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and resolved to establish a computer-building project as soon as the war was over.
The mathematics department at Cambridge was not the right environment in which
Newman's new ambition could be pursued and he began to look around for a more
favourable setting. With the help and encouragement of Blackett, Max was appointed
to the Fielden Chair of Pure Mathematics at Manchester University. Newman had two
clear goals in mind: to establish a first rate department which could stand comparison
with the best in the country and to build a computer. At Bletchley, Newman was sur-
rounded by people who could help him achieve both objectives.
In a clear declaration of intent, Newman brought with him from Bletchley Park, I.J.
(Jack) Good and David Rees11. Both these Cambridge mathematicians had served in
the Newmanry and in addition to having impeccable mathematical qualifications both
had a familiarity with the Colossus that would be invaluable for the work that New-
man had in mind. With Blackett's assistance a substantial grant was secured from the
Royal Society explicitly for the purpose of developing a computer - the first such
award ever made and a huge triumph for Manchester.
The only piece of the puzzle that was missing was a lead engineer. Newman had,
before submitting his funding application to the Royal Society, secured limited sup-
port from Prof Willis Jackson who was the head of Manchester's department of Elec-
tro-Technics. Jackson agreed that when Newman was able to secure the services of a
full-time engineer he could be attached to Jackson's department. It is apparent from
the available documentary evidence that Newman felt able to take Jackson into his
confidence to a much greater extent than is generally supposed. The work carried out
at Bletchley Park during the Second World War was classified well beyond Top Se-
cret and Newman was very well aware of the restrictions imposed on him by the Offi-
cial Secrets Act. The very great extent to which the secrets of Bletchley Park were
preserved has often been remarked upon, indeed Churchill described the Bletchley
code breakers as his “geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled”. Within the
History of Computing it is usually claimed that the Colossus could have had no im-
pact on the development of civilian computing because even the mere fact of its exis-
tence was kept completely secret until the mid-1970s. I have elsewhere called this
claim the myth of secrecy [5].
In fact, Newman not only revealed the existence of Colossus to Willis Jackson but
actually took him, during the Summer of 1945, to see a number of Colossi in situ at
Bletchley Park and obtained advice from him on which components of the machines
could be re-used in the construction of a computer at Manchester. Acting directly on
Jackson's advice Newman made arrangements for “…the material of two complete
Colossi”[6] to be transported from Bletchley to Manchester - the transfer taking place
later the same year. The significance of Jackson's visit to Bletchley is enormous since
it could not have taken place without security clearance having been obtained at the
highest level. Jackson's presence in Bletchley during 1945 is a clear indication of
government support for Newman's computer-building project and constitutes conclu-
sive disproof of the claim that Colossus could not have had an impact on the devel-
opment of peacetime computing because of the secrecy surrounding its existence. In
fact there is also some documentary evidence supporting the claim that Newman
discussed the Colossus with John von Neumann and with F.C. Williams. There are
also clues in the Royal Society papers concerning Newman's funding application that
his involvement with computing during the war was known to the funding committee.
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