Father joins
British code-breakers at Bletchley Park in 1942
Jasper: "And, my father went off [with the British Army] again, round
Africa to Egypt." After Egypt, Jasper's father returned to England in
1942 and joined British German-language specialists as an Intelligence
Officer, and went to work on the very secret project of code-breaking
the German military's Enigma encryption device at Bletchley Park, England until
1944. (Alan Turing was the most important figure in the breaking of
the German Enigma cipher at Bletchley Park and is considered to be the
father of modern computing.) Jasper became convinced his father
was a spy because he was constantly speaking German, and would
disappear for days a time. In fact, he went off to Bletchley to
translate encrypted German messages in the utmost secrecy. Being able
to read encrypted German military messages was an extremely vital part
of the British and Allied war effort, and shortened the war by years
and saved countless lives.
King's College,
Cambridge
Jasper said that when he started as a student at King's he would
frequently come across Alan Turing (1912-1954) when he would go off on
"one of his famous runs" at Cambridge, and they would exchange a
greeting. All of the work at Bletchley Park during the war in the
breaking of the German military's Enigma code was classified as top
secret until the 1970s. Jasper's father died in 1961. It's very likely
that Jasper's father would have met Turing at Bletchley Park. And,
Jasper was friends with Humphry Trevelyan (1909-1964) who was a
Lecturer in German at Cambridge, and was someone who his father knew
well. Humphry also worked at Bletchley Park during the war. While
working with a group of translators on a decoded German military
message that was being translated into English, Humphry said
humorously: "…That's not how Goethe would have put it." Humphry was
the youngest son of G.M. Trevelyan (1876-1962), who also was at
Cambridge at this time and serving as the Master of Trinity College.
Jasper painted a portrait from memory of each of the Trevelyans
mentioned above.
Above: On the left, Jasper's father William
came across Alan Turing (the father of modern computing) at Bletchley
Park during the Second World War decoding secret German military
messages, and Jasper came across Turing at Cambridge. On the right,
both Jasper and his father were friends with Humphry Trevelyan who
also worked at Bletchley Park decoding German messages during the war.
Above: The mansion at
Bletchley Park, which was used as a base by the British for German
Enigma code breaking operations during the Second World War.
Above: The ability of the
British to read the secret encrypted codes of the Nazi German military
saved many Allied lives and shortened the duration of the Second World War by
several years.
Above: More
Trevelyans: On the left Humphry's highly
respected father, and on
the right Humphry's wife Molly and sons.
