THREE schoolgirls met a woman who helped crack Hitler’s secret messages to defeat the Nazis in the Second World War after winning a competition run by the National Museum of Computing and Oxford University.
The contest marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ada Lovelace, considered the creator of the first computer programme.
The Weston Library is holding an exhibition featuring the British mathematician whose notes from 1842 were republished more than 100 years later and were found to be tailored for a computer.
Wartime Wren Irene Dixon, 91, operated Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, that cracked the code at Bletchley Park. She helped judge the competition, which 250 people entered.
The girls were asked what they would communicate to Lovelace about 21st century technology.
Ada Hards, five, Amelia Doran, 14, and Niamh Owens, 16, impres- sed the judges with their answers.
Ms Dixon said: “We need young people to work in this sphere. All three were very impressive.”
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