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Code breakers intercepted the very final German message sent during WWII
The last recorded message to be intercepted from a German military communications network at the end of the Second World War has been revealed to the public for the first time.
It shows that Britain’s Bletchley Park code breakers carried on working in the dying days of the war to ensure there would be no final stand by the Nazis, according to GCHQ historian Tony Comer.
Mr Comer added the message, released to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day, gives ‘a small insight into the real people behind the machinery of war’.
GCHQ historian Tony Comer said: ‘These transcripts give us a small insight into the real people behind the machinery of war. ‘While most of the UK was preparing to celebrate the war ending, and the last of the German military communicators surrendered, Bletchley staff – like today’s GCHQ workers – carried on working to help keep the country safe’
GCHQ has released copies of the final intercepts of German communications made at the end of World War II
The intercepted message, which was sent as he signed off on 7 May 1945 at 7.35am, said: ‘British troops entered Cuxhaven at 1400 on 6 May – from now on all radio traffic will cease – wishing you all the best. Lt Kunkel’
With the Allies closing in and the network having retreated to the German town of Cuxhaven, a messenger who is identified only as Lieutenant Kunkel sent out a statement.
The intercepted message, which was sent as he signed off on 7 May 1945 at 7.35am, said: ‘British troops entered Cuxhaven at 1400 on 6 May – from now on all radio traffic will cease – wishing you all the best. Lt Kunkel’.
This was immediately followed by: ‘Closing down for ever – all the best – goodbye’.
Bletchley Park code breakers were collecting communications from the German Brown network.
By 1944, the network’s outstations had spanned across Europe from western Germany to the Baltic coast and was sending reports about the development of German experimental weapons.
Mr Comer said: ‘These transcripts give us a small insight into the real people behind the machinery of war.
‘While most of the UK was preparing to celebrate the war ending, and the last of the German military communicators surrendered, Bletchley staff – like today’s GCHQ workers – carried on working to help keep the country safe.’
It is among the release of a number of never-before-seen messages which give an insight into the final hours of a German communications network, according to GCHQ.
Some high-profile successes from GCHQ’s archives
German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann, pictured, proposed an alliance with Mexico if the United States joined the war on the side of the allies. Mexico was told they would receive Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in the event of an allied defeat. Experts in Room 40 of the Admiralty intercepted the telegram and it was later leaked to US newspapers
Tony Comer – who has worked for GCHQ for 36 years and has spent the last 10 as its historian – picks high-profile moments from its history.
The Zimmermann telegram:
In January 1917, GCHQ’s predecessors in Room 40 of the Admiralty produced an intelligence report that contributed to the United States, which was still neutral at that point, entering the First World War on the Allied side.
The German Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmermann, proposed an alliance with Mexico: if the US joined the Allied side in the war and Mexico would ally itself with Germany, it would receive Texas, New Mexico and Arizona as prizes after the defeat of the Allies.
The message was intercepted by the UK and read on January 17, with its importance quickly realised.
A copy of the message between the German Embassies in Washington and Mexico City was shown to the US Embassy in London.
It was leaked to the US press and was front page in most US newspapers on March 1 1917.
Zimmermann publicly announced that the telegram was authentic, and in April the United States declared war on Germany.
Breaking the Enigma code:
The Enigma machine was invented by a German engineer Arthur Scherbius shortly after the First World War.
Dilly Knox, one of the former British First World War codebreakers, was convinced he could break the military version of the system and set up an Enigma Research Section, comprising himself and Tony Kendrick, later joined by Peter Twinn, Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman: their success was built on a foundation of the success of Polish cryptanalysts before them.
They worked in the stable yard at Bletchley Park and that is where the first wartime Enigma messages were broken by the UK in January 1940 during the Second World War.
Details of those who worked at Bletchley Park have been preserved and used as an exhibit in GCHQ’s head quarters
Code breakers at Bletchley Park used Enigma machines to crack German naval signals during the Second World War. This Enigman machine is located in GCHQ’s headquarters building in Cheltenham
The forerunner for GCHQ sought volunteers during 1938 who could be recruited at the outbreak for war. They wanted people who were promising mathematicians and linguists – as well as those with code breaking experience from the First World War
Cuban Missile Crisis:
The Admiralty built a wireless telegraphy station at Scarborough in 1912.
From 1914 onwards it had responsibilities for Sigint, intelligence gathering by interception of signals, as well as its ordinary communications mission.
In 1962 the US learned that the Soviet Union was secretly shipping nuclear missiles on to the island of Cuba, just 90 miles from America.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, GCHQ was intercepting position reports from Russian ships such as the Kasimov, pictured, to determine whether the Soviets were planning to run the US blockade imposed by President John F Kennedy
The Soviet freighter Anosov, rear, being escorted by the USS Barry and a US Navy plane was one of the vessels seeking to run the blockade. GCHQ’s station in Scarborough compiled position reports from Soviet vessels heading to Cuba. These reports showed the moment when the Russian ships turned around
The world was facing nuclear conflict after a Soviet missile base was spotted in Cuba by US Air Force intelligence flights
President John F Kennedy’s advisers pushed for an immediate invasion of the island but Kennedy opted instead for a naval blockade on further shipping arriving.
Some Soviet ships were already on their way to the island.
The question was whether they would break through the blockade. If they did, the risk was a conflict which could escalate into nuclear war.
One of the missions of the Scarborough station was to intercept position reports of Soviet merchant shipping.
This meant that it could say exactly where these vessels were, when they stopped sailing towards Cuba and when they turned around and headed back to the Soviet Union.
Reports gradually showed more ships originally bound for Cuba alter their course to return to Soviet ports.
A key report from this series – which shows the first report of a ship changing course- has just been declassified.
Who was Alan Turing and why was he so vital for the war effort that he has been named as the face of the Bank of England’s new £50 note
Alan Turing, pictured, was born on June 23, 1912 and studied maths at King’s College, Cambridge. He is considered the father of modern computing and was a vital part of the Bletchley Park code breakers
Alan Turing was a wartime hero whose later life was overshadowed by a conviction for homosexual activity, which was later considered unjust and discriminatory.
Often considered to be the father of computer science, Turing played a pivotal role in breaking the Enigma code and his legacy has a lasting impact on the way we live today.
Born on June 23 1912, Turing studied mathematics at King’s College, University of Cambridge, gaining a first-class honours degree in 1934. He was later elected a Fellow of the College.
In 1936 his work on Computable Numbers is seen as giving birth to the idea of how computers could operate.
His ‘Turing test’ also examined the behaviour necessary for a machine to be considered intelligent – the foundation for artificial intelligence.
Perhaps Turing’s best-known achievement was his role in cracking the Enigma code.
It has been said this helped to shorten the length of the Second World War by at least two years – saving millions of lives.
The Enigma enciphering machine, adopted by the German armed forces to send messages securely, was believed to be unbreakable as the cipher changed continuously.
Turing was part of an Enigma research section, which worked in the stable yard at Bletchley Park.
The first wartime Enigma messages were broken in January 1940 and Enigma traffic continued to be broken routinely at Bletchley Park for the remainder of the war.
Turing was later convicted of gross indecency for his relationship with a man.
His conviction led to the removal of his security clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) where he had continued to work following service at Bletchley Park during the war.
He was chemically castrated following his conviction in 1952 and he died aged 41 in 1954.
Turing died of cyanide poisoning and an inquest recorded a verdict of suicide, although his mother and others maintained his death was accidental.
He was later given a posthumous royal pardon, following a request from the then Justice Secretary Chris Grayling.
In September 2009, then-prime minister Gordon Brown issued the apology to Turing for the prosecution following a petition calling for such a move.
A petition, Grant a pardon to Alan Turing, previously received more than 37,000 signatures.
In July, the Governor of the Bank of England announced that Alan Turing would appear on the new £50 note in honour of his wartime exploits. His work is believed to have saved the lives of millions of people
Alan Turing’s work on cracking the Enigma code machine is believed to have shorted the Second World War by two years
Source: Daily Mail
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