内容摘要："I've lost lots of friends - some very, very early but some more recently, and it still hurts."

"I've lost lots of friends - some very, very early but some more recently, and it still hurts."

The face of a World War Two codebreaker is appearing on a special set of stamps being issued to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.William Tutte, or Bill, was born in Newmarket, Suffolk, in 1917, and was invited to help with codebreaking efforts at Bletchley Park. He was instrumental

who have made remarkable contributions during the war, and Royal Mail will also apply a special VE80 postmark in the week of the anniversary in May.Chief executive Emma Gilthorpe said Royal Mail was "proud to issue these stamps honouring the courage, sacrifice and resilience of those who fought for freedom and peace".Mr Tutte joined the Bletchley Park team in 1941, when work was being carried out by Alan Turing and his colleagues on decoding messages sent via the Enigma machines.

Mr Tutte was offered scholarships at a high school in Cambridge and later at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained a first class honours degree in chemistry and, after the war, a doctorate in mathematics.At Bletchley Park, Mr Tutte was presented with the task of deciphering the teleprinter code - a task which took him about six months.

It would take about six weeks for a message to be decrypted.

Engineers at Bletchley then constructed a device which mimicked the German encryption machine to speed up the process.In 2023-24 it awarded grants totalling £173,386 to 88 different organisations, including funding charities and community events.

Jane Birch, from the Labour-led council, said the funding could "be for everything from one-off events to longer term projects".were two beneficiaries of the funding.

Also supported was Outside In Theatre's "Willow's Winter Hug" workshops, which provided free craft and story sessions to more than 100 children at libraries and community venues in Northampton during half-term.Ms Birch, chair of the council's community services committee, said: "We know there are so many charities, groups and organisations working hard to improve the town and make a difference to its residents, and we are keen to support the brilliant things they do.