by DAVID KAHN
307 ABCD: Painvin, 14. A confusing explanation of the cryptanalysis, translated from the French, appears in J. Rives Childs, Cipher Papers, I, §2, a paper mistitled “On the Italian & S.E. Front.” These Childs Cipher Papers, deposited at the library of Childs’ alma mater, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia, comprise five volumes of cryptologic documents—intercepted cryptograms, solutions, reports, memoranda—from Childs’ service as an American cryptanalyst in World War I.
307 substitution ciphers: Painvin, 14-15; Childs Cipher Papers, I, §2, “System in Use by the Germans Between Berlin and Constantinople.”
308 grilles: Painvin, 15; “Instructions for Grill Cipher,” Translation of a Captured German Document in J. Rives Childs, German Military Ciphers from February to November, 1918, War Department, Office of the Chief Signal Officer (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1935), at 48-50, for codenames. Gaines, ch. 5; Wolfe, ch. 10 at 8-11, 22-26; Friedman, IV, ch. vii; Sacco, §§13, 81-82, for methods of grille construction and solution.
309 British setup: inferred from Childs, German Military Ciphers, 22, 24.
309 Hay: Who’s Who, 1963; Burke’s Peerage, 1963, at 2448-9; obituary in The Scotsman, December 28, 1962; introduction by Thomas Sugrue to Hay’s The Foot of Pride (London: Beacon Press, 1950), at xi-xix; Mrs. Hay, letters June 4, 18, and 25, 1963. I am most indebted to Mrs. Hay for her help.
309 personnel: Names in memorandum dictated by Hay in 1956; Who’s Who, 1963, for Sansom and Jopson; Who Was Who, 1951-1960, for Leeds, Minns, Strachey; 1941-1950, for Tyndale, Brooke; 1929-1940, for Margoliouth, Hunt.
310 5 Cork Street: Sir George Sansom, letter August 27, 1963; [J. Rives Childs], Before the Curtain Falls (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1932), at 122. This work of disguised nonfiction, published anonymously, contains considerable cryptologic color. Names are slightly altered: Hay appears as Day, Brooke-Hunt as Brooke, Hitchings as Herbert, Painvin as Pinson, and so on.
310 French help: James, 28; Cartier, “Souvenirs,” II, 33.
310 skilled cryptanalysts: Childs, German Military Ciphers, 24, for Turkish and Brooke-Hunt; Great Britain, War Office, letter, 22 May 1963, and Before the Curtain Falls, 123, for Brooke-Hunt.
310 Für GOD: Childs, German Military Ciphers, 1-4; J. Rives Childs, “History and Principles of German Military Ciphers” (unpublished typescript, April 5, 1919, deposited with Childs Cipher Papers as Vol. V), ch. 4; Before the Curtain Falls, 123-124; Hay memorandum for his close relations with Hall; Hoy, 157-159, for Abd el Malek. Hoy states that the Malek messages were solved by Room 40, but a study of the political situation, plus the fact that Malek is mentioned in at least two Für GOD messages (October 2, 1917, and January 10, 1918), leads me to believe that it was a Für GOD solution that sank the submarine. Für GOD plaintexts in Childs Cipher Papers, I, §9.
311 Hay and duties: Sansom letter for “very good chief”; photographs of the book of remembrances from Mrs. Hay; Hay memorandum for duties.
311 Hitchings: his widow, Mrs. Jean B. Hitchings, letters, November 11 and December 2, 1963; Childs, letters, September 11 and 16, 1963.
311 Intelligence E(c), 2nd echelon: Friedman, Field Codes, 15.
311 Le Touquet: Before the Curtain Falls, 135, 136.
311 Macgregor: Hay memorandum; Childs, letters, September 11 and November 6, 1963.
311 army cryptanalysts and POW: Childs, German Military Ciphers, 24; Childs, letter, September 16, 1963.
312 Playfair: Gyldén, 44; Colonel Andreas Figl, Systeme des Chiffrierens (Graz: Ulr. Mosers Buchhandlung, 1926), at §47; William F. Friedman, “The Use of Codes and Ciphers in the World War and the Lessons to be Learned Therefrom,” Articles, 192-205 at 198 (July-September, 1938).
312 Lawrence of Arabia: Sir Ronald Storrs, Memoirs (New York: Putnam, 1937), 186.
312 code chiffré: Friedman, Field Codes, 51-71 for facsimiles of the Series 65 code; Givierge, “Problems,” 13 for changes; Colonel Givierge, Le chiffre, Conférence faite le 6 février 1927, École de Perfectionnement des Officiers de Réserve de Penthièvre (Paris: Imprimerie F. Essertier, n.d.), 13; Givierge, 256, and André Langé and E.-A. Soudart, Traité de cryptographie (Paris: Librairie Félix Alcan, 1925), 87-88, for dangers of partial encoding. The Mendelsohn Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Library has a 28-page Code Chiffré, Série 64 (Ministère de la Guerre, Cabinet du Ministre, Section du Chiffre, no date or place of publication), a three-digit superenciphered code whose users are enjoined specifically to encode only the important words in a message; I do not know where, when, or why this code was used.
312 French mixed-alphabet polyalphabetic: Gyldén, 44.
312 French interrupted columnar: Givierge, “Problems,” 13; Gyldén, 44, 43 for no solution, and footnotes by William F. Friedman on 41 and 44; Figl, §20. For French errors in handling—by officers, no less—see Givierge, “Problems,” 12.
312 no cryptanalysts: Friedman, note in Gyldén, 41; “Lessons,” 197.
312 no German military cryptanalysis: Gyldén, 15, states that only the German Foreign Office engaged in cryptanalysis, and that to a very limited extent.
313 side effect: Givierge; “Problems,” 14; Gyldén, 54.
313 on French territory: Gyldén, 34.
313 Abhorchdienst: Gyldén, 45. This pertains only to the Western Front. In the East, the Germans intercepted much Russian plaintext and solved a few of the poorly enciphered cryptograms soon after the war started; for details, see chapter on Russian cryptology. I believe that this activity did not spread to the West because no cryptanalytic organization existed to disseminate methods and results, because the fronts were widely separated and theater commanders almost independent, and because solutions occurred even in the East only rarely and haphazardly, and at great distances from one another.
313 Neumunster and Playfairs: Commandant X, “Les grandes heures de la T.S.F.,” QST Français et Radio-électricité réunis, IX (April, 1928), 24-26 at 24.
313 mathematicians: W. Nicolai, The German Secret Service (London: Stanley Paul, 1924; a translation of Geheime Machte), 211. See also Gyldén, 19.
314 Spa: Gyldén, 55.
314 Germans never caught up: Gyldén, 43-44.
314 telephone eavesdropping: Givierge, “Problems,” 15; untitled captured German document in Lange & Soudart, 88-91; “Eavesdropping in the War,” Infantry Journal, XVII (October, 1920), 350-352; Frank Moorman, “Code and Cipher in France,” Infantry Journal, XVI (June, 1920), 1039-1044 at 1043, for crawling across no man’s land; R. E. Priestley, The Signal Service in the European War of 1914 to 1918 (France) ([London?]: Institution of Royal Engineers, 1921), 105-106, for Ovillers-la-Boiselle; “Signal Communication,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, for overall picture; Henri Morin, Service Secret: A l’écoute devant Verdun, ed. Pierre Andrieu (Paris: G. Durassie & Cie., 1959).
314 Dubail: Givierge, Le chiffre, 15.
314 carnets de chiffre: Givierge, “Problems,” 15.
314 carnet réduit: Friedman, Field Codes, 7, and 37-50 for facsimiles of pages from OLIVE and URBAIN.
315 Befehlstafel: Givierge, “Problems,” 15; Painvin, 15.
315 Satzbuch: Givierge, “Problems,” 17; Friedman, Field Codes, 91-113, for facsimiles of pages from Satzbuch 140; Yardley, 189, for reprint of Satzbuch page; note by Friedman in Gyldén, 53; Painvin, 15-16.
315 KRU solutions: Painvin, 16; Givierge, “Problems,” 17 for 30 codes, 16 for December 5 to 15.
315 British prediction and French discussion: Childs Cipher Papers, I, §1, Second Lieutenant J. Rives Childs, “Report on Investigations of Codes and Ciphers…,” March 22, 1918, at 3. The visitor was, of course, Childs.
315 Schlüsselheft and Geheimklappe: note by Friedman in Gyldén, 53; Friedman, Field Codes, 9, 75-90, for facsimiles of pages; Childs Cipher Papers, II, has an Allied reconstruction of a Schlusselheft dated July 31, 1918, plus a reconstruction of a Geheimklappe encipherment dated March 23, 1918.
316 Austrian solutions from June to October: Ronge, 108-
109, 134. These references are still to the French edition unless otherwise specified. Gyldén cites the original German. All first names and ranks are taken from the index to the German edition, however.
317 “paying for itself”: Ronge, 109.
317 cifrario tascabile: Figl, §44; Sacco, §§23-24.
317 Chaurand: Gyldén, 23; Sacco, § 158.
317 Mengarini: Gyldén, 79; General Odoardo Marchetti, Il Servizio informazione dell’esercito Italiano nella grande guerra (Roma: Tipografia Regionale, 1937), 182.
317 May 20, June 1 and 8, Isonzo: Gyldén, 80; Ronge, 158-159.
317 Austrian cryptanalytic organization: Ronge (German ed.), 403. In 1918, the Rumanian group was taken over by Johann Baleanu and the Russian by Rudolf Lippmann. The Austro-Hungarians also employed cryptanalysts and secret-ink experts for its counterespionage work. For some interesting details see Arthur Scheutz [pseud. Tristan Busch], Entlarvter Geheimdienst (Zurich: Pegasus Verlag, 1946), trans. Anthony V. Ireland as Secret Service Unmasked (London: Hutchinson, n.d.), chs. 9-17.
318 Rumanian: Gyldén, 74-75; Ronge, 170, 205.
318 Sacco and Italian cryptanalysis: Sacco, interview, May 10, 1962; Sacco, §157; Marchetti, 87-88, 132.
319 Austrian systems: Childs Cipher Papers, I, §3, “Notes on radio-telegraphy and cryptography of the Austrian Army,” translation of report of May 6, 1918, by Section R, Intelligence Service, General Headquarters, Rome, and accompanying papers.
319 solution of June 20: Sacco, §108.
319 Italian solutions: Sacco, §§157, 111 for diplomatic code, 157 and interview of May 10, 1962, for naval.
319 Italian cryptographic improvements: Marchetti, 161 for January attempt, 173 for cifrario rosso debacle and replacement of cifrario tascabile; Sacco interview, for change to enciphered code after Caporetto; Cartier, “Souvenirs,” II, 37-38 for his visit; Ronge, 247, and James, 159, for Allied mission. The group from Room 40 apparently included de Grey, according to his Who Was Who biography. Sacco, §158, denies that the Allies reorganized the Italian cipher organization.
320 Austrian preponderance: Gyldén, 81-82.
320 tribute: Ronge, 249. The sentence is also quoted in Marchetti, 181, who passionately denies that the Austrians could have gotten very much information from Italian interceptions. He is not, however, entirely convincing.
Chapter 11 A WAR OF INTERCEPTS: II
All citations from the previous chapter carry over to this one.
321 first steps: Details of technical conferences, Muirhead’s paper and students’ responses, in a notebook entitled “Military Cryptography” in the Fabyan Collection, The Library of Congress. The puerility of American cryptography at this time is illustrated in War Department, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Visual Signaling, Manual No. 6 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1910), ch. 6, “Codes and Ciphers,” 84-97.
321 Mauborgne pamphlet: An Advanced Problem in Cryptography and Its Solution (Fort Leavenworth: Press of the Army Service Schools, 1914).
321 Hitt: War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Official Army Register, January 1, 1934; Hitt, memorandum, November 26, 1962; Hitt, letters, February 22 and August 4, 1963; Hitt, interview, December 8, 1963.
322 “very much interested”: Hitt to Reber, January 9, 1915, in Hitt Papers. Hitt very kindly turned over his cryptologic documents to me, and they are referred to henceforth as Hitt Papers.
322 solutions: all the kinds cited are preserved in Hitt Papers.
323 “I have a mass of material”: Hitt Papers.
323 35 cents: Hitt to O’Bleness, January 25, 1917, Hitt Papers.
323 Manual: 2-3 for cryptanalytic offices, 16-19 for intercept procedures, 95-101 for error correction, 2 for “luck,” v for “excludes the use of codes.”
324 served as textbook: Frank Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” Lecture delivered to the officers of the Military Intelligence Division, General Staff, February 13, 1920, printed in Friedman, Field Codes, 265-270, at 266; Before the Curtain Falls, 102; Harris, 329; Yardley, 21.
324 cipher disk: Friedman, Field Codes, 1, 31; Visual Signaling, 89-93; Harris, 335.
324 Larrabee: Hitt, 53-54.
324 Hitt urges Playfair: Hitt Papers.
325 “This device is based”: Hitt Papers; for other details, correspondence with Friedman, 1930 and 1944, and photograph of original device, Hitt Papers.
325 Mauborgne contribution: William F. Friedman, “Edgar Allan Poe—Cryptographer: Addendum,” Articles, 183 (October-December, 1937); Harris, 335.
326 “1. The enclosed”: Hitt Papers. Many other similar requests in Hitt Papers.
326 General Orders: United States, Department of the Army, Historical Division, Bulletins and General Orders, G.H.Q., A.E.F., United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919 (Washington, D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1948). No. 8 is dated July 5, 1917. Other general orders bearing on cryptology are No. 3 of June 28, 1917, of which section 21 specifies permissible commercial codes and section 25 mandates use of War Department Telegraph Code for messages on troop movements, casualties, supplies, etc.; No. 103 of June 26, 1918, setting forth the different uses of the War Department Telegraph Code (between A.E.F. G.H.Q. and War Department), Staff Code (between G.H.Q. and divisions), Trench Code (within divisions), Playfair (for emergency) and special codes; No. 148 of September 3, 1918, on codes between French and American units; No. 152 of September 10, 1918, establishing the Army Radio Corps for interception and direction-finding; No. 172 of October 7, 1918, regulating the distribution of trench codes; No. 190 of October 29, 1918, giving detailed instructions on sending code messages, prohibiting mixed code and cleartext, and permitting messages in clear only “on the written order of an officer.”
326 December of 1917: Friedman, Field Codes, 9.
326 Barnes: United States, Department of State, Register, December 15, 1916 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1917), 72, 23; Friedman, Field Codes, 14.
326 Barnes’ staff: Howard R. Barnes, “Report of the Code Compiling Section,” in Friedman, Field Codes, 9. Since large portions of this report are cited in Field Codes, future citations to Barnes will refer directly to pages in that work.
326 three authorized means: Friedman, Field Codes, 17, 27.
327 Trench Code, Front-Line Code: Barnes, 9-10. 327 “To him more than to any other”: Barnes, 27.
327 Childs: Friedman, Field Codes, 10-14; 117-130 for a facsimile of Childs’ report, and 131-142, 223-229 for facsimiles of the two codes and their enciphering alphabets.
327 “I concur”: Hitt Papers.
327 security burden: Barnes, 13, 17.
327 June 24: Friedman, Field Codes, 17.
327 River and Lake series: Barnes, 17-18, and United States, War Department, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Report of the Chief Signal Officer to the Secretary of War, 1919 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1919), ch. 33, “Code Compilation Service,” 536-538, for publication and issuance of codes; Friedman, Field Codes, 151-197, for facsimiles of sample pages from each. The Mendelsohn Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Library has several of these codes bound in a single volume under U.S. Army, A.E.F. 1917-1920, Collection of Secret Codes.
329 printing secrecy and distribution: Barnes, 21, 30 for British officer; General Orders No. 172 for seals.
329 cryptanalytic tests: Friedman, Field Codes, 14-17 for Hay, Hitchings, and Hitt letters; 143-149 for Hay and Hitchings supporting reports.
329 supplementary and unauthorized codes: Barnes, 19-20; Friedman, Field Codes, 209-220, 230-246, 253-256, for facsimiles.
331 general orders nonuse of code: Barnes, 22.
331 “there certainly never”: Moorman, “Code and Cipher in France,” 1040.
331 security service: Barnes, 22-25; Report of the Chief Signal Officer, 323, 326, 331; Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” 265, 269, for “hang … the offenders”; Moorman, “Code and Cipher in France,” 1043-1044; Friedman, Field Codes, 261-
263, for letters of reprimand, and 23-24, for extract on “Security Service” from an unspecified report of Moorman, whence “only a few” quotation is taken.
332 improvements in code: Barnes, 17, 18, 26-27, 19; see also Instructions to Staff Code, Friedman, Field Codes, 217.
332 Turner: “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893), last paragraph.
333 DAM: covers of codes reproduced in Friedman, Field Codes.
333 Moorman: United States, War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, Official Army Register, January 1, 1934; Mrs. Naomi Moorman, his widow, letters, September 20 and October 22, 1963; Hitt, Manual, 78; Childs, letter, September 16, 1963.
333 “Glass House”: William E. Moore, “The Jerry Who Spoiled the War,” The American Legion Weekly, IV (September 1, 1922), 7-8, 26-28, at 7.
333 personnel: Moore, 8; Childs, letter, August 27, 1963; Childs Cipher Papers, I, §1, an assignment sheet giving staff list as of April 1, 1918; Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” 265-266.
333 G.2 A.6 work: Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” 265.
333 traffic analysis, fake messages, aircraft: Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” 267-268; “Code and Cipher in France,” 1040-1041.
334 Woellner: Childs Cipher Papers, I, §12.
334 St.-Mihiel: Moorman, “Code and Cipher in France,” 1043.
334 training in ciphers, “we were reading,” first real victory: Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” 266.
334 Radio Section: Report of the Chief Signal Officer, 321-335, at 327 for figures on intercepts and bearings, 321 for working conditions; Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” 266 for appreciation; Moore, 27 for accuracy on March 11; Childs Cipher Papers, I, §12, untitled report by Lieutenant Lee West Sellers on value of Signal Corps interceptions, at 6 for only Americans picked up.
335 Berthold’s solution: Moore, 8, 26-27; William F. Friedman, Elements of Cryptanalysis, Training Pamphlet No. 3, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, May, 1923 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1924), at §103, for correlation of plaintexts and ciphertexts; Childs Cipher Papers, II, “Three Number Code,” March 11, 1918, for intercepts as distributed in G.2 A.6; Moorman, “Wireless Intelligence,” 266; “Code and Cipher in France,” 1044, for “cost the lives,” where the date is erroneously given as February, 1917; Before the Curtain Falls, 118, 145, for description of Berthold.