square of metal with internal mechanical structure, and in no way could I divine its original purpose - but I held it! I had no real concept of the bit of history I was privleged to see and touch until this talk.

[@markhughes7927]

Nice story - touching history!

[@victorious263]

To tit

[@victorious263]

😅Uy😅

[@michaeledwards2251]

There is a terrible black drop : Churchill gave an order all the Colossos not in use for secret work were to be broken up into hand sized pieces preventing the dissemination of the technology for non-military use. The piece you held represents a terrible waste of potential.

[@theodoreivanov6257]

This is one of the most fascinating lectures I have ever had the privilege of listening to. Thank you for justly bringing back the memory of all the geniuses involved.

[@MrDaiseymay]

He related all the most important issues, by most of the geniuses, and not just Turing.

[@20chocsaday]

It is the second time I have chosen to listen to it

[@tome57a]

After hearing the entire story, I was profoundly moved by Chris Shore's dedication at the end. What an inspiring story. There has got to be a place in paradise for the architects, code-breakers, and entire team who made this technological miracle possible. As a software professional, I am awed.

[@malnaai6467]

yeah. wow. my hat goes off to flowers. life can be a bitch.

[@andrewnusroot2754]

You have certainly done the story justice and I agree, the people involved should be recognised. Thank you for telling the story !

[@williamhoward7121]

Tommy Flowers needs to be recognized as the true father of modern computing. Great presentation!

[@johnstevenson1709]

I feel like the fact he would have been an upper working class 'technician' rather than an academic made him even easier to sweep under the carpet

[@markwilliamson9199]

Don’t forget Konrad Zuse, predates

[@grey5626]

@@markwilliamson9199 Most would also cite the Babbage difference engine as prior art, though unlike Konrad Zuse's devices, no difference engine was completed in Babbage's own lifetime. I would at a minimum cite automata such as Jaquet-Droz's The Writer from the late 1700s which not only significantly surpasses the proven minimum bound of Turing completeness as Wolfram's 2,3 postulate (proven in 2007), but would be what 1980s personal computer enthusiasts would refer to as a "word processor". It seems plausible that even earlier examples of mechanical computers exist (e.g. the Antikythera mechanism estimated to have been dated between 87B.C.E. and approximately 200B.C.E.) though much of what is known about them is lost to time.

[@TheValmal]

My next pc build will be named in honor of Tommy flowers

[@cjmacq-vg8um]

MY GOD! you're applauding your own damned slavery. electronics, computers, digitization and technology have proven to be a total DISASTER for humanity! it has created a species completely addicted to and dependent on a police-state owned and operated by corporate elite that cares NOTHING about you. technology DOESN'T exist for our benefit but for the benefit of our oppressors. here's a question for you - since when did gangster profiteers and their technocrat lapdogs get to unilaterally decide - DICTATE - the direction of our species and our planet. did you vote for this police-state? a society that tracks, data-bases and spies on your every move? that enslaves you to OVERPRICED, undependable and vulnerable technology that not only knows and catalogues everything about you but also controls EVERY aspect of your life? i didn't vote it. but here it is PREVENTING me from functioning in my OWN society and locking me out for no other reason than because i don't possess the right police-state products! I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN YOUR DAMNED DISGUSTING POLICE-STATE DYSTOPIA! I'M NOT THAT DAMNED STUPID! but unfortunately, because 90% of humanity is that stupid, i must SUFFER for their stupidity! and i'm damned sick of it! what the hell's wrong with you idiots?

[@plymouthvolare]

I watched this KZbin video for one hour straight with no pausing and complete attention. Fascinating! Thank you for the presentation.

[@stevehomer7741]

When they make a movie on this story It should be Titled "Colossus, The Flowers Project"

[@mikeanderson1604]

There was a movie made in the early 70's called colossus!

[@GaryMCurran]

@@mikeanderson1604 'Colossus: The Forbin Project' It was 60/70's science fiction, based on the books from 1966. Personally, I'd rather see 'Colossus: The Flowers Project' as a historical piece on what it took to put this Colossus together, the story leading up to it's design, and construction.

[@russcattell955i]

@@GaryMCurran I remember the film "The Forbin Project" quite a chilling message. I suspect inspiration for Skynet in the Terminator films.

[@johnangelico667]

That's cheeky! Well said, that man!!

[@bigbaddms]

Colossus: The Forbin Project was awesome! Highly recommend

[@antonylawrence7266]

Thought I knew a lot about Bletchley, well I do now. Flowers is a bloody hero.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

Him and Turing, both bloody heroes!

[@kuroneko9710]

@@owenshebbeare2999 I would put Turing first...

[@FGZKlunk]

Flowers came from what is now East London, but at the time leafy Essex, and as far as I am aware was pretty much self taught/self funded as an engineer.

[@MrDaiseymay]

@@FGZKlunk And son of a Bricklayer. So no influence to take up Electro-Mechanical Engineering either. The fruits of his mind were beyond value, and even beyond the machine he created. Think of the commercial value he might have earned, and was due to him.

[@blakebrown7794]

I find it fascinating that so many people were sworn to secrecy and kept it! Unfortunately the historical intrigue in the algorithm development was in all intents lost forever to remain a mystery; but it shows how intense the danger was for people living at that time, that they willingly destroyed every record of what the had accomplished. Makes me wonder if the back engineering of alien craft are kept so secret today because of the same commitment to security as they had done there on the past! The funny thing is the old adage of the victors write the history dies not apply when they destroy the information that had made them ... Victorious!

[@TheSeashel]

I'm not a computer scientist, or mathematician but my Dad installed in me an interest in the code breakers of Bletchley Park. Even as a lay person, for whom the technical aspects are a little bewildering, this is an incredibly fascinating presentation. My Dad, who was a computer scientist, would have loved this so much. Thank you.

[@anorman67]

I hate KZbin LOL.. It randomly gives me suggested video's to watch, I click on it, and viola, an hour later I've watched the entire video completely enthralled at what I just learned! All kidding aside, My hats off to Chris for this presentation, and especially the 12,000+ people at Bletchley Park who did so much. And now I need to take a trip to England to tour Bletchley Park :-)

[@RockPowerUSA]

Wow, great correction of history and honoring those deserved for respect. Mr. Flowers, we salute you🇺🇸

[@paul.newland]

There are no words adequate to describe what we all owe to what was achieved here by the sheer brilliance of the people involved in this endeavour. 💪🏼🇬🇧💪🏼

[@featherbrain7147]

I have a substantial book called "Colossus, the secrets of Bletchley Park's codebreaking computers", by B. Jack Copeland and others, published by the Oxford University Press 2006. It covers the smaller machines as well as Colossus, and the engineers involved. It delves into the codebreaking pocess in detail and hardware details about the code wheels. It makes fascinating reading.

[@BurnleyNuts]

Who the hell thumbs down a wonderful and important piece of wartime, mathematics, engineering and early computing knowledge such as this?! Perfectly presented.

[@markiobook8639]

people who know the ENTIRE history of computing where Konrad Zuse is criminally absent. RAF Captn Eric "Winkle" Brown, "they were at least a decade ahead of us".

[@bj6515]

@@markiobook8639 Konrad Zuse the who helped and was supported by the Nazi party?

[@clown134]

modern neo nazis in the comments.. erm i mean "american conservatives"

[@bdhaliwal24]

This is a must-view presentation that anybody in science or technology needs to view. Amazing.

[@tpboeh]

I was fortunate to see Tony Sale give a talk on this in front of the Colossus at Bletchley - an amazing achievement by those who built it and used it in their work. Many of us post-war boomers probably are here because of what they did during WWII.

[@mylifepart2]

so cool....

[@MrDaiseymay]

I met Tony Sale too.

[@PastaAivo]

What an amazing story. Incredible that such a piece of technology remained hidden, while at the same time overshadowing a lot of the technology from the same era.

[@duncanparsons]

What a marvellous presentation, thank you. My grandfather was involved in similarly secret endeavours, but in photographic development and the reconnaissance side of things. He sadly died of a heart attack in 1967, and it has only been in the last ten years that we've discovered what he did - he'd kept up his end of the Official Secrets Acts, never even telling my grandmother! His first son, my uncle, was on the first degree course in Computing offered by Manchester University, starting just as Newman was retiring. He went on to a career which culminated in being very active in the development of the Transputer with Inmos. I love seeing things like this that have a wide appeal to a subject in general, but also some personal touchpoints.

[@rumi9005]

A BIG thank you to Chris Shore for a wonderfully comprehensible explanation of an extremely complex story. Only about 10% of your presentation actually went over my head. And that was the mathematical part, of course. Very, very well done.

[@jack.b.nimble7446]

That was a brilliant presentation about some fascinating people doing extraordinary work. Thanks to Chris Shore for a comprehensive technical and historical discussion of the Colossus. Really well done.

[@mrroobarb]

Absolutely amazing - this kind of instructional video should be compulsory viewing for school kids. Please keep showing this content.

[@maryrafuse3851]

Bruce Morgan I agree with you! Compulsory for all school children. Yes!

[@ohgosh5892]

Children should be compelled to watch everything adults think is great. That way, they should have finished watching by the time they are about 500 years old...

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@ohgosh5892 lol Most children would watch tv for the next 500 years if they could anyway! Sadly, they grow up...

[@ohgosh5892]

@@Stelios.Posantzis Haha! There is that.

[@ohgosh5892]

@@poetryflynn3712 "I think it's silly there's the need to dumb down things for children " The Daily Mail crowd have created a truly sentimental attitude to 'children'. As a 12/13 year old, I knew what an XOR was, what Boolean algebra was, and for that matter, what an 807 was, too, and an OC45 and a BC109... Most children are not like that.

[@taketimeout2share]

My Mum, June Hopewell, was a WREN who changed the "Bobbins" as she called them. When the secrecy acts were relaxed in the 70s (I think) she tried to tell us. I wasn't in the slightest bit interested. nor was Dad, to whom she never revealed anything. We got a bit annoyed when she tried to reveal to us just how special and important the work was. I feel terrible about it now. She died in 97 and I miss her for the things even more important than Bletchley. We only get one Mum so look after them.

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Why don't you use your real name?

[@keithlillis7962]

I think many of us born after the war have similar regrets. My mum was a WRAF during the war and I never really listened either. Something I regret now, but we were young and have to forgive ourselves. All the best.

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

@@keithlillis7962 At least you employ your real adult name...

[@BartzabelAlgol]

I miss my mom so terribly, my dad to, lost them both in 06 and 08.

[@pepesworld2995]

man that was amazing. i love how he fed the tapes into the machine and made the lengths coprime so they'd do every possible combination

[@marklawes1859]

Superb. I think we should rename one of our public holidays 'Tommy Flowers' day.

[@ohgosh5892]

Frankly, I'd rather have a bank holiday to celebrate the formation of the EU, which was, and remains, specifically designed to avoid a repeat of these events. Let's start celebrating peaceful, positive, things, rather than 'two world cups and one world war', please.

[@mazdaman1286]

Yes , a man of sheer brilliance and overlooked by so many.

[@ohgosh5892]

@@mazdaman1286 "a man of sheer brilliance and overlooked by so many." He was overlooked because his name was a state secret, at least in associated with Bletchley. There wasn't even a mention of him at Bletchley 25 years ago. So not really overlooked so much as hidden. It's wonderful having fantastic presentations on how great all the work was, it's appalling how badly the people who did the work were treated. Turing hounded to death, Flowers hidden, never credited with one of the most important electronics designs ever. Others hounded in the US for their traffic analysis knowledge. Let's not spin this as 'our finest hour'. It wasn't. It was *their* finest hour, and a tragedy for them all, too.

[@patrickpaganini]

@@ohgosh5892 That is a completely different thing to celebrating Tommy Flowers. However, I do agree with you that that is indeed why the EU was formed (and before it, the Pan Europa movement).

[@johnburns4017]

Frank Whittle's Dad was a mechanic of working class origin. Tommy Flowers' Dad was a bricklayer of working class origin. Both changed the world.

[@rogeratygc7895]

Thank you for an excellent talk. It is a shame that Tommy Flowers was never honoured as he should have been. In the 1970s I tried to borrow "The Collossus" by Brian Randell from the British Library; result - silence. 10 or 15 years later I was asked if I still wanted it, and I said yes. Result: the same. I wonder who was alerted that I was asking!

[@artysanmobile]

I’m in awe. Your live narration of this almost incredible tale was, for me, perfection. Thank you forever!

[@brianmosse]

This is the most worthwhile video I have ever seen on KZbin. Now when I say "rock on Tommy" I will think of the genius that was Tommy Flowers.

[@petepenn1]

Agreed excellent but.. there are many out there who are hidden like Robert Sephre and or Atlantean Gardens on YT. Peswiki is a good site for inventors. Quality is king!

[@ReadyToDanceAcademy]

Thank you for mentioning Polish scientists that started the work on braking Enigma!

[@Touay.]

We brits owe a great debt to the poles who did the initial work and got it to england before the war.

[@somebodyelseful]

I thought it was the Polish Resistance, who smuggled parts - or even a complete machine - to England for stripdown and analysis. not Polish scientists. Dd I remember that wrongly?

[@Touay.]

@@somebodyelseful polish intelligence made progress on breaking enigma before germany invaded. I think there is a vid on the mark felton yt channel on the subject.

[@ReadyToDanceAcademy]

@@somebodyelseful they have created a replica of enigma: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Enigma_double Plus the first decrypting bomb machine was build before the war in Warsaw. Later the whole centre with many bomb machines was setup. A small Bletchley Park en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomba_(cryptography)

[@petepenn1]

@@ReadyToDanceAcademy Met many very smart Polish people here in Canada and their vodka is way better than than most Russian varnish! And their food is tastier too!

[@GodmanchesterGoblin]

This was just brilliant. This came up in my KZbin recommendations. As someone who met Tony Sale just a few times in the 1990's I had become aware of his work and of Colossus, and had heard him deliver presentations on the subject. But for me this was the clearest and easiest to follow explanation of its workings and background that I have seen, and it also added a great deal of context, regarding both the solving of the Lorenz ciphers and also to the timing of related events in WW2. Well done, and thank you.

[@DavidSmith-wy3ii]

The weather forecast that 5th of June would be very stormy came from a light house on the west coast of Ireland. and apparently the light house keeper got a call from Britain, asking what the weather would be like over the next few days and he confirmed that the 6th of June would be fine. I actually met the grandson of the light house keeper and he confirmed this to me.

[@horacedamino5401]

Great job using simple slides, engaging and thoughtful dialogue to bring Colossus to life.

[@Railfandepot]

Thank you. This is information that needs to be well known. And the presenter here gave it the gravitas and respect the information deserves.

[@MarcelHuguenin]

What an amazing story so passionately told! It is just sad that these people were not credited for the huge contribution they made and had to die without being recognised for it. This was an excellent presentation, very well explained. I would hope this story becomes more known to a broader public. Thank you very much!

[@gasgas2689]

It really goes to show that a medal for work in a war is just a bit of metal on a ribbon. It doesn't mean that you have done something greater than others who never got medals but did far greater things than the medal winners.

[@sho2smo426]

-

[@gordonemery6805]

Really enjoyed the video thanks,about 10years ago I was doing some building work near where I live and was befriended by an elderly gentleman who lived across from where I was working ,he got talking about the war and how he was taken prisoner and escaped and he ended up at blechley park ,he said would you like to see who've got in my shed from there,yes please I said,it was full of glass valves, and other stuff like the old TV's had some were massive ,he told me he was working with microwaves,a lovely man Reg,not all hero's Carry rifles ..

[@andrewleftwich6766]

Thank you Mr Shore, living near Bletchley I have visited a number of times to the museum even before the lottery funding when the huts were in very poor repair and the exhibits were all in the house. Some of your exposition was way over my head but what a great hour of history, once again correcting the skewed view of history perceived by some quarters. A privilege to listen to your knowledge.

[@olivialambert4124]

I expected to watch 5 minutes of the intro and move on. I didn't expect myself to be intently listening throughout the entire journey. Very interesting, well delivered, absolutely brilliant.

[@AK-nb6hz]

My goodness, this is one of the best talks I've seen. What an amazing story.

[@whimpypatrol5503]

There's a post office joke about the naked man statue called "The Thinker" that he was a postal worker. The joke goes like this, "Do you know why he wasn't wearing any clothes? It was because the post office wouldn't pay him for thinking."

[@AlwaysBastos]

One of these survived; I saw it in 1966 or 67 at Northampton College of technology (now a university) where I was a student. It was in a basement at the Electrical department and could be powered up, it had a ventilation system for the heat from all the valves. Northampton is near Bletchley. Someone should check if it is still there!

[@doctorpc4x4]

That was one very fascinating presntation and probablythe best I have ever seen. Thank you Chris Shore. My career has been because of Colossus. I started with Computers in 1976 programming in CP/M and progressed through Network engineer, t System Admins to finally for the last 30 years working for myself supporting small businesses with their computing issues

[@twosongs7396]

Thank you so much for this long overdue tribute for these unsung Heroes

[@5052Kevin]

Excellent explanation of how complex the Lorenz machine was and Bill Tutte's huge intellectual achievement of working out how the machine worked, without having even seen it!

[@supertuscans9512]

In a world a geniusly clever people at Bletchley and the incredible things they pulled off, in terms of an academic achievement I believe that Tutt’s was probably the the most astounding of them all.

[@robertnarmstrongjr3920]

As an American who was born in June 1947 because my Father returned from the war I thank each and every person who worked at Bletchley Park. They may not have been recognized in life but they are engraved on my heart.

[@gnored]

Outstanding presentation ... one of the best I've ever seen on any and/or all other subjects. Thank you!

[@Underestimated37]

This was fantastic, I’ve watched it twice now! I’d really love to see more of this kind of thing

[@christopherlawley1842]

Computerphile is the channel for you

[@tonystalker8266]

What a fascinating, well presented talk, and to recognise at last the contribution that Bill Tuttle and Tommy Flowers made, absolutely brilliant.

[@canuckcorsa]

Very well done. In IT for 40 or so years and starting out with tape readers this hit a chord!

[@irondiver2034]

This was a truly fascinating presentation. Mr Flowers and the rest deserve so much more credit for there efforts. Damn our governments for their overuse of the classification system. It has almost nothing to do with national security but everything to do with saving politicians from embarrassment.

[@someperson8151]

Couldn't allow the Russians to know how ahead-of-the-curve the allied code breakers were. Some were probably employed throughout the Cold War.

[@irondiver2034]

@@someperson8151 both the US and GB were riddled with Soviet spies. Because many people in government actually sympathized with the socialist cause. In other words, the Soviet spy game was light years ahead of ours. I am sure that if they want to rebuild a perfect working copy of colossus the plans can be found in the Kremlin archives.

[@georgewalden1017]

@@someperson8151 They were.

[@georgewalden1017]

@@irondiver2034 The Soviet spies were definitely not light years ahead. Think how it all ended.

[@irondiver2034]

@@georgewalden1017 their spies were crap, but their ability to subvert Americans was masterful. Think of the Aldrich Aimes case. It wasn’t Soviet field craft, just good ole fashion greed.

[@funkyplasmaman]

Bill Tutte is on par with Newton for his Brilliance and Flowers was the epitome of applied science engineering. I was in my 20s before I'd ever heard of either but knew of the Enigma breakers long before.

[@larryniidji]

As an old flight simulator guy that passed on the option to go into crypto, I found this amazing. Thank you so much!

[@GaryMCurran]

Funny, I was going to be a crypto guy who was asked to work on flight simulators instead. Career wise, the worst decision of my life, but on a personal and family level, the absolute best decision I ever made. My family, as it is now, sisters and their husbands and families, brother and his family, stepfather,, all exist because of that decision. Has nothing to do with this video, only your comment. LOL

[@RouteOneTwoEight]

Great presentation Chris, thanks for doing all the hard research work and telling this great story. I enjoyed it very much

[@GaryMCurran]

When I first saw this, of course, I had no knowledge of Colossus. In fact, my only thought was 'Colossus: The Forbin Project', a 1966 science fiction novel, and later, a 1970 movie. I, as many people, was under the impression that ENIAC was the first digital computer, albeit rather limited. I want to thank you for bringing such an unknown, but wonderful machine to light, and to reveal for all the world to know, how groundbreaking this was, and how important Tommy Flowers was to computing.

[@jfbeam]

There are a great many thing we'll never know about tucked away behind mountains of "classified". It's amazing what they managed to do with pencil and paper, and then wires and vacuum tubes. ("valves") Enigma is a very impressive device, even today, and it's basically a ball of wires. ('tho there's a bit of math behind how they're connected... plaintext never equals cyphertext, etc.)

[@MrDaiseymay]

Very well said. One little known fact--The British only informed the Germans about Bletchley , and Colossus, in the late 1970's, when West Germany joined Nato.

[@richardvernon317]

@@MrDaiseymay West Germany Joined NATO in 1955. Nobody outside of the people who knew about it during the war and after had any idea about it until 1976/77 when some documents about it were released on the 30 year rule.

[@pdrg]

Makes me so emotional to see the brilliance of this

[@djr1943]

Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for bring to light all the unknown people who initiated the computer world that we know today. Wonderful presentation! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@chrisjacquier5226]

Brilliant delivery of the facts about the development of Colossus and the roles of Tiltman, Tutte, Newman and, at long last, Tommy Flowers. We need to see a film made about them, they who, as Shore said, saved innumerable lives by their work. The true heroes of their time and upon whom all subsequent computing activities stand and with the protection of this country.

[@cavoliamerenda4501]

Nothing less than a phenomenal lecture. Thank you for the excellent job.

[@osgrov]

That was a really good talk. Kudos to Mr. Shore and everyone involved.

[@lwhite1523]

Thank you so much, Mr. Shore. Wonderfully told - engaging, informative, and with wonderful gratitude to those who went before all of us today. Fantastic!

[@benheideveld4617]

Science, Computation, History, Warcraft, one of the most fascinating presentations I watched. Ever.

[@gregbowen617]

Wow, what a fantastic presentation about this subject! I really enjoyed the way you empowered the people who were so influential in this important historical experience!

[@josephcoon5809]

Thank you for that. That was truly a great generation to achieve so much with less than what we take for granted today. Even people like Hedy Lamarr get very little recognition for contributions to our wireless networks that kids today completely take for granted. Thank you for your work in recognizing those great people.

[@rontencati1027]

Thank you for the history lesson and for bringing credit to those who worked so hard on a project they were unable to talk about. The Eisenhower story of D-Day was fascinating!

[@silencedogood7297]

Terrific presentation ! ! Brilliant work by brilliant Brits ! !

[@alanofwales2583]

Thank you so much - idk how many times I've watched this, and/or shared the link with others, but it is so refreshing to have Colossus and those who made it happen, and what it accomplished, brought out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Thank you for taking the time to put this together, and educate and inform a curious segment of inquisitive people!!

[@larrystone654]

Thank you for sharing, and therefore preserving, this fascinating piece of history.

[@d.-_-.b]

Astonishingly elegant presentation so adept at keeping me intrigued throughout!

[@Bitwise1024]

What an absolutely amazing story, and brilliantly told by a man who is obviously passionate about the subject. This is a piece of computing history that I was completely unaware of. Thank you.

[@dsudikoff]

As a son of a D-Day soldier, a computer engineer and a Jewish person, it's great to see how the work of these people contributed to the saving of so many lives. Thank you so much for putting this talk together. One really minor quibble: There is some debate about the role of the Enigma deciphering in the Battle of the Atlantic. Some historians have suggested that airborne radar and a change in tactics (initiated by a courageous Corvette captain) turned the tide , especially begining in Bloody May 1943.

[@epgallinj222]

Incredible presentation. I was riveted. Knowing the names of those behind this mammoth task makes it real. Bravo sir......Bravo.

[@prillewitz]

A fantastic recap and sublimation of the history of Enigma and Colossus. Great to watch!

[@vicsutton2]

So facinated by this lecture and so well put over, you could have carried on for me - many thanks Chris.

[@garyr.8116]

Great presentation! A lifelong professional in electronics & computers myself, with a keen interest in Brit-made technology contributions - fascinated to hear this story in this detail. Bravo!

[@daviddredge1178]

I thought I knew a lot about the war but most of this was new to me. Amazing story, well told.

[@robinwells8879]

When you put a multi disciplinary team together and motivate them well you often end up with a group with seemingly super human capabilities. I can only imagine how extraordinary it would have been to be a fly on the wall amongst such giants. If you go to Bletchley on a cold day then the room with colossus in is by far the warmest!

[@brianspencer6397]

The Wrens used the rooms containing the Collossi as clothes driers in wet weather..... ('Colossus', Jack Copeland, Oxford Press)

[@ralphc3884]

Worked on old IBM unit record equipment 45 years ago, those vacuum tubes do kick up some heat.

[@clown134]

and back then americans actually understood the need for opposition to fascism. nowadays they literally throw antifascists in jail

[@htmagic]

This is a fascinating piece of history that most were unaware of. Thank you for a wonderful presentation. Brilliant!

[@Lars_Paulsen]

If you're ever asked to work for the military; Make sure they pay you in advance. They have a tendency to forget when they don't need you anymore...

[@surferdude4487]

It is a great shame that after more than a year this video only has 70K views. It is an even greater shame that Flowers did not get any recognition for his monumental achievement during his lifetime.

[@no_rubbernecking]

Seeing this first time 19 hrs. after your comment (26 May 2021), it's at 89,762. And it popped up in my recommended. So apparently it's suddenly getting a huge algorithm boost a year and three weeks after publication on YT. Approx. 20,000 new views in 19 hrs., a jump of about 28.6% or more than 36%/day.

[@dinerouk]

I think there is a insitute or college bearing his name in Canada

[@naradaian]

Elitist academe snobbery - same old, same old

[@robertbernecky4103]

That was a brilliant and crystal-clear presentation! Thank you, too, for all the background material, some of which I had not encountered before, despite having a bookcase chock full of books on cryptology, Enigma, etc. I am delighted to see that Tommy Flowers has finally been recognized for his insights, creativity, engineering talents, and dedication. When I revisit Bletchley Park, I will go with new vision.

[@ronchappel4812]

That was an outstanding presentation! You gave just enough info so us non-computer non-math types could understand.

[@parrotraiser6541]

That work also led to the first commercial computer in Britain, LEO (Lyons Electronic Office). One of the people at Bletchley had worked before the war for Lyons, a company that ran a chain of teashops. He saw the potential of the machine for the company's accounting, but he had to go to the US after the war to see ENIAC, and pretend to have an epiphany, to "launder" his knowledge. Otherwise, he'd have had to reveal its origin.

[@antebellum45]

Great presentation! Well documented and delivered with passion and love for the subject! Good job!

[@rayhockley5063]

A great presentation, I knew a lot of that through other sources, but to see it put together in such an easy to watch and understand format at pace but keeping me engaged is a massively impressive feat. The dedication at the end is a poignant touch. Thank you for giving this presentation and making it available to all for history's sake.

[@Rovsau]

That was a very well performed presentation! Thank you, for sharing this part of history.

[@techno_one]

Absolutely excellent video. It's these videos that make you tube worthwhile. When I lived in England I visited BP and have seen the rebuilt unit in action. Its a real pleasure to watch it work, and I would recommend this visit to anyone- interested in computers or not you will find the story of the Colossus fascinating.

[@Gerard423653]

That was.. well.. what a fantastic story. Thanks for presenting it an honoring these great people who made a difference.

[@mylifepart2]

i watched it again and with a standing ovation...beautiful...thank you...

[@scsirob]

What a briliant piece of work, thank you for presenting!

[@ChrisAllenMusic]

Fantastic story, and a great presentation! Thank you for sharing this!