This was considered a 'second generation' drum memory; first generation drums could be enormous and very heavy, yet their low cost made them a popular choice for mid-range computers in the mid to late 1950s. This drum weighs about 60 pounds. Note the handlebars for lifting. The cylindrical assemblies on top are for positioning the head stacks after the drum comes up to speed.

• 'ENGLISH ELECTRIC' D.E.U.C.E.' web site by John Barrett "I was the maintenance engineer of the first English Electric Deuce computer delivered to the Royal Aircraft Establishment UK back in 1956."

Peter Docherty (Jan 2007) wrote

Ed, I noted that you had no price for the deuce. In 1956/57 the price was £50,000. I worked on the DEUCE as an engineer in Marconi House, The Strand, London WC2 from November 1956 until the end of 1961. The DEUCE it was by then in Queen's House, Kingsway. I left there to go on a KDP10 course at Kidsgrove and helped to commission the machine which went to BOLSA (Bank of London and South America) where I became the reaident engineer . I have one or two circuit diagrams of the DEUCE machine. Peter Docherty

John Barrett (November 2007) wrote

I was doing one of my irregular trawls of the WWW for Deuce references when I came across Peter Docherty's entry on your site at http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/english-electric-deuce.html Although Peter is listed on my Deuce People page http://users.tpg.com.au/eedeuce/people.html#263 it was only by reference from someone else. I have emailed him and hope to hear from him soon. The number of Deuce people on my site is now 445, just when I think that is the end another turns up. David Green, http://users.tpg.com.au/eedeuce/people.html#17 who was a programmer in Kidsgrove , and later at Sydney Uni when I went there to install a KDF9, has added a site of Deuce documents at http://members.iinet.net.au/~dgreen/deuce/deucdocs.html I was able to give him David Leigh's address in UK, who has a mass of Deuce documents, and the two of them spend many happy hours photocopying as much as possible http://users.tpg.com.au/eedeuce/people.html#151 David Green has spent many hours producing a Deuce Emulator and the beta version I have played with is very impressive and brings back memories. The two emulated panels of the Deuce are attached. Still concerned that when I pop my clogs all this history will be gone. Just don't seem to be able to get through to museums how dependent they are on written historical documents that people reading them can read and recognise. Not the case with floppies CDs etc. I think I've said all this before. Cheers from Sunny Sydney - John (click on images to enlarge)