(单词翻译:单击)
It was in the autumn of 1941 that the cryptanalysts finally rebelled against the administrative system.
在1941年秋天,这些密码专家开始对抗行政体制。
As one of the very few who had the vision, it fell to Alan Turing to force the British government into the modern world.
艾伦·图灵认为,必须强迫英国政府进入现代世界。
He and the others broke all the rules by writing directly to another man who knew how to break all the rules, and who now had the power to change them:
他与另外一些人打破了所有的常规,直接写信给一个人,这个人也知道如何打破常规,而且他还有权改变常规:
Secret and Confidential
最高机密
Prime Minister only
仅呈首相
Hut 6 and Hut 8,
6号与8号营房
(Bletchley Park)
布莱切利庄园
21st October 1941
1941年10月21日
Dear Prime Minister,
亲爱的首相,
Some weeks ago you paid us the honour of a visit, and we believe that you regard our work as important.
几周前我们荣幸地迎来你的参观,我们相信你很重视我们的工作。
You will have seen that, thanks largely to the energy and foresight of Commander Travis, we have been well supplied with the 'bombes' for the breaking of the German Enigma codes.
你将会看到,因为指挥官特拉维斯的能力和远见,我们已经装备了炸弹机,来破解德国的谜机。
We think, however, that you ought to know that this work is being held up, and in some cases is not being done at all, principally because we cannot get sufficient staff to deal with it.
然而我们认为,你应该知道,这项工作现在遇到了障碍。某种程度上可以说,它已经完全搁浅了,因为我们无法招募足够的人员。
Our reason for writing to you direct is that for months we have done everything that we possibly can through the normal channels, and that we despair of any early improvement without your intervention.
我们直接写信给你,是因为在过去的几个月里,我们已经做了我们通过正常渠道能做的一切,但是结果却令人失望。
No doubt in the long run these particular requirements will be met, but meanwhile still more precious months will have been wasted, and as our needs are continually expanding we see little hope of ever being adequately staffed.
我们知道,长远来看,这些要求无疑都能解决,但这意味着要浪费好几个月的宝贵时间,而且我们的需求仍在增长,人员的缺口越来越大。