Secret GCHQ artefacts to go on show at Science Museum

  • Published
Image of the Enigma M1070Image source, Isidora Bojovic
Image caption,

The Enigma M1070 which was used through the late 1920s and 1930s will go on show at the exhibition

The technological secrets behind spying over a century - from World War Two code breaking tools to Cold War secrets - are to go on show.

Top Secret: From Ciphers to Cyber Security, at London's Science Museum, will feature more than 100 objects from GCHQ - the government's listening post.

Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, said the organisation's work had "saved countless lives... shortened wars, given Britain an edge, and solved or harnessed some of the world's hardest technology challenges".

People will be able to see historical technology, hand-written documents and declassified files from the Cheltenham-based spy agency.

The exhibition will run from 10 July to 23 February 2020.

Image source, The board of trustees at the Science Museum
Image caption,

The Fialka M-125 Soviet cipher machine, c.1958, used 10 rotors marked with cyrillic characters

Image source, The board of trustees at the Science Museum
Image caption,

The enigma machine with an exposed rotor

Image source, The board of trustees at the Science Museum
Image caption,

The Pickwick phone, 1960, was used to keep transatlantic communications secure between US president John F Kennedy and British prime minister Harold Macmillan during the Cuban missile crisis

Image source, The board of trustees at the Science Museum
Image caption,

The Enigma M1070 was used through the late 1920s and 1930s as it became apparent it would be the main encryption device used by the Germans

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