Military and intelligence history mostly dealing with World War II.
This year I’ve added a new essay on the Compromise of Polish codes in WWII . This is a summary of the work done on Polish codes and ciphers (diplomatic, intelligence service, resistance movement) by the codebreakers of Germany, the United States and Britain. I uploaded the file TICOM report D-3 ‘The Polish Cyphers for Diplomatic and Consular Traffic’ by Scherschmidt (1943) I’ve also added…
In WWII Poland fought on the side of the Allies and suffered for it since it was the first country occupied by Nazi Germany. In the period 1940-45 the Polish Government in Exile and its military forces contributed to the Allied cause by taking part in multiple campaigns of war. Polish pilots fought for the RAF during the Battle of Britain, Polish troops fought in N.Africa, Italy and Western Europe…
Last year I did a lot of research on the Typex and M-209 cipher machines. While researching the Typex I also found interesting information on the lesser-known Combined Cipher Machine. This device was widely used by the US and British armed forces in WWII and in the 1950’s yet there are only a few references in books and these do not include details on its operation and message procedures. For this…
Cipher machines were extensively used by both the Axis and the Allies during WWII. The Germans had the Enigma , the Lorenz SZ 40/42 and the Siemens T-52 . The Japanese had the Type B Cipher Machine (Angooki Taipu B) . The Americans had the Converter M-134-C (SIGABA) and the Hagelin M-209 . The British had the Typex . Another machine that became increasingly important for the Allies, in the period…
Recently new information was published on the M-209 cipher machine and this information coupled with all the material that I have collected over the years led me to write a new essay on the M-209 cipher machine and its exploitation by the German and Japanese codebreakers. The new essay is: The American M-209 cipher machine - 2024
At the start of WWII, the US armed forces used various means for enciphering their confidential traffic. At the lowest level were hand ciphers. Above that were the M-94 and M-138 strip ciphers and at the top level a small number of highly advanced SIGABA cipher machines. The Americans used the strip ciphers extensively however these were not only vulnerable to cryptanalysis but also difficult to…
I’ve been posting here since 2011 and during that time I have covered a variety of subjects on military and intelligence history. From the economics of war, to strength and loss statistics for the opposing sides of WWII, the performance of weapon systems and of course the use of codes and ciphers by the participants. Especially in the field of cryptology I have presented new information using…
Since I no longer have any active cases I think it’s time to write a summary of my experience with the US freedom of information act program. The good : 1). Everyone can request files using the FOIA program. This is really useful for those of us that are non-US citizens. 2). The agencies involved respond in a professional manner, assign case numbers, send letters detailing the progress of the case…
My two remaining FOIA cases were filed in 2015 and 2018. I decided to cancel both of them because so much time has passed that this material is no longer of use to me.
"Слушают или нет?.." Путь советской секретной телефонии во время ВОВ Криптографический фронт в документах времён ВОВ
The proceedings of the International Conference on Historical Cryptology 2020 are available here .
Cryptologia: Enigma: the spoils of Gustave Bertrand, or “par où tout a commencé” by Jean-François Bouchaudy Abstract As early as 1931, Gustave Bertrand of the French intelligence services received from the traitor Hans Thilo Schmidt documents concerning the Enigma cipher machine. This machine was intended to equip all the German military forces. This is the beginning of an epic that has probably…
International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence: ‘ Japanese Navy’s Tactical Intelligence Collection on the Eve of the Pacific War ’ by Naoki Saito.
1). Interesting story about the compromise of the cipher machines produced by the Crypto AG company . 2). Article on the compromise of the export version of the Phillips Aroflex cipher machine .
Again thanks to Dermot Turing , who copied the TICOM report M-15, it was possible to identify the titles of the TICOM M reports 1-15. M-1 Vierling's Laboratory at Ebermannastadt M-2 Major Barlow's Report on Dr. Vierling's Laboratory M-3 'DELTA' Machine M-4 Full Preliminary Report of Investigation of Dr. Vierling's Laboratory "Feuerstein"- by Major Heller M-5 Demonstration of Kesselring ‘’Fish…
Here is a list of the TICOM I reports 1-213. Thanks to Dermot Turing , who copied the lists from NARA, it was possible to find the titles for almost all of the reports. I-1 Final Report on TICOM Team 3 on Final Exploitation on Burgscheidungen I-2. Interrogation of Dr. Huettenhain and Dr. Fricke at Flenshurg,21 May 1945 I-3 Ubersicht der Russischen Chi verfahren I-4 Record of conversation with Lt.…
Craig McKay has written a book on General Onodera, the Japanese military attaché to Sweden during WWII, and his intelligence gathering activities. Like all the neutral capitals in Europe, Stockholm became a natural hub for intelligence activities during the Second World War. One of the chief participants in the search for critical information was the Japanese Military Attaché, Makoto Onodera. In…
When I started researching cryptologic history in 2010 I didn’t expect I’d still be doing it 10 years later. It just goes to show you that life is unpredictable. During the year I’ll keep an eye out for any interesting books or articles but I will not do any active research on cryptologic history. As in 2019 I will post only when there is something interesting to report. The HistoCrypt202 0…
In 2019 I was able to research some cases of cryptologic history plus there were some interesting articles and presentations that presented new information. Specifically : 1). In The American M-209 cipher machine I added info on the unit NAASt 7 and the compromise of the M-209 machine during the invasion of Sicily in 1943. 2). I added a link to NARA microfilms containing information on State…
Interesting posts from the page of the Greek Signal Corps museum. For example the Greek DE-59 OTP teleprinter .
Another interesting essay by Coldspur on Cold war espionage .
Frode Weierud has posted copies of cleartext and enciphered radio messages transmitted during the Nigerian civil war (also called the Biafran war).
In the essay The French War Ministry’s FLD code I’ve added the following information: Identifying the FLD codes We can try to identify the cryptosystems used in the FLD radio network by looking at Huettehnain’s statements and various TICOM documents. According to Army cryptanalyst dr Buggisch (7) the designations F90 and F110 referred to French Army ciphers, read during the period 1939-1940: ‘ F90…
It seems that the upcoming book ‘ Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain’s Secret Cyber Intelligence Agency ’ has been delayed till October 2020.