Charles & Camilla give support to Bletchley

Prince Charles on Thursday gave a speech during a visit to Bletchley Park National Codes Centre in Bletchley, England. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the heritage site and museum, once headquarters of Britain's World War II intelligence code breaking - including breaking of the Enigma cipher, the backbone of German military and intelligence communications.

Cramped into makeshift wooden huts on the grounds of a swank Victorian mansion, Britain's sharpest mathematical minds waged a secret war against Nazi Germany _ cracking Adolf Hitler's supposedly unbreakable codes. Winston Churchill said their work likely shortened the war.

But supporters said Thursday that the cluster of shelters at Bletchley Park, which housed code-cracking machines, listening posts and radio antennae, are falling into severe despair.

"The worst-affected buildings look as if they are about to fall down, with paint flaking off and one _ which was probably the most important hut _ covered in plastic sheeting at one end", said Francis Richards, chairman of Bletchley Park's trustees.

Supporters of the center say most buildings will be beyond repair within three years without new investment. "The future of the site, buildings, resources and equipment at Bletchley Park must be preserved for future generations", read a letter published in The Times on Thursday signed by 97 scientists from Britain's leading universities.

Fundraisers recently sold off broken roof tiles in an attempt to raise money for renovation work. "You are the keepers of one of the greatest British success stories", Prince Charles told supporters as he toured the site to give his backing to attempts to preserve the center.

Workers there had "ensured that this country finally emerged victorious, from World War II," he told former code-breakers and campaigners who hope to restore the site. © GPD AP