U-2• 553TURING, ALAN.A mathematical genius, Alan Turing graduated from
King’s College, Cambridge, in 1936 and two years later published a
monograph,On Computable Numbers, foreseeing the possibility of
developing a thinking machine that could be programmed to under-
take repetitive tasks at high speed. Recruited toBletchley Parkin
1939, he played a leading role in the team of academics that drew
the blueprints forcolossus, the world’s first programmable analog
computer. Turing remained inGCHQafter the war and worked at
the research laboratory atHanslope Parkbut took his own life in
1954, aged 42, when he was arrested in Manchester for soliciting a
homosexual act in a public lavatory. His method of suicide, eating an
apple laced with cyanide, is rumored to be reflected in the logo
adopted by Apple Computers.
TWENTY COMMITTEE.The World War II coordinating group
chaired byJohn Mastermancreated in January 1941 to supervise
the activities of thedouble agentsrun byMI5’s B1(a) section. A
direct successor to the Wireless Board, theDouble CrossCommittee
was usually known by insiders by the roman numerals XX, thus
‘‘Twenty Committee.’’ It consisted of representatives from thedirec-
tor of military intelligence, thedirector of naval intelligence, the
Security Executive, and theSecret Intelligence Service. The com-
mittee met weekly until the end of hostilities, with eitherJohn Mar-
riottor Bill Luke acting as its secretary. After the war Masterman
was invited by the director-general,Sir David Petrie, to write an ac-
count of its work, and he negotiated permission to publish this in
- The success of the Twenty Committee resulted in the creation
of a similar group in the Middle East, and one for the 21st Army
Group in Europe, designated the ‘‘212 Committee.’’
–U–U-2.The American aerial reconnaissance of the Soviet Union and East-
ern Europe using U-2 spy aircraft was initially dependent upon oper-
ations conducted from Lakenheath and Upper Heyford in England
and at Episkopi and Akrotiri in Cyprus. The first U-2 deployment by
theCentral Intelligence Agency’s Detachment A took place in