Secret Alan Turing papers released by GCHQ

Mathematical papers written by WWII code breaker and pioneer computer scientist Alan Turing have been released by government intelligence agency GCHQ after being kept secret 70 years. 

The two handwritten papers, classified as 'sensitive' until a recent reassessment and kept confidential for over half a century, are said by GCHQ to have been authored by Turing when he worked at Bletchley Park, the code-breaking centre of British intelligence during the war.

Turing was a leading figure in the team that eventually cracked the Nazi 'Enigma' code, a breakthrough that allowed the Allies to intercept encrypted German messages and is seen as instrumental in winning the war. GCHQ say the papers show "more of Alan Turing's pioneering research" into cryptology. "It was this type of research that helped turn the tide of war and it is particularly pleasing that we are able to share these papers during this centenary year," said a GCHQ spokesperson.