Lost Link Between Newham & WW2

BBC Radio 4 presenter, Paddy O’Connell discovers the link between Newham and World War 2 in episode 4 of ‘Travels with Bob’ series, “Bob the code-breaker”.

The London Borough of Newham is now one of the most diverse areas in Britain. It was once home to Tommy Flowers, inventor of the Bletchley Park code-breaking machine, Colossus.

In this episode, Paddy visits Flowers’ former college and wonders why this local hero isn’t as well remembered as his colleague Alan Turing. Newham College computing students were interviewed to see if they knew about Tommy Flowers and the history of the Borough.

Digtal Skills student, Merlin Ashbourne said:

“I haven’t heard of Tommy Flowers, but it’s impressive that someone who had such a massive influence on technology came from and studied in this area. It shows that it’s not where you are from, but who you are.”

The programme is part of a series called ‘Travels with Bob’ where Paddy travels the country with his dog, Bob, talking to people he meets. Each of the five 15 minute programmes is recorded in a different part of the UK. Each episode has a theme and this one is set in East Ham and explores the life of computer pioneer, Tommy Flowers.

You can hear about Bob’s adventures in Newham in Episode 4 on BBC iPlayer Radio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0868vgp