Virtual Turing-Welchman Bombe
A 3D simulation of the Turing-Welchman Bombe machine
Find Out More Run Virtual BombeA 3D simulation of the Turing-Welchman Bombe machine
Find Out More Run Virtual BombeThe Turing-Welchman Bombe was an electro-mechanical device used at Bletchley Park and its outstations during World War II to assist in breaking the Enigma cipher used by the German military.
Based on ideas from a device known as a bomba, designed in Poland by Marian Rejewski as early as 1939, the Turing-Welchman Bombe enabled Bletchley Park to find the daily keys of the Engima machine on a regular basis throughout most of the war.
The British Bombe was designed by Alan Turing with important additions by Gordon Welchman. They were built by the British Tabulating Machine Company in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.
Virtual Bombe is a 3d Turing-Welchman Bombe simulation which can run using just your browser. No install is necessary.
Requires recent internet browser, Google Chrome is highly recommended. For Mac, please use Chrome or Firefox (Safari does not have the required 3d webgl engine yet).
A number of simulations are available of machines which ran at Bletchley Park and in Germany during WW2.
Also now including Virtual ERNIE, the Premium Bond random number generator, which was designed and build by some of the same engineers as Colossus.
New in 2023 - Virtual Bombe, a full 3D simulation of the machine that was built to crack the German Enigma machine!
The Turing-Welchman Bombe was an electro-mechanical device used at Bletchley Park and its outstations during World War II to assist in breaking the Enigma cipher.
Enigma was a series of cipher machines developed in Germany between 1923-45. Cracked initially by the Polish and then expanded on and broken daily at Bletchley Park.
A simulation of the first electronic computer which broke the German Lorenz cipher during WW2 at Bletchley Park.
The Lorenz SZ40/42 was a formidable cipher attachment used by the German High Command. Use the machine that Colossus was built to break.
The Hagelin M-209 is a portable, mechanical cipher machine used by the US military primarily in World War II, though it remained in active use through the Korean War.
The Dragon was built by the Signal Security Agency (SSA) at Arlington Hall, Virginia and was used at Bletchley Park to help break Lorenz codes. It was used to search for a crib (a guess at the text) within the cipher message.
E.R.N.I.E stands for the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment and is a hardware random number generator built in 1956 to find winners each month for the National Savings Premium Bond prize draw.
Typex was a British cipher machine which used a very similar method of enciphering to Enigma. It was also used at Bletchley Park to decipher Enigma messages once the Bombes had found the day key.
A simulation of the ICT 1301 2nd generation computer, specifically serial number 6, named Flossie.
A number of people I need to say thanks and tip my hat to...
www.TNMOC.org .. The National Museum of Computing where my obsession was sparked! Make sure you find time to see their rebuilt and fully working Bombe and Enigma demonstrations at the museum but also so much more including Colossus and the galleries on the breaking of Lorenz, the WITCH & EDSAC, Elliott 308 and all manner of home computers you can use.
www.bletchleypark.org.uk If you are interested in code breaking or WW2, this place has to be on your must visit list. An amazing experience!
Virtual Bombe by virtualcolossus.co.uk is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Please feel free to use Virtual Bombe to learn or teach others about the Bombe machine and the work done at Bletchley Park. If you find it useful or if you have any feedback or ideas for making it easier to use or understand, please do let me know.
It takes a long time to research and build these simulations and I love to hear about them being used, whether for your own information or in a classroom for STEM. Do please drop me a line to let me know if you do!
