The UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) today celebrated the 80th anniversary of the "Giant Computer". This computer was of great significance in helping the Allies defeat Nazi Germany under Hitler's leadership in World War II, so it was kept secret for decades.
Reuters reported that in 1944, the world's first digital computer, the British "Colossus computer", successfully deciphered the contents of the German encrypted communications, convincing the Allies that their year-long plan to deceive Hitler at the invasion site had worked, and thus facilitated the subsequent "Normandy landing" operation.
The "Normandy Landing" can be called the turning point of World War II. The Titan computer played a key role in the operation, and many experts believe it shortened the war.
In fact, it wasn't until the early 2000s that the existence of the Giant Computer was revealed. Now, 80 years later, GCHQ has released a series of never-before-seen images and sounds, including blueprints of the computer, to commemorate its invention.
GCHQ Minister Anne Keast said in a statement, "Technological innovation has always been at the core of GCHQ's work, and Giant Computer is a perfect example of how we are at the cutting edge of the latest technology, even though we have not been able to discuss it publicly."
This computer was developed by Tommy Flowers and was still used by intelligence agencies in the early 1960s. It is a major breakthrough after Alan Turing, the father of British computer science and artificial intelligence, developed the "bombe" in 1940 and cracked the German Nazi "Enigma" cipher machine.
On January 18, 1944, the first Giant computer in history was transported to Bletchley Park, where the then highly secret Government Code and Cypher School was located. By the end of the war, 10 computers were in operation. The Government Code and Cryptozoology Institute was renamed the Government Communications Headquarters in 1946 and was responsible for monitoring situations around the world to protect British security.