Central Bureau Intelligence Corps - Association Newsletter September 2010 CENTRAL BUREAU INTELLIGENCE CORPS ASSOCIATION September 2010 Publicity Officer: Helen Kenny, 27/1-13 Mackenzie St, Lavender Bay NSW 2060 Tel: 02 9954 0940 I spoke today with General Gower, the Administrator of the War Museum. At my request, he rang Chris Clark regarding the Central Bureau History. He did so, and believes Clark apparently has no intention of finishing the history. Gower will now request the return of such monies as Clark has received and will employ at the Museum's expense another historian to finish the work. Clark has agreed to supply such research notes as he has available. Regards Bill Rogers C.B HON. SECRETARY'S PAR PRESIDENT'S PARAGRAPH On a glorious morning was greeted by 8° temp and The following article* which I came across in the icy wind, followed by bathroom light exploding "New Scientist" will, I feel sure, be of great and finally a casual reminder re the Memorial interest to all CBers. The author is John Graham- Service at Roseville. On occasions like this one Cumming. By a remarkable coincidence, shortly gives thanks for not being flooded or shattered by after reading this article* I had a phone call from an earthquake. Rob Foot, our ever helpful contact at D.S.D. who reminded me that the year 2012 (the centenary of So, after a strong coffee feel capable of reminding Alan Turing's birth) also marks the seventieth you that the Remembrance Day commemoration anniversary of the formation of Central Bureau ceremony will be held at the Roseville Memorial (April 1942). We both agreed that this should be Club on Thursday, 11 November 2010, at cause for a special celebration. My suggestion was 10.30am. Our informal lunch following is always that the Director of D.S.D. Mr Ian McKenzie and enjoyable - try to come if you can. Just let Bruce Rob Foot of course should be our guests of honour or me know so that a suitable table is arranged. In at the 2012 Anzac Day Reunion. Some of you, case you've forgotten, the Club is close to however, may well have a better idea and if so Roseville (NSW) station. Cross the Pacific please let me or any other member of the executive Highway at the lights, turn left. A few steps and know. *(See Page 2) there you are. Hope to see you. Hoping to see you at the Remembrance Day There being no other news of note, regards and Ceremony, 1 llh November at the Roseville best wishes to all. Memorial Club. Joy Granger Gordon Gibson, President Hon Secretary 67/1-9 Yardley Avenue 2/5 Endeavour Dr Waitara NSW 2077 NARRABEEN NSW 2010 Ph: (02) 9487 3029 Ph (02) 9981 2397 (after 5pm) Central Bureau Intelligence Corps - Association Newsletter September 2010 HON. TREASURER'S PAR Advanced Study, Princeton, Turing had laid the foundations for computer science by imagining a In some ways it does not seem 65 years since the machine that would be capable of any form of end of the War - where has the time gone? computation. I vividly recall 8.8.1945 - my 21st birthday, At Bletchley, however, stationed at San Miguel, Philippines with 6WU, he was instrumental in attached to the Americans. In the morning a few breaking the Enigma of us decided to have a celebratory beer but code, among others, and realised we had not received our normal ration of helping to shorten the American canned beer for several days so had to Second World War. After do with "lolly water". the war, he worked on artificial intelligence and Having the day off I hitchhiked to Manila and on created the Turing test, return Fit Lt John Walsh advised a group of us designed to show if a were off to Okinawa any day. machine can think in any meaningful way. Fortunately the War ended and mid September about 12 of us including Alan Fookes, myself and 'But being homosexual, ten others boarded a RAAF Liberator bomber at Turing fell victim to a toxic Clark Field for the flight home. After a delay at combination of prejudice Darwin we arrived at Mascot, Sydney late and science. In 1952, after September. After a few days I was discharged and being convicted of gross back to my former occupation mid October 1945. indecency, he was given the choice of prison or These days I realise a number of us have medical oestrogen injections to problems due to wearing bones, sun spots, heart, "cure" his homosexuality. arthritis etc, but hope health is improving. He chose the latter, lost his security clearance, and in All the best 1954 committed suicide, biting into an apple dipped in potassium cyanide. Bruce Bentwitch Hon Treasurer The UK has started to honour this great man. 7 Holly Street There are statues, a plaque on his childhood home, CASTLE COVE NSW 2069 a building or two and a road named after him. The Ph (02)9417 142 centenary of his birth, 2012, will be celebrated as Alan Turing Year. At the same time, the UK TURING government refuses to fund the Bletchley Park It's time to apologise for mistreating computer guru Alan Turing, says John Graham- The statue depicts Turing as life-size model puzzling Cumming with an Enigma machine and was created by artist Stephan Kettle The statue is composed of approxiatley SEVENTY years ago, a 27 year-old mathematician half a million pieces of Welsh slate stone and was unveiled June 19, 2007 called Alan Turing arrived at Bletchley Park, 86 kilometres north of London and headquarters of The Alan Turing Memorial, situated in the Suckville Park in the British cryptography operation, to help break Manchester. England, is in memory of a father of modern the Nazis' secret codes. During his studies at the computing. He is sitting on a bench situated in a central University of Cambridge and at the Institute for position in the park. On Turing's left is the University of Manchester Centra] Bureau Intelligence Corps - Association Newsletter September 2010 Trust - a museum devoted to the wartime code how the Network built up. In the network around breakers. India, we already had stations from 1924, Ahmadabad up here. There's Imphal which was a The UK has started to honour this great man. big intercept station. There was one outside There are statues, a plaque on his childhood home, Calcutta called Barrackpore. There's Bangalore a building or two and a road named after him. The down here and later on, we have one in Colombo. centenary of his birth, 2012, will be celebrated as Alan Turing Year. At the same time, the UK Now, these were intercepting originally traffic government refuses to fund the Bletchley Park from Afghanistan and Persia, together with a Trust - a museum devoted to the wartime code station Asmara here on the Red Sea Coast. Now, breakers. these stations were intercepting traffic and were feeding it back to London by the cable. But, of In contrast, the US Association for Computing course, once the Germans moved into the Middle Machinery has been presenting the Turing Award, East, this section of the cable stops. Before the the computer science Nobel, since 1966. Japs move into Burma, it is decided that all effort must be switched onto the Japanese campaign th To try to right these wrongs, I have set up a because December 7 they move into Pearl Harbour. December the 8th they are up in the petition on the website of 10 Downing Street th calling for an apology for the mistreatment of Philippines and by December the 25 , as you Turing. More than 25,000 people have signed it, know, they are all the way round here. They are through Borneo and down through Java, down and it has been backed by many scientists, through the Celebes. They are swarming all over including Richard Dawkins. (The New Scientist the place. 12 September 2009.) P.M"s APOLOGY So, therefore, it was found that intercepts at Bangalore, intercept stations here, could actually On September 11 2009, the BBC News announced pick up the transmissions of Japanese forces that Gordon Brown, then Britain's Prime Minister moving through the area. Now, the other thing had said sorry "for the appalling way Alan Turing that happened too is that in Singapore, we had was treated for being gay." Gordon Brown's what we called the Far East Combined Bureau. statement was on behalf of " the British (Army, Navy and Air Force and Foreign Officef. Government and all those who live freely thanks That, of course, split up as soon as the Japs started to Alan's work I can say, "we're sorry. You coming down through Malaysia into Singapore. deserved so much better." Half the staff, the Naval staff went over her to Kalindini. Some to HMS Anderson3 in Colombo. The Army staff just scattered and came down the BLETCHLEY PARK coast from port to port, to port to port, until they got to Darwin. This is Part three of Peter Wescombe's illustrated talk on "Bletchley Park and the Allied Intelligence Network" given at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum Now, the situation is that you have got the in 2002. The last episode ended with Japan's entry intercepts taking place around here of enemy into the War. transmissions and realizing their movement coming up through Burma. The next thing that Now read on: HMS Anderson (Colombo. Ceylon) listening station of the When they declared War, I've got to take the thing Far East Combined Bureau.