An illustrated lecture by Dr Mark Baldwin

Lecture Synopsis

One of the Second World War’s most fascinating stories is that of the Enigma machine, a portable encryption device used widely by the Germans and which they believed to be totally secure. Nevertheless, by mathematical analysis and modern technology, and a certain amount of good luck, the Allies devised techniques for “breaking” Enigma codes and thus read hundreds of thousands of German messages, providing a wealth of reliable intelligence.

Much of this work was carried out at Bletchley Park, now open to the public as a museum site explaining and illustrating the history of the attack on Enigma, initiated by the Poles in the 1930s and later perfected by the British.

The intelligence gained was of immense value to the allies in virtually every theatre of war, but nowhere more so than in the Battle of the Atlantic, that fierce conflict which lasted for nearly the whole war and cost over 60,000 lives. Dr Baldwin uses the Battle of the Atlantic to exemplify the importance of codebreaking in winning the war.

After the lecture, the audience will have the opportunity to take part in a hands-on practical demonstration of one of the few surviving Enigma machines. Only about 200 are known to survive worldwide; of these only about a dozen are in public collections in Britain. There is no other machine “on tour” so Dr Baldwin is providing a unique opportunity for the audience not just to view but to operate an original Enigma machine.

About our speaker, Dr Mark Baldwin, MA, MSc, PhD

After graduating from Cambridge University in Mechanical Sciences (Honours), Mark Baldwin worked for a consulting civil engineering firm on a variety of projects, including London’s Victoria Line and Newcastle’s Central Motorway east. On achieving chartered status, he enrolled as a post-graduate student at Imperial College London and obtained a Master’s Degree in Soil Mechanics (with Distinction). He then accepted the offer of a lectureship at Imperial and remained on the staff for 15 years with particular responsibility for the undergraduate course “Engineering and the Environment”. During this time he was awarded a doctorate for his thesis on modern commercial inland waterways.

In 1986, he and his family moved to Shropshire to develop the book-selling and publishing business which he had established with his wife in 1978. Cleobury Mortimer has proved a congenial base for the business, though much is done by post.

Dr Baldwin’s lectures on the story of the Enigma machine and Bletchley Park have been presented all over the United Kingdom, and in Poland (where no British person had previously toured with an Enigma machine) and, in 2005, in Germany itself.