From: Dennis R Starks To: acer@ne.uswest.net,kgreene@cellmail.com,lazlow@lazlow.com, rdd02754@mail.telepac.pt,MBENDROR@LHSYSTEMSUSA.COM, joseph@pacificcoast.net,mbendror@villagenet.com, brumloff@capital.net,edd.b@snet.net,rcrice@rice-law.com, snoshu@market1.com,hardiem@intergate.bc.ca, n.anedda@rsadvnet.it,vas.2@juno.com,JDehoney@netbsa.org, dtrimble@garlic.com,yahya@orient.uw.edu.pl, bjtarry@faroc.com.au,bwgent@dreamscape.com, bwigg@worldnet.att.net,cfandt@netsync.net,dgnova@erols.com, MennoPutman@hetnet.nl,navrad@enter.net,scole@juno.com, crewman@voyager.net,braccot@hotmail.com,jwatkin9@idt.net, KI8HP@ATT.NET,hamradio@oz.net,rhsalomon@earthlink.net, saleswizard@salesforcetraining.com,SKYNITE@email.msn.com, brianclarke@telstra.easymail.com.au,FEYSSACJ@aol.com, jsulliva@eclipse.net,F5pica@aol.com,GAKopp@aol.com, prc74b@iglou.com,dia@dia.reno.nv.us,INDUSTELE@aol.com, h.hermanns@ginko.de,pigeon3@gte.net Date: Wed, 17 Nov 1999 05:54:32 -0600 Subject: MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Nov.17/99 Message-ID: <19991117.055434.-252317.0.military-radio-guy@juno.com> X-Mailer: Juno 3.0.13 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Full-Name: Dennis R Starks X-Status: Sent X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 0-26,28-30,32,34-39,42-55,61,63-71,73-79,84-97,99,101-110,112-122,124-125,134-136,142-158,160-164,167-190,192-194,196-212,214-221,225-248,250-258,260-268,270,272-273,275-297,299-312,316,322-425,427-432,437-440,442-445,448,451-459,461-464,469,473-475,478-479,481-505,507-511,513-514,521-523 X-Juno-Att: 0 X-Juno-Fcc: Sent Items X-Juno-Size: 25400 X-Juno-RefParts: 0 MILITARY COLLECTOR GROUP POST, Nov.17/99 Index: ANNOUNCEMENTS; THE ENIGMA, POLISH VIEW; by Jan Bury MEMBERS WRITE; "Joan"(SSTC-502) Pictures, Polish Resistance Book, "Back Issues" Index, HUMOR; *********************************************** THE ENIGMA, POLISH VIEW; The Greatest Secret of World War II - The Enigma Code Breach by Jan Bury Contents 1. Foreword 2. Polish pre-war codebreakers in the early period (1930s) 3. The methods of cipher breach 4. Beginning of the WWII - Evacuation to France 5. Enigma in the WW II - speculation 6. Conclusions 7. Sources 1. Foreword There have been numerous articles and books about the Enigma code breach. However, the role that the Polish cryptologists' school had played in it has always been omitted. Such approach was spread since 1974, when F. W. Winterbotham published a book titled "The Ultra Secret", where he claimed that the British were the first to break this cipher. There has been very little published in the West, about those who were truely first to break the Enigma-enciphered messages, the Poles in the late 1930s. There in also an absurd version spread by Mr. Winterbotham, who claims that the British got an Enigma from Poles, who apparently had stolen a set from a German factory, thanks to their mythical agent who was employed there. My intention is to make a reliable approach for a reader in the West concerning the greatest secret of World War II. I decided to base this accont on the published sources that are available in Poland and are considered as official and reliable. 2. Polish Pre-War Codebreakers in the Early Period (1930s) The first attempts in Poland to break the newly introduced cipher by the Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine were in 1928. The messages that were encoded with a new cipher were being picked up by four Polish ELINT stations: in Warsaw, Starogard near Gdansk (or then Danzig), in Poznan and in Krzeslawice near Cracow. Unfortunately, the methods involved in breaking the cipher code were fruitless. It seemed that the new cipher was a strong cryptography and cannot be cracked in an easy way. Therefore, the Ciphers Office (BS) of the Polish Army's General Staff decided to ask mathematicians for help. In January 1929, the Dean of the Department of Mathematics, Professor Zdzislaw Kryglowski from the University of Poznan, made a list of his best graduating students who could begin working at the Ciphers Office. Later these students graduated a course of cryptography prepared by that Office. The best were: Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Rozycki and Henryk Zygalski who could work both at the University and at the General Staff's Ciphers Office without any problems at that time. In the autumn of 1930, a new branch of the Ciphers Office was opened in utmost secrecy in Poznan. Rejewski, as well as his colleagues were employed there. In 1932, the group was moved to Warsaw, to start working on the Enigma Cipher. Their first success was a German Navy 4-letter cipher break. Rejewski was considered a leading cryptologist with the group. He was looking forward to a new way of breaking the sophisticated German code. Since the Polish intelligence got an Enigma machine, Rejewski could develop a scheme of decryption from the mathematical point of view. Unfortunately, that machine was a commercial product, and the German army used the more complicated Enigma with an auxiliary connectors' plate at the front panel which greatly multipied the possible number of encryption codes. During 1931, the Polish Intelligence co-operated with the French Deuxieme Bureau, which led a most important agent within the Reichswehr Cipher's Office. Rejewski got a description of the militarized Enigma, as well as old key tables. This helped him to eliminate many unknown figures in the permutation-alike equation he had previously created. Finally, in December 1932, Rejewski reconstructed the Enigma's internal connections. In January, 1933, the two other cryptologist also became involved in Rejewski's work. In the same month, the first German messages were decrypted. Since then, the General Staff had access to the most secret data transmitted by the German Army, Navy, Air Force, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is being estimated, that during the 6-year period of Polish reading of the Enigma messages (between January, 1933 and September, 1939), about 100.000 transmissions were deciphered. The most important concerned the remilitarization of the Rhein Province, Anschluss of Austria and seizure of the Sudetenland, the last could be dangerous to Poland's interests. The fact that the Enigma cipher was cracked was kept in the utmost secrecy even within the Polish General Staff's II Directorate. The officers got the messages signed with a code-name "Wicher" (that was the Enigma code break) that were considered fully reliable, but the source was classified. In 1934, the General Staff's Cipher Office established a new site for their German branch (BS-4) in the Kabaty Forest near Warsaw. Rejewski and his colleagues worked there until the breakout of WW II on 1 September, 1939. Although the French helped the Poles with the Enigma code break, all material was in the exclusive hands of Poles until July 1939. 3. The Methods of Cipher Breach In February 1933, the Polish Army's General Staff placed an order at the AVA Radio Workshops in Warsaw to build military Enigma copies. During that time, the General Staff possessed only one Enigma that was of a commercial type, without front panel auxiliary connectors that made the cipher stronger. By mid-1934, about 15 "made in Poland" Enigma's had been delivered. By the end of August 1939, about 70 such units were produced. On 15 September, 1938, just two weeks before the conference in Munich, the Germans changed drastically their methods of using the Enigma cipher. Since the new key scheme seemed to be more complicated, the Polish cryptologists invented the first mechanical pseudo-computers to help them in their work. In October 1938, Rejewski designed the machine named "bomba kryptologiczna" (cryptologic bomb), which was soon produced at the AVA Workshops. Also a "cyclometer" machine helped to assess the pattern of the key. Simultaneously, the new method of a double-key crack was invented, which consisted of using sheets of paper with 51 by 51 holes (each set consisted of 26 sheets). The method allowed finding convergent places for the entire set. However, starting in December 1938, the Germans upgraded their Enigma machines with 2 extra ciphering rotors (altogether 5 rotors). Although the Polish cryptographers could still read the German messages, the mass decryption effort now required 60 instead of only six cryptologic bombs and 60 paper sheet sets. During mid-July, 1939, Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Waclaw Stachiewicz, authorized the Ciphers Office to share all their knowledge on Enigma with the allied intelligence services. The representatives of France and England got Polish-made clones of the Enigma encryption machine during the meeting in Warsaw between 24 and 26 July, 1939. On 16 August 1939, General Stewart Menzies was given a copy of an Enigma at the Victoria Station in London. The British begun to read the Enigma messages in mid-August, 1939. 4. Beginning of the WWII - Evacuation to France On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Ciphers Office, as well as ELINT surveillance stations were evacuated to Romania. While the situation on the front deteriorated, and the Soviet Union invaded Poland on 17 September 1939, the Ciphers Office received an order to destroy all documentation and equipment. Rejewski, Zygalski and Rozycki got to France during the last days of September 1939. In October 1939, a joint Polish-French radiointelligence center in Gretz-Armainvillers near Paris was created. It was given the code name "Bruno". Furthermore, the "Bruno" center had a Teletype link to the Gov't Code and Ciphers School (the predecessor of their current GCHQ) in England. There were also Spanish codebreakers employed at "Bruno" to crack the Spanish and Italian ciphers. The main problem the cryptologists were facing was the exchange of the key system, which took place in the German Army on 1 July 1939. The first decrypted message at the "Bruno" center on 17 January 1940 was from 28 October 1939. The most helpful messages to assess the routine of the German Army Signals Corps were those sent every day just before 2400 hours. There was important information on call signs, wavelengths, and hours of operation, etc. There were also false messages to deceive the enemy ELINT/SIGINT efforts, sent by the Germans. However, the most characteristic messages were: situation reports sent in the morning, noon, afternoons, evenings; intelligence reports; orders; logistic reports and others. The unit's most important effort was the warning about the German preparation to attack France. On 10 June 1940, the "Bruno" unit got an order to evacuation. On 24 June 1940 the cryptologists were evacuated by three French Air Force airplanes to Algeria. In mid-July 1940, the unit started to work clandestinely in Algiers. The Poles were enrolled into the Polish Armed Forces Branch "300" of the II Directorate. The Polish cryptologists were however to come back soon to occupied France under a secret agreement between the Polish and Free French governments and continue their work underground in the City of Fouzes near Nimes. In the beginning of October 1940, the new secret unit was formed in Fouzes and code-named "Cadix". The "Bruno" center successor decrypted the following types of German messages: - German military orders to the units in Europe and in Libya, - SS and Police (Polizei) messages from Europe, - spy radio communications between field agents in Euriope or in Libya and Abwehra HQ in Stuttgart, - Diplomatic communications and German Armistice Commission communications in Wiesbaden and their branches in France and in North Africa. Furthermore, the Fouzes "Cadix" unit got a branch in Algiers, led by Polish II Directorate's officer, Maj. (later Maj.-Gen.) M. Z. Rygor-Slowikowski. The unit was located in the Kouba villa in Algiers' suburbs. Most of the intelligence gathered by his unit were used in preparation of the "Torch" allied operation (North Africa Landing). Note that the "Kouba" (a.k.a. PO-1 branch)unit encrypted their messages using a Polish-made LCD (a.k.a. "Lacida") enciphering machine, which consisted of a modified Remington typewriter combined with enciphering rotors. Unfortunately, on 9 January 1942, Jerzy Rozycki died when a M/S "Lamoriciere" he was traveling in, sunk near Balearic Isles. Because of German ELINT threat, the unit's members were evacuated on 6 November 1942. Rejewski and Zygalski managed to get to neutral Spain. Later, via Gibraltar, they were transferred to England, where they started working in the Polish Army Signals Corps in Boxmoor near London, in fact it was the Polish Armed Forces Branch "300" of the II Directorate. They later cracked the German SS formations cipher. 5. Enigma in the WW II - Speculation It has been supposed that since 1939 the British intelligence was able to decrypt Enigma messages. There was a Soviet GRU intelligence network in Switzerland during WW II, led by a Hungarian geographer, Professor Sandor Rado. The group was pinpointed by the German ELINT and was given the code name "Die Rote Drei" (The Red Three). Rado's most important agent was Rudolf Roessler (pseudonym "Lucy"). The information he provided was always very reliable, true and exact, however he has never told who his agents were. He mentioned only, that he got the reports from: "Werther" from OKWehrmacht (German Army HQ), "Teddy" from OKHeer (Land Forces HQ), "Stefan" and "Ferdinand" from OKLuftwaffe (Air Force HQ) and "Olga" from the Reich's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One hypothesis claims that these personalities had never existed and that R. Roessler gathered intelligence from Enigma code breaking or he was supported by the British via another agent within Rado's network, Allan Alexander Fooote ("Jim"). Perhaps the British acted as Stalin's supporters to encourage him to finish the war with the lesser effort from the Western side, especially considering the Eastern Europe liberation. 6. Conclusions The ability to read the enemy's communications by the allied forces was very important factor, which undoubtedly has contributed to the victory over Nazi Germany. It was the most important source on the Nazi Germany that the West had. Perhaps, the Soviets were also given intelligence gathered in such a way. There is also an interesting event, that the Enigma cipher's algorithm was considered strong, and was used in the Unix OS encryption in the 1970s. 7. Sources 1. Krzysztof Gaj: Szyfr Enigmy. Metody Zlamania [Enigma Cipher. The methods of Breaking], WKL, Warsaw 1989. 2. Wladyslaw Kozaczuk: W kregu Enigmy [In the Enigma Circle], KiW, Warsaw 1986. 3. Andrzej Peplonski: Wywiad Polskich Sil Zbrojnych na Zachodzie 1939-1945 [Polish Armed Forces' Intelligence in the West 1939-1945], AWM, Warsaw 1995. 4. Marian Rejewski: 'An Application of the Theory of Permutations in Breaking the Enigma Cipher'; in: Applicaciones Mathematicae. 16, No. 4, Warsaw 1980. 5. Marian Rejewski: 'How Polish Mathematicians Deciphered the Enigma'; in: Annals of the History of Computing. Arlington, Vol. 3, No. 3, July 1981. Jan Bury SP5XZG Warsaw, Poland e-mail: yahya@orient.uw.edu.pl ed) What a story! I think somebody should email this accout to the "Nova" web site in responce to their recent PBS program on the subject. *********************************************** MEMBERS WRITE; "Joan"(SSTC-502) Pictures, Hi, There are some pictures of an SSTC-502 ("Joan") on my web page at: http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Node/7408/ In the "Clandestine Radio" section, go to the "WWII OSS Equipment" chapter. regards, Pete McCollum saipan59@juno.com (no attachments) saipan59@uswest.net (attachments OK) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Polish Resistance Book, Dennis, i has some years back a book, "Fighting Warsaw" from Minerva Press ( U.K. ) which recounted resistance work in Warsaw. I recall the equipment described was all homebuilt. One interesting thing was the resistance actually made voice broadcasts too, apparently in the hope Allied monitors would hear, since Poles themselves were forbidden to keep radios. This was quite a gripping story, of constantly watching out the windows, hastily disassembling radio equipment and dispersing. If the readers ever see this title in some book sale, i absolutely advise buying it. *BTW, a book on resistance in the Auschwitz camp says that inmates there actually had a receiver and transmitter also. Hue Miller ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Back Issues" Index, Dennis, In response to: Military Collector Group Post: BACK ISSUES It is a lot of work but maybe it might be a good idea to start making an index by subject title. Such as : SCR 511 Dec 15,1997; Feb 4 1998, Oct 23, 1999 Joan eleanor sts dates, dates, etc. I can not speak for anyone else but I save all the group posts to a disk, and have recently been adding on what ever was the major item, story, etc. Sample MCGP 13 Nov 99 Paper trail MCGP 14 Nov 99 Want-trade MCGP 15 Nov 99 Joan Eleanor set It would be a monumental task to go back and get all of these done but maybe for the future??? Bill Howard e-mail wlhoward@gte.net ed) Good idea, but not of the "back issues", as these are all eventually dissected, with like material being combined to make up our "Backmail" files. After that, the back issues are no longer available. It's the Backmail that would need be indexed as you suggest. One problem with it though, our Backmail index is already 12 pages long in it's present format. This approaches the max that can be sent via Juno. If a proper alphanumeric order index were to be made, this page count would at the very least triple. However, I'm doing it anyway, and started a couple days ago as we should before long have our own web site to contain all this material. *********************************************** HUMOR; More T-shirt Quotes 1) My Mother Is A Travel Agent For Guilt Trips 2) Princess, Having Had Sufficient Experience With Princes, Seeks Frog 3) I Suffer Occasional Delusions of Adequacy 4) God Made Us Sisters, Prozac Made Us Friends 5) If They Don't Have Chocolate In Heaven, I Ain't Going 6) At My Age, I've Seen It All, Done It All, Heard It All...I Just Can't Remember It All 7) (around a picture of dandelions) I Fought the Lawn and the Lawn Won 8) I Just Do What The Voices Inside My Head Tell Me To Do 9) (Worn by a pregnant woman) A Man Did This To Me 10) If It's Called Tourist Season, Why Can't We Hunt Them? 11) Senior Citizen: Give Me My Damn Discount 12) So Few Men, So Few Who Can Afford Me 13) No, It Doesn't Hurt (on a "well-tattooed gentleman") 14) (on the back of a passing motorcyclist) If You Can Read This, My Wife Fell Off 15) I Used To Be Schizophrenic, But We're OK Now 16) (Over the outline of the state of Minnesota) My Governor Can Beat Up Your Governor 17) Veni, Vedi, Visa: I came. I Saw. I Did some Shopping. 18) What If The Hokey Pokey Really Is What It's All About? 19) I Didn't Climb to the Top of the Food Chain to Be a Vegetarian 20) (on the Front) Yale Is Just One Big Party- (on the back) With a $25,000 Cover Charge 21) Coffee, Chocolate, Men...Some Things Are Just Better Rich 22) Liberal Arts Major...Will Think For Money 23) Growing Old is Inevitable; Growing Up is Optional 24) IRS- Be Audit You Can Be 25) Gravity...It's Not Just a Good Idea. It's the Law. 26) If You Want Breakfast In Bed, Sleep In the Kitchen 27) Wanted: Meaningful Overnight Relationship 28) The Old Pro...Often Wrong...Never In Doubt 29) If At First You Don't Succeed, Skydiving Isn't For You 30) Old Age Comes at a Bad Time 31) In America, Anyone Can Be President. That's One of the Risks You Take living here 32) First Things First, but Not Necessarily in That Order. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh blood and parked himself on the roof of the cave to get some sleep. Pretty soon all the other bats smelled the blood and began hassling him about where he got it. He told them to knock it off and let him get some sleep but they persisted in hassling him to no end until finally he gave in. "OK!" he said with exasperation, "follow me," and he flew out of the cave with hundreds of bats following close behind him. Down through the valley they went, across the river and into the deep forest. Finally he slowed down and all the other bats excitedly gathered around him. "Do you see that tree over there?" he asked. "Yes, yes, yes!" the bats all screamed in a frenzy. "Good," said the first bat, "Because I DIDN'T!" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Halloween joke A cabby picks up a nun. She gets into the cab, and the cab driver won't stop staring at her. She asks him why he is staring and he replies, "I have a question to ask you, but I don't want to offend you. She answers, 'My dear son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old as I am and have been a nun a long as I have, you get a chance to see and hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive." "Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me." She responds, "Well, let's see what we can do about that. First, you have to be single, as I would never want one to betray their wedding vows. And secondly, you must be Catholic." The cab driver is very excited and says, "Yes, I am single and I am Catholic, too!" The nun says "OK, pull into the next alley." He does and the nun fulfills his fantasy. But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying. "My dear child, said the nun, why are you crying?" "Forgive me, Sister, but I have sinned. I lied to you. I must confess, I'm married and I'm Jewish." The nun says, "That's OK, my name is Kevin and I am on my way to a Halloween party. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A young commissioned Army officer was in a car accident, but due to the heroics of another young Marine Corps officer the only permanent injury was to both ears, which were subsequently amputated. Since he wasn't physically impaired he remained in the military and eventually became a three-star General. He remained, however, very sensitive about his appearance. One day the new General was interviewing three young officers for the position of his personal aide on the Joint Staff. The first officer was a newly commissioned young Air Force Academy grad and it was a great interview. At the end the General asked him, "Do you notice anything different about me?" The young officer answered, "Why yes. I couldn't help but notice you have no ears." The General got very angry at this lack of tact and threw him out. The second interview was with a female Navy admin officer, and she was even better than the first officer, and with a better file. The General asked her the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?" She replied, "Well, you have no ears." The General threw her out also. The third interview was with a Marine aviator. He was articulate, looked extremely sharp and seemed to know more than the other two officers put together. The General wanted this guy, and went ahead with the same question, "Do you notice anything different about me?" To his surprise the young pilot said, "Yes, you wear contact lens." The General was impressed and thought, "What an incredibly observant young officer, and he didn't mention my ears." "And how do you know that?" the General asked. The young Marine pilot replied, "Well, it's pretty hard to wear glasses with no fucking ears." ----------------------------------------------------------------- "My Mascot" The nursing aides for the 89-year-old man planned a surprise party for him. This active and alert retired doctor had his leg amputated two years ago. It had been a struggle to adjust to living his life with only one leg, spending most of his time in a wheelchair. Family, friends and volunteers filled the brightly decorated room. He looked at the group and signaled a sweet six-year-old girl, the grandchild of one of his aides, to come over to him. He reached out and put his arm around her. He introduced her and announced, "She is my mascot!" He went on to tell the group assembled that he would never forget the first time she visited. She came in, looked at him and his folded up pants leg in the wheelchair, and in her charming voice asked, "Where is your prosthesis?" He was astounded she knew the word. She showed him her prosthesis and told him her story. When she was three years old, a man broke into her home, killed her 17-month-old brother and, with a machete, cut off her leg. He said this young girl taught him not to complain and to be grateful for the 88 years during which he had two legs. They share a very special bond. She feels proud that she was able to help a very old man. He has a very special smile for the young girl who walks with joyful and energetic steps, the prosthesis removing all barriers from her path. By Hedy J. Dalin from ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following was written by Audrey Hepburn regarding "Beauty Tips": For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anybody. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years ... only grows! *********************************************** The preceding was a product of the"Military Collector Group Post", an international email magazine dedicated to the preservation of history and the equipment that made it. Unlimited circulation of this material is authorized so long as the proper credits to the original authors, and publisher or this group are included. For more information concerning this group or membership contact Dennis Starks at, . A list of selected articles of interest to members can be seen at: http://www.softcom.net/users/buzz/backmail.html ***********************************************