[QCWA] Fw: Bletchley computer article

[Bob Roske]

> World's Oldest Computer To Be
> Restored At Bletchley Park
>
> *
>
> The restorers claim the challenge is the computing equivalent of raising 
> Henry VIII's Tudor flagship the Mary Rose
>
> *
>
> A computer which is being called the oldest "original functioning 
> electronic stored program" machine of its kind is being restored by a 
> group of volunteers at the former World War II code-breaking centre at 
> Bletchley Park.
>
> In a statement released this week, the group restoring the Harwell 
> computer, later known as the WITCH computer, from the National Museum of 
> Computing <http://www.tnmoc.org/> (TNMOC) at Bletchley said that when the 
> machine is restored it will be housed alongside Colossus Mk II which is 
> said to be the world's first electronic computer.
>
> To help fund the restoration, and extend the museum, the TMOC team are 
> asking for members of the public and industry to sponsor the work by 
> buying one of 25 shares at £4500 each. Sponsors on board already include 
> IT integrator Insight Software.
>
> The Harwell computer earned its WITCH nickname in the long-respected 
> tradition of contrived IT acronyms: it was used by Wolverhampton 
> University - hence Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computing from 
> Harwell (WITCH).
>
> “The machine was a relay-based computer using 900 Dekatron gas-filled 
> tubes that could each hold a single digit in memory - similar to RAM in a 
> modern computer - and paper tape for both input and program storage," said 
> Kevin Murrell, a director and trustee of TNMOC.
>
> Murrell added that while the machine could never be classed as speedy - 
> the WITCH was build for reliability. "It was definitely the tortoise in 
> the tortoise and the hare fable. In a race with a human mathematician 
> using a mechanical calculator, the human kept pace for 30 minutes, but 
> then had to retire exhausted as the machine carried on remorselessly. The 
> machine once ran for ten days unattended over a Christmas/New Year holiday 
> period.”
>
> The Harwell computer is due to arrive at the TNMOC on Thursday 3 September 
> with the restoration expected to take up to a year. “The TNMOC team of 
> engineers are eager to start the restoration work,” said Murrell. “ It’s 
> the computing equivalent of the raising of the Mary Rose and they are up 
> to challenge!"
>
> The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park is an independent 
> charity and houses the largest collection of functional historic computers 
> in Europe.
>
> Earlier this week Scientists and academics including Sir Richard Dawkins 
> announced they were backing an online petition 
> <http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/thousands-demand-apology-over-death-of-tech-icon-turing-1723> 
> calling on the government to publicly apologise for the treatment of 
> computing pioneer Alan Turing - based at Bletchley during the war - who 
> committed suicide in 1954 after being prosecuted and vilified for his 
> sexuality. The petition has already attracted 25,000 signatures and can be 
> reached at Number10.gov.uk 
> <http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/turing/#detail>.
>
> *QCWA NOTE: In May, the UK government rejected requests that Bletchley 
> should be elevated to the same status as the Imperial War Museum 
> <http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/uk-snubs-support-for-home-of-wwii-enigma--939>. 
> The government said it was keen to support the site but there would be no 
> moves to link the site to the Imperial War Museum.*
>
>
>