The Classified Project "Delilah": A Forgotten Chapter in Cryptographic History
🗂 In November 2023, a rare collection of wartime documents known as the "Bailey Papers" was auctioned in London. This archive contains handwritten notes by Alan Turing detailing a top-secret engineering project called "Delilah," developed during World War II.
"Delilah" was the world's first portable voice encryption system. Unlike the American SIGSALY system, which weighed over 50 tons, Turing's creation was astonishingly compact—just 39 kg—fitting into three shoebox-sized units.
Between 1943 and 1945, Turing collaborated with a young engineer, Donald Bailey, on this groundbreaking project at the classified research facility in Hanslope Park. Thanks to Bailey, who carefully preserved the documents until his passing in 2020, this crucial piece of cryptographic history has now come to light.
🗂 In November 2023, a rare collection of wartime documents known as the "Bailey Papers" was auctioned in London. This archive contains handwritten notes by Alan Turing detailing a top-secret engineering project called "Delilah," developed during World War II.
"Delilah" was the world's first portable voice encryption system. Unlike the American SIGSALY system, which weighed over 50 tons, Turing's creation was astonishingly compact—just 39 kg—fitting into three shoebox-sized units. Between 1943 and 1945, Turing collaborated with a young engineer, Donald Bailey, on this groundbreaking project at the classified research facility in Hanslope Park. Thanks to Bailey, who carefully preserved the documents until his passing in 2020, this crucial piece of cryptographic history has now come to light.
