<div dir="ltr">However the information got out, I heard about it in the late 1970s, although obviously not to the level of detail that we all acquired by 2000. Jim Cortada</div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jan 18, 2024 at 2:13 PM Brian E Carpenter via Members <<a href="mailto:members@lists.sigcis.org">members@lists.sigcis.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Brian,<br>
<br>
Given that the GCHQ release confirms that at least one Colossus was still in active use in the 1960s, it's in fact a bit surprising that they cleared anything as early as 1975. There's at least one well-known case (the Venona material) of intercepts having great value many years later.<br>
<br>
When was the rumour about Churchill ordering all the machines to be destroyed first circulated?<br>
<br>
Regards<br>
Brian Carpenter<br>
<br>
On 19-Jan-24 05:19, Brian Randell via Members wrote:<br>
> Hi Joris:<br>
> <br>
> I was shown the photographs, and given permission to interview the developers, in mid-1975. A set of photographs, and a single-page description, were released to the Public Record Office in 1975. My (cleared) paper revealing the Colossus was given at the splendid Los Alamos conference in June 1976 – see <a href="https://computerhistory.org/blog/computings-woodstock/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://computerhistory.org/blog/computings-woodstock/</a> <<a href="https://computerhistory.org/blog/computings-woodstock/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://computerhistory.org/blog/computings-woodstock/</a>>. (I had previously, in 1972, published such few facts as I could discover about the project in my 1972 paper “On Alan Turing and the Origins of Computers” - <a href="http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/brian.randell/Papers-Books/126.pdf" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/brian.randell/Papers-Books/126.pdf</a> <<a href="http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/brian.randell/Papers-Books/126.pdf" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/brian.randell/Papers-Books/126.pdf</a>>.)<br>
> <br>
> Cheers<br>
> <br>
> Brian Randell<br>
> <br>
> —<br>
> <br>
> School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG<br>
> <br>
> EMAIL = <a href="mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk" target="_blank">Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk</a> PHONE = +44 191 208 7923<br>
> <br>
> URL = <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html</a><br>
> <br>
> On 18/01/2024, 13:42, "Joris van Zundert" <<a href="mailto:joris.van.zundert@huygens.knaw.nl" target="_blank">joris.van.zundert@huygens.knaw.nl</a>> wrote:<br>
> <br>
> Hi,<br>
> <br>
> Any ideas on this puzzling sentence in the press release? “The Colossus computer was created during the Second World War […] but its existence was only revealed in the early 2000s after six decades of secrecy.” As far as I know the existence of Colossus has in no way been a mystery at least since the early 1970s, right?<br>
> <br>
> Best<br>
> <br>
> --Joris<br>
> <br>
> From: Members <<a href="mailto:members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org" target="_blank">members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org" target="_blank">members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org</a>>> on behalf of Brian Randell via Members <<a href="mailto:members@lists.sigcis.org" target="_blank">members@lists.sigcis.org</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:members@lists.sigcis.org" target="_blank">members@lists.sigcis.org</a>>><br>
> <br>
> Date: Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 12:50<br>
> <br>
> To: Sigcis <<a href="mailto:members@sigcis.org" target="_blank">members@sigcis.org</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:members@sigcis.org" target="_blank">members@sigcis.org</a>>><br>
> <br>
> Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Colossus at 80<br>
> <br>
> Hi:<br>
> <br>
> Here is the official GCHQ press release:<br>
> <br>
> <a href="https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80</a> <<a href="https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80</a>> <<a href="https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80</a>> <<a href="https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80%3e" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news/colossus-80%3e</a>><br>
> <br>
> Cheers<br>
> <br>
> Brian Randell<br>
> <br>
> —<br>
> <br>
> School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG<br>
> <br>
> EMAIL = <a href="mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk" target="_blank">Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk" target="_blank">Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk</a>> PHONE = +44 191 208 7923<br>
> <br>
> URL = <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html</a> <<a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html</a>><br>
> <br>
> <br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
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This email is relayed from members at <a href="http://sigcis.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">sigcis.org</a>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at <a href="http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/</a> and you can change your subscription options at <a href="http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>James W. Cortada</div><div>Senior Research Fellow</div>
<div>Charles Babbage Institute</div><div>University of Minnesota</div>
<div><a href="mailto:jcortada@umn.edu" target="_blank">jcortada@umn.edu</a></div>
<div>608-274-6382</div></div></div>