A profile of Alan Turing part 1: An unlikely war hero

Over 30,000 people signed a petition for the Prime Minister to issue the apology. But what was so special about Turing, that over 50 years after his death so many should call for him to be remembered?

Turing, born in 1912 and a graduate of King's College Cambidge, first received public recognition in 1945 when he was awarded an OBE for his contribution to the war effort.

During the war he worked for the government at Bletchley Park, where Britain's top code breakers worked to decode German messages.

Building on the work of Polish scientists, Turing was instrumantal in cracking the German's infamous Enigma machine and the Lorenz SZ 40/42.

Gordon Brown described Turing as one of many heroes of the Second World War - even saying that had Turing not made his contribution the course of the war "could have been very different".

The Enigma machine was used extensively by German U-Boats in the Battle of the Atlantic - Hitler's attempt to starve Britain into subission by sinking supply ships bringing essential supplies to embattled Britain.

Cracking the code gave British naval forces a real edge against the "wolf-packs" of German Admiral Doenitz.

Able to intercept and decipher U-Boat transmissions, Allie convoys could safely avoid the wolf-packs and bring desperately needed supplies to Britain.

The Royal Navy were also able to locate the packs and turn the hunters into the hunted.