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Pioneer

Allen Coombs

Also Known As Allen William Mark (Doc) Coombs
Computer Systems Organization

Allen William Mark Coombs (23 October 1911 - 30 January 1995) was a British electronics engineer who worked at the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill and became one of the principal designers of the Mark II version of Colossus, the codebreaking computer used at Bletchley Park during World War Two, taking over leadership of the Colossus project when Tommy Flowers moved to other work. He later worked on the MOSAIC computer and headed a scientific division developing optical character recognition for postal mechanization, including an early postcode-reading machine. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, earning a BSc in 1932 and a PhD in 1936.

Facts
Birth Year
1911 1
Birth Date
1911-10-23 1
Death Year
1995 1
Death Date
1995-01-30 1
Nationality
British 1
Connections

Associated With

Tommy Flowers, Pioneers

Colossus collaborators at Bletchley Park/Dollis Hill: Coombs assisted Flowers designing the original Colossus electronics before taking over leadership of Mark 2 production.

Invented

Colossus, Systems

Verified en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer: "Allen Coombs took over leadership of the production Mark 2 Colossi, the first of which ... became operational at 08:00 on 1 June 1944." Coombs also assisted Tommy Flowers in the original electronics design.

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Allen Coombs
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Quote, Lead section
Allen William Mark ("Doc") Coombs (23 October 1911-30 January 1995) was a British electronics engineer and early computer designer at the Post Office Research Station, Dollis Hill, known for his work on the Colossus and MOSAIC (computer) computers.
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Allen Coombs (Wikidata)
Wikidata alias: Allen William Mark (Doc) Coombs
Quote, Wikidata alias: Allen William Mark (Doc) Coombs
Allen William Mark (Doc) Coombs
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