Enigma was cracked by a roomful of underappreciated, brilliant WOMEN, not one young man. Give credit where it's due.
11 Replies on Pamela (Williams) Muraca’s comment
Daniel Walsh, M.Ed. Daniel, your comment overlooks the well-documented history of the Enigma codebreaking effort. The major mathematical and engineering breakthroughs that led to the cracking of Enigma were made by individuals like Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, and Dilly Knox—men whose work is thoroughly recorded in wartime documents, published papers, and personal accounts. These breakthroughs include Turing’s design of the Bombe machine and Welchman’s improvements to it, which were crucial to the operation.
As I already stated, it’s absolutely true that women made up the majority of Bletchley Park’s staff (about 75%) and their work was essential to the daily operations, including running the machines, analyzing intercepted messages, and handling vast amounts of information. However, the historical record does not support the idea that women were responsible for the core cryptanalytic innovations or that men simply took credit for those achievements. The leadership and primary cryptanalytic roles were overwhelmingly held by men, largely because of the social restrictions of the time.
It’s important to recognize both the barriers women faced and the actual distribution of credit, based on the evidence.
As I already stated, it’s absolutely true that women made up the majority of Bletchley Park’s staff (about 75%) and their work was essential to the daily operations, including running the machines, analyzing intercepted messages, and handling vast amounts of information. However, the historical record does not support the idea that women were responsible for the core cryptanalytic innovations or that men simply took credit for those achievements. The leadership and primary cryptanalytic roles were overwhelmingly held by men, largely because of the social restrictions of the time.
It’s important to recognize both the barriers women faced and the actual distribution of credit, based on the evidence.
