Turing's rare wartime papers 'must stay in UK'

EXPORT BAN ON DOCUMENTS BY COMPUTING GENIUS

- JOSEPH TIMAN

RARE unpublished wartime papers written by Manchester codebreaker Alan Turing should not leave the UK, a minister has ruled.

The World War II documents relate to the Delilah project which developed a portable encryption system for use in military operations.

It followed Turing's groundbreaking work on the Enigma machine which helped Allied forces crack intercepted Nazi messages, shortening the war.

The University of Manchester mathematician, who is widely credited as the father of modern computers, did not usually keep research notes, working drafts or correspondence, making these documents particularly important.

The collection of papers dating from 1943 to 1945 sheds light on some of Turing's most inventive, secret and overlooked work - but they are at risk of leaving the UK.