 | Bletchley Park TourF Block These crumbling steps are all that remain of the world's first computer complex, F block. For it was to F Block that Tommy Flowers brought Colossus, the crucial weapon in the breaking of Lorenz, the highly sophisticated cypher used between Hitler and his generals. Building on the success of Colossus I, ten Mark II models were built. Six were housed in the single-storey, gable-roofed building surrounding the car park at the top of the hill - H Block. Installed in the summer of 1944, they played a major role in the intelligence operations supporting the Normandy landings. F block and its annexe were among the largest buildings erected during this phase of building on the Park, covering all the grassed area that you can see. Sadly, it was demolished in 1987. But it didn't go without a fight! In estimating three weeks to complete the job, the demolition contractor had reckoned without the bomb-proof building standards of the war years. After the allotted three weeks, he was still trying to get the window frames out of the annexe, and the jibs of at least two cranes were bent in the exercise! |
