by Lorraine Gibson.

It’s no secret that the intelligence gained from the Enigma Machine is reckoned to have shortened the duration of the Second World War by about two years.
World-renowned expert on Enigma and the history of Cryptography Dr Mark Baldwin will present Codebreakers: The Story Of Enigma, a talk on one of the most fascinating stories of the war – that of the Allied Codebreakers who deciphered a vast number of German secret messages and used the intelligence to hasten an Allied victory.

The Germans had entrusted their covert communications to the ingenious ciphering machine which was portable, simple to use and could be set up in millions of ways.
By cracking the Enigma code, the Allies were privy to invaluable information about troop and aircraft dispositions, orders of battle, U-boat movements, technical development, military intentions and tank and artillery strengths.
Dr Baldwin has made a detailed study of the machine and the code-breaking work at Bletchley Park and has built a unique collection of slides which illustrates the main features of the important facts. His presentation makes an entertaining and instructive show.
It also considers the life and work of the great mathematician, computer scientist, philosopher and theoretical biologist Alan Turing OBE FRS and includes an opportunity to ask questions and see a hands-on demonstration of one of the very few surviving Enigma machines.

Sunday, February 12, at 7.30pm, theregent.co.uk or 01202 499199.