Jerry Roberts Codebreaker Honoured

[Paul_Sengupta]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20863205

A Bletchley Park codebreaker who has been appointed MBE in the New Year Honours said he felt it was on behalf of the whole team he worked with.

Raymond "Jerry" Roberts, 92, receives the honour for services to the WWII decryption centre and to codebreaking.

Mr Roberts was among four founder members of the Testery section tasked with breaking the German High Command's Tunny code.

The decrypts are credited with helping shorten the war by at least two years.

[Boxkite]

Why so late?

[beelzebub]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20863205

A Bletchley Park codebreaker who has been appointed MBE in the New Year Honours said he felt it was on behalf of the whole team he worked with.

Raymond "Jerry" Roberts, 92, receives the honour for services to the WWII decryption centre and to codebreaking.

Mr Roberts was among four founder members of the Testery section tasked with breaking the German High Command's Tunny code.

The decrypts are credited with helping shorten the war by at least two years.

I'm fantastically pleased that the work of BP and it's staff is finally becoming recognised as they were largely and unfairly forgotten after the war. I have to admit though that I'm getting a little tired of the BBC trotting out the war shortening story at every opportunity.

A more credible calculation seriously propounded these days is that the Bletchley Park work actually lengthened the war by 2 years, but changed the outcome; that is, if Bletchley Park had not solved and devised an effective attack on the 4-wheel U-Boat Enigma (SHARK), Britain would have been starved into negotiation or even surrender by the end of '43. Codebreaking enabled us to survive those difficult years and meant that the war was extended long enough for the allies to come into the ascendancy.

Exponents of the war shortening theory tend to forget a major Elephant in the room. WWII was always going to end in August 1945 (or thereabouts). The timescales of the development and subsequent deployment of the active weapon produced by the American Manhattan Project set the end date for WWII.

The only variable was the venue of the first target had the Germans still been active combatants.

[anglianav8r]

Why so late ? A valid question, but might I suggest that it is even more shameful to note that a majority of the population probably don't give a toss about the work at Bletchley Park.

[Rob P]

The importance of the work done at Bletchley Park is virtually impossible to overestimate as any analysis of the Atlantic sinkings during periods of Ultra blackout demonstrates.

Maybe late but richly deserved.

Now how about a prominent memorial to Alan Turing, other than the splendid one at Kiel ?

Rob P

[Boing_737]

Too little, too late, and what about that pardon for Alan Turing?

[Jim Jones]

Too little, too late, and what about that pardon for Alan Turing?

Why not a pardon for every gay man prosecuted before the law changed? Selecting out Turing alone would be unjust.

[pb6797]

But easier to get a pardon for Turing passed with mass support and avoiding a Daily Mail hate campaign; always best to choose your targets wisely and avoid a direct frontal assault.