When the German military surrendered unconditionally on 8 May 1945, many in Britain savored the first taste of peace. But for Alan Turing and his young assistant Donald Bayley, it was just another day in a secluded laboratory in the English countryside. They briefly stepped away from their benches and cables, taking a walk through the woods to mark Victory in Europe Day.
Bayley, a newly minted electrical engineer, teased his mentor, “Well, the war’s over now—it’s peacetime, so you can tell us all.” Turing’s famously sharp reply ended all conversation “Don’t be so bloody silly.”
That brief exchange hinted at a reality that would remain in the shadows for decades. Alan Turing, the brilliant mind behind crucial code-breaking breakthroughs at Bletchley Park, had also been leading a covert electronics project known as Delilah, a portable system for encrypting speech.
To read more, click here.