Tony Sale
Engineer who rebuilt the Colossus Mark II computer.
Tony Sale was a British engineer and computing historian who spearheaded the rebuilding of a working Mark 2 Colossus computer, a project that ran from 1993 to 2008. The finished machine is now displayed at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.
Born in 1931, Sale attended Dulwich College in south London. As a teenager, he built a robot called George from Meccano, refining it through four versions by 1949, which attracted considerable press attention. He served in the Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1952, earning a commission and the rank of Flying Officer, and worked as an instructor at the RAF Officers Radar School at RAF Debden. In the 1950s, he was an engineer for MI5 under Peter Wright.
Sale’s career included stints at Marconi Research Laboratories, serving as technical director of the British Computer Society (BCS), and managing the Computer Restoration Project at the Science Museum. He joined the BCS in 1965 as an Associate Member, became a Member in 1967, a Fellow in 1988, and an Honorary Fellow in 1996. He was elected to the BCS Council from 1967 to 1970, and in 1965 helped found its Bedfordshire branch, becoming its chairman in 1979.
In 1989, Sale became a senior curator at the Science Museum in London, working with Doron Swade to restore the museum’s computer collection. He was a founding member of the Computer Conservation Society in 1989 and became involved with the Bletchley Park Trust from 1992 onward. In 1991, he joined the campaign to save Bletchley Park from housing development. He served as secretary to the newly formed Bletchley Park Trust in 1992, later becoming its unpaid museums director in 1994. The Colossus Rebuild Project began in 1993 and was formally inaugurated in 1994, aiming to recreate the machine originally built by Tommy Flowers at the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill in 1943.
Sale lectured on wartime code breaking across the UK, Europe, and the US, and was technical adviser for the 2001 film *Enigma*. His website, *Codes and Ciphers in the Second World War*, is a key resource on WWII code breaking, and his booklet *Colossus 1943–1996* details the breaking of the German Lorenz cipher and his reconstruction work.
For his Colossus rebuild, Sale was named Comdex IT Personality of the Year in 1997 and received the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Silver Medal in 2000.
- Born
- 30 January 1931
- Died
- 28 August 2011
- Nationality
- British
- Education
- Dulwich College, south London
- Military service
- Royal Air Force, 1949–1952, rank of Flying Officer
- Key project
- Colossus Mark II rebuild, 1993–2008
- Honours
- Comdex IT Personality of the Year 1997; Royal Scottish Society of Arts Silver Medal 2000
Lore & Background
Tony Sale was educated at Dulwich College in south London. During his adolescence he built George the robot out of Meccano, continuing work until a fourth version in 1949, which received much media coverage. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1949, serving until 1952, gaining a commission and reaching the rank of Flying Officer, and served as an instructor at RAF Officers Radar School at RAF Debden. In the 1950s, he worked as an engineer for MI5 under Peter Wright.
Sale worked with Marconi Research Laboratories, was technical director of the British Computer Society, and managed the Computer Restoration Project at the Science Museum. He joined the British Computer Society in 1965, becoming a Fellow in 1988 and Honorary Fellow in 1996. In 1989, he was appointed a senior curator at the Science Museum in London and worked with Doron Swade to restore some of the museum's computer holdings. He was part of the group that started the Computer Conservation Society in 1989 and was associated with the Bletchley Park Trust from 1992 onwards.
Between 1992 and 2007, Sale and volunteers rebuilt a functioning replica of the Colossus Mark II, inaugurated in 1994, based on the computer developed by Tommy Flowers at the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill in 1943. Sale lectured on wartime code breaking in the UK, Europe and the US, and was technical adviser for the 2001 film Enigma. His web site 'Codes and Ciphers in the Second World War' and booklet 'Colossus 1943–1996' document the breaking of the German Lorenz cipher and his rebuilding of the Colossus.
Reader's Guide
Tony Sale's significance lies in his leadership of the Colossus Rebuild Project, which produced a fully functional replica of the World War II Colossus Mark II computer between 1993 and 2008. This rebuild is exhibited at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, preserving a crucial piece of computing history. His work as a senior curator at the Science Museum and his role in founding the Computer Conservation Society helped advance the restoration and preservation of historic computers. Sale's lectures and publications, including his booklet 'Colossus 1943–1996' and his web site 'Codes and Ciphers in the Second World War', provided accessible information on wartime code breaking. His technical advisory role for the 2001 film Enigma brought his expertise to a wider audience. After his death, the British Computer Conservation Society established the Tony Sale Award for Computer Conservation and Restoration, comprising a trophy and travel bursary, to continue his legacy. In September 2019, he was posthumously awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the National Museum of Computing.
Did You Know?
- Tony Sale built George the robot out of Meccano as an adolescent, reaching a fourth version in 1949.
- He served as an engineer for MI5 under Peter Wright in the 1950s.
- The Tony Sale Award for Computer Conservation and Restoration was established by the British Computer Conservation Society in 2012.
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