The Codebreakers October 23, 2007
Staffordshire University, Beaconside
Stafford, England ST18 0DG
Stafford, England ST18 0DG
ENIGMA, BLETCHLEY PARK & THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
by
Mark Baldwin MA MSc PhD
One of the Second World War's most fascinating stories is that of the Enigma machine, a portable encryption device widely used by the Germans, which they believed to be totally secure. Nevertheless, by mathematical analysis and modern technology (and a certain amount of good luck), the Allies devised techniques for 'breaking' Enigma codes, and thus read hundreds of thousands of German messages, providing a wealth of reliable intelligence.
After the lecture, the audience are invited to take part in a hands-on practical demonstration of one of the few surviving Enigma machines.
Guests are welcome.
Added by santanupal on October 16, 2007
Comments
santanupal
The lecture was dedicated to the men and women of Bletchley Park and the Y-stations.
santanupal
An excellent presentation by Dr. Mark Baldwin.
A Cambridge engineering graduate, he worked for a firm of consulting engineers for five years before enrolling at Imperial College. London for a Soil Mechanics M.Sc.. While still a post-graduate student, he was invited to apply for a lectureship in Civil Engineering and subsequently taught at IC for 15 years.
During this time he married Myfanwy, also a member of the CE Department, and they have three sons. Not wishing the boys to grow up in London, they moved to Shropshire in 1986 to to pursue a new life as booksellers and publishers. One day, Mark's curiosity was aroused by a book he was cataloguing (about WW2 codebreaking) and this first alerted him to the story of Bletchley Park and the Enigma machine. Talking to customers showed many other people to be interested in this aspect of history, and keen to learn more. Lecturing about WW2 Codebreakers was the next logical step, and during the last ten years Mark has traveled widely round Britain giving presentations. (to date, over 200, in venues from the Channel Islands to Scotland) including a hands-on demonstration of his Enigma machine. In 2004 he was invited to a lecture tour of Poland, and in 2005 became the first Briton to lecture in Germany with an Enigma machine. In 2006 he gave a series of lectures on a cruise liner about WW2 Intelligence.
Although Mark is a life member of the Bletchley Park Trust, and a keen supporter of its work, he did not speak for the trust in anyway. He and Myfawny are, however delighted that sales of books published by M & M Baldwin have raised nearly £30,000 for the Trust.