during world war ii, btm was called upon to design and manufacture a machine to assist breaking the german enigma machine ciphers. this machine, known as a bombe, was initially conceived by alan turing, but the actual machine was designed by btm chief engineer harold 'doc' keen, who had led the company's engineering department throughout the 1930s. the project was codenamed "cantab". by the end of the european war, over two hundred bombes had been built and installed.