.....

"

W,. I

MS No P-038

By lldlrilJ al Dl,l-2.1(
OII.AIIIARD, laj. GIL,

DialafllillrJIIIbq,

22tiiiiiJ115l

GERMAN RADIO
INTELLIGENCE

-''..

.
t

.
ORIGINALLY PREPARED FOR HISTORICAL DIVISION
HEADQUARTERS EUROPEAN COMMAND

GONFI9&NTIAL
IICURITY INF9RMATI9N
Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 01-28-2014 pursuant to E. 0. 1352B

liS

II

P-()38

Albert Praun
Former General der
Nachrichtentruppe
(Lieutenant General)

Neumarkt - St. Veit

March 1950

GERMAN RADIO

INTELLIGENCE

TRANSLATION

~.QIJNnBEtmAt
S1aufiQ lnfoJmauun

~-- ---=:=-=-=--:---=-:::-:-:------=-=~~-

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - =-=--

REF ID:A56970

GONFIDENJIAL
Sl!tGiitt

liifDiiiiatilft

Biographical Sketch ot the Principal Author

Albert PRAUN was born 11 December 1894 in

Bad Gastein, Austria.

He entered the (Jerman

Arr1ry in the 1st Bavarian Telegraph Battalion

as an officer candidate in 191.3 and served as

battalion and division signal officer during
World War I.

He remained in the post-war A:rmy

and in 1939 was assigned to the Seventh .Army on

the Western Front as

a~

signal officer

During World War II PRAUN served as regi-

mental, brigade, and division commander, and

also as army and army group signal officer in
France and Russia.

In 1944 he was promoted to

the rank or Lieutenant General and simultaneouslf appointed Chief of

and Armed Forces

Signal Communication, in which capacity he

remained until the end or hostilities

-1-

GONFIDENTIAL
EaaHrity IRteriRatian

REF ID:A56970

GONADENJIAL
&e111rity hefocmatiun

JIS

II P-038
IJ.st of Other Contributors
(Last rank held and assignments relative to the present subject)

de Bary

Jlajor, camnander or radio intercept units.

Bode

Captain, intercept platoon leader; chief of tbe

clearing center of Communication Intelligence West.

Gilllmler

llajor General, Chief Signal Officer mder the C0111111811der

in Chief West and Chief or the .t.-r.d Forces Signal

*fir:

Oberbefehlshaber, hereafter referred to as

oi}

Communication Office.
Gorzolla

Captain, liaison officer between the clearing center

ot communication intelligence

and the Eastern

Intelligence Branch.
Halder

Colonel, commander of intercept troops for an

Henrici

Lieutenant colonel, General Starr, chief signal officer

Br11fY

group.

for OB West.
Hepp

Colonel, General Staff, Deputy Chief of Army Signal

Communication.

Karn

Colonel, army signal officer.

Kopp

Colonel, senior communication intelligence officer tor

OB West.

de leliwa

Lieutenant colonel, chief or evaluation for OB West.

- ii-

CONFIDENTIAL
Seean(J lnfon11atioo

---====---- --------REF ID:A56970

GONFIDENJIAL
-ieearilJ hiiDiliiitlbri

Marquardt

,.

llajor, liaison officer between the clearing center of

communication intelligence

and the Western Intelligence

Branch, Army General Staff.

:Mettig

Kaj or,

chief of' the cryptana:cysis section or the main

intercept station.
Muegge

Colonel, communication intelligence officer for an

army group.

Poppe

Major, signal battalion commander.

Randewig

Colonel, commander of intercept units with various army

groups.

Seemueller Lieutenant colonel, communication intelligence officer

for several army groups.
Stang

Captain, radio company. commander, armored divisions.

- iii -

CONFIDENTIAL
Seca1ilJ lnfurmatioll

L.~-

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDfNnAL
Seea1 if) fll IDi lllifJdn

List or Charts

.NQ.
1.
2.

Operations or Communication Intelligence Units Against the

Balkans and the Near East
February 1941

12

Radio Intelligence During the Norwegian Campaign

31 March - 14 June 1940

16

3. Operations
4

by Intercept Units August 1939 -May 1940

Radio Intelligence Findings During the French Campaign

:May - June 1940

20
32

5 Radio Intelligence Operations Against Great Britain

July 1940- January 1941

4Q

6. Radio Intelligence Operations in the Jl.editerranean Theater

56

March 1943
?

Communication Circuits used by Intercept Units March 1943

62

s.

Organization of Radio Intelligence Units under OB West

a) At the Start of the Invasion
b) After 1 January 194~

?3

9.

Operations or Radio Intelligence in Southern Russia

1941- 42

App. I
1. Deve1opnent of the Radio Intercept Service

1921 - 39

S9
15?

App. IV
1. Organization or Radio Counterintelligence 1941 - 45
198
2. Radio Intercept Company (Mtz) Operating Procedure 1941 - 42
198
3 Radio Counterintelligence Operations 1941 - 42
199
4. Radio Counterintelligence Procedure Instituted in 1943
200
5. Agent-Operated Radio Stations Observed and Plotted in 1943 - 44 205

App. VI
1. Allocation or Responsibility for Communication Inte1ligena.t
Operations

- iv-

CONFIDENTIAL
&eat~ritJ

In rur matldh

..
240

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENTIAL
Security lnfcllntatian

Table

o! Contents

Biographical. Sketch of the Principal Author

List o Other Contributors

ii

List of Charts

iv

Chapter One.

Introduction

Chapter Two.

The Significance of Electronic Warfare

Chapter Three.

Garman Radio Intelligence Operations (1936 - 45)

I.
II.
III.

IV.

v.

VI.
VII.
VIII.

n.
x.
XI.

XII.
XIII.
Chapter Four.

Spanish Civil War (1936 - 39)

Czechoslovakia (1938)
Polish Campaign (1939)

USSR (1939 - 40)

German Campaign in the Balkans (1941)

Norway and Denmark (1940)
Campaign in the West (1940)
Intercept Operations Against Great Britain

(1940 - 41)

Intercept Operations Against Great Britain

and the u.s. (1942)
A!rica and the Near East (1941 - 43)
Sici~ and Italy (1943 - 45)
Defense of Western Europe (1944 - 45)
Russian Front (1941-- 45)

I.

IV.

V.
VI.
Chapter Five.

11

15
20

36
44
51
64

72

86

Appraisal of Radio Communication in Belligerent

Armies Committed in the European Theater
The Russian Arrsry

II. The British Arrsry

III. The US Ar1JGr
i

6
6
7
9

German Army
Others
S'lliliJI18l'Y and Conclusions
The

Radio Intelligence Activity of the German Armed

Forces High Command -- Conclusions

-vCON~IDENJIAL
Scnrfty lA flflllltiDft

130
135

139"
142
143
145
147

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GONFIDENTIAL

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Chapter Cbe
INTRODUCTION
Because of the difficulties encountered in this highly specialized
field the topic required treatment by an expert of recognized standing.
Since such an expert was not available among the men in the German Control
Group working under the supervision of the Historical Division, EUCOM, the
writing of the over-all report was assigned to General Praun.
of the knowledge acquired by him in his militar,y career, and

By virtue
especial~

during the tenure or his final position, General Praun has a thorough grasp
or German radio intelligence.

:Moreover, as a result of his acquaintance with

German signal service personnel, he was able to obtain the co-operation of

the foremost

expert~

in this field.

The German Control Group has exerted a guiding influence on the study
by issuing oral and written instructions concerning the manner in which the
subject was to be handled.

Above all, it reserved to itself the right or

final decision in the selection of the contributors and also retained control
over the individual reports themselves.
With regard to the treatment of the topic assigned, General Praun, with
the approval of the Control Group, decided to make his report in the form of
a study in nilitar,y histor,y.

Since no
comprehensive
records were available,
,.,_ m
,.,..-=
F7

... .,.....~'K\..,....'i"YYW"~"h.,...-ii'f~~~~:-u-'T-Sii"~~

he assembled the basic material for the various theaters of war and the most
important campaigns by enlisting the aid o signal officers who had served
This material was supple-

in radio intelligence in

5acu;itr IJifDiiiiallon

........- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-----

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II P-038

-2-

mented by reports from officers who had held important positions as experts

* '

in various branches of radio intelligence in the Army High Command

**

Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) High Command

and the

..

From the successes and failures

/fr:
Oberkommando des Heeres, hereafter referred to as OKH;
_111ando der iYehrmacht, hereafter referred to as

oK'!!f

** Oberkom-

of German radio intelligence General Praun has established criteria for

appraising the

en~

radio services.

He is thus able to present an actual

picture of the Allied radio services as seen from the German side during the
war
.An attempt was made to include an account of all major American and

British mill tary operations against the German Army, and an appraisal of
their use of radio communication.
different manner.

The material on Russia was treated in a

Because of the vastness of the Russian theater of war

and because the same observations concerning radio communication were made
along the entire front, the results obtained by communication intelligence
units serving with only one army group have been described.

They are sup-

plemented by accounts from other sectors of the Russian front.

In keeping with German practice since 1942, the term "comnunication

. .::

--=-~.-

.-::-~=~---

intelligence" (Nachrichtenaufklaerung) has been used when units thus designated were assigned to observe enemy radio and wire communicaticn.

(The

latter activity lost almost all importance as compared with the former.)
Vfhere the observation of enemy radio communication alone is discussed, the
term "radio intelligence" (Funkaufklaerung) is used or -~=-;:---::-:-

until. 1942 -

-=.--=_

~=-=-...............~~-..:--._.,.~-'l.""!:"!!::";..::r..=----

the term "intercept service 11 (Horchdienst).

GONFIBENTIAL
!etUiilf

Jnrotmatlun

as was customary

..

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Chapter Two

.,

The Significance of Electronic Warfare

Toward the end of World War n about 12,000 signal troops of the GerMn
Army were engaged in interceptir

powerful enemy.

+.he radio traffic of an increasingl.7

With the decline of the information gained b7 intelligence

through aerial observation, prisoner of war interrogations, and reports from.

In

enemy agents, communication intelligence became increasingly important.

spite of the constant attempts of

~,~

enemies to improve radio communi-

cation and increase its security, German signal troops

~ormation

again to gain access to the

able. again and

Wttr.e

transmitted by this medium.

Thanks to comm\D'lication intelligence, German commanders were better

informed about the enemy and his intentions than in 8IlT previous war.

This

was one of the factors which gave the German command in the various campaigns
of World War

a hitherto unattained degree of security.

The fact that,

during the final. 7ears of the war when the German .A..rmy Command was leading
...._......

---~;.::.--=:.=.:~=-~-:

~----

~--

."

_-

.,.--tl'--;

..

s:::.-=-=-~

exhausted and_ decimated troops_ -without reserves, _i~--~

--0-----,_:_

.:--.--..

---~-:.--~.;:! ~--'-~..

able to ofer less

- -- -.::-

----~--:---

.,n-.,.-_

and less resistance to clearl7 recognized measures and intentions of the

::--_-- -.--_:_ __-_"""!.~-

Allies, and that Hitler was unwilling to acknowledge the true situation on

~_,.. ,;- ..____..:-:--~---- --

- - - - - - - ....,..___

-":!" ..,....-,._._

all fronts and the growing

let.:..~~---~----

.._d _

~-

.. --,....--

-~

-~7'. . . -----.-~---~--~~~--.....~-:-- ....... ---~----~"'-:::=."-.:;--=:::::..-=o:-z.-. .;-.;;:...u<._~!..-__

en~

:!.:.., ___ ~

superiority as reported in accurate detail

.,. ______ . ., ...... _ ~._~...,..,.._....._.,_.._.~

.::.~.:-- ...-~-J"""'r;"""""!".~ ... . . - -=~~-:.~

:. -- .-.-

----=--=-=- ~.

"..::=::.-:-"Y" :;::-;:;;-t:;;:"'..;;;.:~...::~

by communication intelligence 1 is one of the deep tragedies or the German

~!..~------

:-

.-

-~

---

----:------

.-...

-.-

..

~-

...

':.

-t:--~--~.:-:_ d~:.-:::----------

.--

---~:.::: __

soldier.
Since wireless telegraphY and later wireless

teleph~

were first used

for military communication, there was no pause in the eventful contest

between this important instrument of the German command (and_ subsequently

CONFIDENTIAL
&eeaJilJ lnfbtMifion

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GONFIDENiiAL
Seca;ilt htlu;malluu

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also of troop units) on the one

the

en~

hand, and the correspdnding facilities of

on the other, as each side tried to profit from his knowledge of the

other's communications as he prepared his countermeasures.

"

..

Following the first amazing successes scored by radio intelligence of a

high-level nature in World War I, the quantity of information obtained, including that pertaining to tactical operations, increased so enormously with the
amount of radio apparatus used by all the belligerent powers that large-sized
organizations had to be established for handling them.
The active radio services in all armies tried to insure the secrecy of
their messages by technical improvements, by speed in operation, by chane;ing
their procedure, by mcr!"e complicated cipher systems, by accuracy in making
calls and replies and in transmitting other signals, all of which constituted
"radio discipline.

However, in opposition to these developments the enemy

also improved his passive radio service, his technical equipment, his methods
of receiving, direction finding, and cryptanalysis.

The important part played

in this contest by the proficiency or the technical personnel involved will

be described later.

At the same time that this form of e1ectronic warfare was being waged in
World l'ar II, there was another aspect which also gained steadily in importance,
namely, the more technical high frequency war between opposing radar systems.
This consisted of the use of microwaves tor the location and recognition of
enemy units in the air and on the sea, and the adopticn or defensive measures
against them, especiall,J" in air and trubmarine warfare.
For the sake ot completeness there should also be menticned the third
aspect of electronic warfare, the "radio broadcasters' war in which propaganda

CONFIDENTIAL
SecuJatr

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CONFID&:NTIAL
saa11ritJ Info; mauun

'MS

II

experts tried to influence

-5-

P-QJ8
en~

as well as other countries, by means or foreign

language broadcasts over increasingly powerful transmitters

All three aspects of this modern cold war or the air waves" were carried
on constantly even when the guns were silent.

This study will be restricted

to a description of.the first aspect of electronic warfare

..

CONRDENTIAL
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..IU;F ID: A56970

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Chapter Three

...

German Radio Intelligence Operations (1936 -

45)

In addition to the intelligence gained from intercepting the routine

..

radio traffic in peacetime and the occasional activity during maneuvers, the
political and military events which preceded the outbreak of World War II
offered abundant material because of the increased traffic between the nations
concerned, the larger number of messages, and the refinements and deficiencies
in communication systems which had hitherto not come to light.

During this

period the German communication intelligence organization and the specialists

employed in it gathered a wealth of information.

Without any lengthy' experi-

mentation they were later an able to solve the increas:ing number of new problems
which resulted from the extension of the war.
I.

Span:iSJ. Civil War (1936 - 39)

In the Spanish Civil. War the supporting powers an both sides had oppor-

tunities to become acquainted with the radio systems, radio equipment, and
cryptographic methods of their opponents.

The German intercept company

assisting Franco obtained much information on these subjects.

Because of its

successes this company was always assigned to the focus of the militar,y
operatioos.

..

.
II.

Czechoslovakia (19.38)

For a long time the entire radio net traf"f"ic of' Czechoslovakia was easy
to intercept and evaluate.

It was observed by f"ixed listening posts and

intercept companies in Silesia and Bavaria, subsequently also by stations in

GONFIDENTIAL
&eearit, lnlatlllalio

REF ID:A56970

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&mri., lnfarmabaii

-1-

MS # P-038
Austria.

roward the end o Kay- 1938 one o1' the key radio staticms in Prague,

probably that of the War Ministry, suddenly transmitted a brief, unusual

message which, in view of the existing political tension, was believed to be
an order for mobilization.

This message was immediately followed by changes

in the radio traffic characterized by the use of new frequencies and call
signs, and by the regrouping o radio nets which had bean prepared for the
event of mobilization.

The result was that the intercept company then on duty

was able within two and a half hours to report the mobilization of Czechoslovakia.

During the next few days very primitive, simple radio nets appeared

along the border and then disappeared again when the tensiCil. was relaxed, whereupon the entire radio net reassumed its original characteristics.

Radio intel-

ligence was able to report that the mobilization order had presumably been
revoked.
In the middle of September of the same year something incredible happened.

'l'he Czechs repeated what they had done in the spring.

Again they annmmced

the mobilization order by radio and within a few minutes the message was for\Yarded to Berlin.

Again the same primitive radio nets appeared alcng the

border with almost the same call signs and on the same frequencies.
This intercept operation was a practical object lesson, while the radio
service of the Czechs was a classical example of how

to carry an radio

operations.
III.

Polish Campaign

Polish radio communications were also well known, as the result of long
observation, and were intercepted from points in Silesia and East Prussia.
During the period of tension in the summer of 1939 the Germans observed not

CONFIDENTIAL
SetDiilJ illidtftiibbn

REF ID:A56970

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II

-8-

P..0.38

only' the regular traffic but also a great number of field messages which
increased daily and was far out of proportion to the known organization
and radio equipment possessed by the Polish A.rriJy.

&s was som conjectured

and then later confirmed during hostilities, the purpose of this was to

camoufiage Polish radio camrnmicatims by using three call signs and three
..... ., .n

-~--

..

- - - -

1'requencies for each station.

........

Intelligence officers engaged in the evalu-

aticn of traffic and D/F data were unable to derive any detailed tactical
picture from the intercepted messages.

llevertheless, the intercept service

confirmed that the Polish assembly areas were located where the German
General Staff had assumed them to be.

It can no longer be determined whether

the Poles employed these artifices for purposes :> deceptim, as well as
camouf'lage, in order to simulate stronger forces than thq actuall:y posIn any case, the failure ~ observe radio silence in the assembly
" - -... ..~~---..-.
---------. --
-

sessed.

areas was a grave mistake.

In 1939 the mobile facilities of the German intercept service were
still inadequate.

The intercept companies were insufficiently' motorized

and there was no close co-operaticn between them and the arJJJT group and

~~

..=..~:c.:---=-:

..- ____ .

army headquarters.
-~

--- --

-- .. :

-..:..

--

...

The Polish radio communicaticn oystaa failed after the

.
.
.
. . -- - -----

seccnd day of the campaign, when it attempted to take the place of the wire
lines destroyed by German air attacks.

Probably' as a result of the inter-

cept successes the,y had scored in 19201 the Poles had restricted their
peacetime radio activit:r to a minimum.

As soon as they tried to carry out

deception without previous practice in mobile operatims, their radio

communication collapsed completely".

..

It was unable to keep pace with the

rapid movements of the retreat, and 1:1oreover, the Poles were seized by the

BONFIDENTIAL

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same type of radio panic that will be discussed later in the secticn on the
.....~::~.":..

.....

Allied invasim in Normandy'.

Clear-text messages revealed that many

staticns no lmger dared to transmit at al.lJ fearing they wou1d be located

by our direction finders and attacked from the air.
The Polish Army was thus unable to employ its radio communication far
command purposes.

Its leading source of information regarding the situation

at the front were the OKW_ ~~;~~..J whichJ at that time, accurately
.......-..-...!!'-...-..........

~.-

. o. _

... _

reported every detail with typical German thoroughness.

corrected in the German campaign in the W'est in 1940.

This mistake was

Intercept results

were insignificantJ since the Poles transmitted hardly any radio messages.
The messages or some individual 1mits were intercepted until these disbanded at the Clal.ician-Roman:l.an border.

It was possible to solve several

simple field ciphers evEn without trained cryptanalyst&.

Another mistake
--- ---- --- ---

made by the Poles was the transmission of messages in the clear by the
staticn of the Mili tar)r Railway Transportatitm Office in i'larsaw J
opmly announced the

t~J

route, and contents_ or

r~way

~hich

shipments.

These

trains were successfully attacked by the Luftwaffe, 'llhich was further aided
by other plain-text Polish traf'fic.

IV.

...

USSR (1939 - 40),

.After the ccnclusion or the Polish Campaign, the intercept company

staticned in Galicia in the Sanok - Jaroslav - Sandomir area was charged.
w1.th :Intercepting the traffic emanating from Russian units occupying
eastem Poland.

Thanks to their previous experience against Czechoslovakia

and Poland, personnel or this company were so well trained that they

rapidly became skilled 1n this new type of work. This company was not

CONFIDENJIAL
"clldtr ll,..till

eoNFIDENTI~F rn = A5697o
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HP-038

-10-

engaged in cryptanalysis.

Solely on the basis of D/F reports and an evalu-

ation of the procedure and traffic characteristics of the heavy traffic

handled by the numerous stations, the Germans were able to deduce that a
large number of troop units were in the area, but were at first incapable
of ascertaining their organizational structure.

All that could be deter-

rnined was whether these units belcnged to the army, the air force or to

the r!l\"VD , whose radio operations were distinguished by a different technique

*
!Jrr

Comrniesariat of Internal Affairs, see TM J0-430, I-2/

from that used by the regular armed forces.

For several months during the

period of regroupment everything was in a state of flux.

The Soviet radio

traffic was, however, well organized and efficiently handled.

Then the company intercepted messages from areas which were not actually
assigned to it.

Vlhen Soviet

tr~ops

occupied the Baltic states of Estonia,

Latvia and Lithuania, and when they subsequently attacked Finland, their
short-wave transmissions from these areas were surprisingly well received
in southern Galicia -

even better than in areas further north.

This was

a discovery of great technical importance for the German intercept service.

It could not have been arrived at by simple calculation since it resulted

...

from physical conditions.

An abundance of messages, often in the clear, were received from the

Baltic states and the Finnish theater of war, so that in the final stages
of evaluation it was now possible to deduce the Soviet order of battle.

In

the case of units of division size and below their withdrawal from the Baltic
States was frequently ascertained on the basis of data including numbers,
names of officers, and place names.

Subsequently these elements turned up

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on the Finnish front in easily identified locations, from where they again
disappeared after a while, only to reappear in the Baltic area or eastern
Poland.

Some vanished from observation altogether.

From this fact it could

be deduced that they had been transferred to the interior of the Soviet
Union.

Thus, the Germans could follow all movements of forces during the

Russo-Finnish War simply by reading the intercept situation chart.

The radio communication of the Soviet Army in 1939 -

40

was efficient

and secure under peacetime conditions, but in time of war, or mder warlike conditions, it offered many weak spots to an enemy intercept service
and was a source of excellent inforoation for the German intelligence
service.
V.

German Campaign in the Balkans (1941)

Since the results obtained from radio interception during the German
campaign against Yugoslavia, Greece and the British Expeditionar,y Force
are not of any special importance for an over-all appraisal of the subject,
the campaign in the Balkans will be introduced at this point as one of the
events preceding the beginning of major operations.
The German Army 1 s organization for mobile warfare was still incomplete;
results were jeopardized at first by the great distances between the intercapt stations and the target areas, and later an by defective signal commmication Ylhich delayed the work of evaluation.

Intercept operations

against the British will be described in detail in section VIII, P.P jg-44.
The Commander of Intercept Troops Southeast, whose headquarters is
indicated in Chart 1 as

being that o! a regiment, was responsible to Field

'Marshal List, the TYielfth Army Commander.

eONFIDENTIAl
SetaJlli hildiiii&ddii

He was in charge of the tw'o fixed

REF ID:A56910

-CQNFIBENfiAt:
...... ., Uli

z-

.
..

IONIAN
SEA

...

AEGEAN

MEDITERRANEAN

SEA~

OPERATIONS OF COMMUNICATION tNTELLtGENCE UN\'TS

AGAINST THE BALKANS AND NEAR EAST
FEBRUARY 1941
10

"""

-Q81R88ll\lt=
..5GCIAIIIII a I

SEA

REF ID:A56970

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v.s II P-<>38

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intercept stations in Gru and Tulln (near Vienna) and two intercept
compani.es.

His sphere of action comprised the entire Balkan Peninsula,

Turkey, and the British forces in Greece and the Middle East ..
'!

Until late 1940 radio interception against Greece and the Near East
was carried out only as a secondary' task and with imnfficient resources
by the 'l'ulln a.tatim.

The bTeat distances, for instance 780 miles between

Vienna and Athans and 1,4L.O miles between Vienna and Jerusalan, were a
signi:ficant !actor.

(For purposes of comparison with intercept operations

in the West it might be menticned that the distance between Muenster and

Lcndon is only 312 miles.)

The value of the results was in inverse propor-

tion to the distance involved.

In the beginning of

1941, when it was planned to enlarge the intercept

service against Greece, especially after the landing of the Britisn forces,
the above-mentioned units, except for the Graz statim, were transferred
to Ranania.

In February 1941 the Canmander of Intercept Troops Southeast

and his evaluation center were stationed in Bucharest.

From a location

near this city the IITulln station" covered Greece, giving its main attention
to Br1 tish communications emanating from there and the :Middle East.

or t:1e

interc~t

<kle

companies also located in the vicinity of Bucharest

observed Yugoslavia in addition to British radio traffic in Greece.

The

other intercept e0111pany in Bacau ( 150 miles northeast of Bucharest) had to

carr,y out intercept operatiansagainst Soviet Russia and the Romanian police,
whereas the Graz station, whose main attention was directed at Yugoslavia
and Ita4", intercepted traffic of the Romanian and Hungarian police.
Chart l)

CONFIDENJIAL
.JenriS, l1flanaabW'

(See

REF ID:A56970

CONfiDENfiAL
Sesurjty IAfiMIIttma

lrS # P-QJ8

-13-

Before the outbreak of hostilities in the Balkans the Germans detected

Greek army units in the northeastern corner of the country1 Royal Air Force
operations around Patras and between Patras and Athens, and British ground
forces in Cyrenaica.

They also intercepted messages from British border

troops in rransjordan.
After the entry of German troops into Bulgaria the above-mentioned

\\

tmits (except the Graz station) were transferred to that country, and the

intercept company in Bacau also covered Greece.

to those formerly obtained.

The results were similar

It was not yet possible, hov1ever, to break

hhe Greek ciphers because of an insufficient number of intercepted messages,

-'

and the German units had to be content with t:raffic analysis.

Ch the other

hand, it was possible to break the British field cipher in Palestine.

Following the attack upon Greece on 6 April brisk radio traffic was
intercepted and evaluated.

The disposition of the Greek forces in northern

IJreece was revealed and could be traced.

West of the Varda.r in the British

Expeditionary Force sector, our intercept units detected three radio nets
comprising fourteen stations, representing an armored unit northeast of
Veria vthich was subsequently transferred to the area south of Vevi, a
British division north of Katerini, and another division west of Demetrios.
It was confirmed that these forces had remained for several days in the
areas reported.

On 8 April, the following British message in clear text

was repeatedly heard:

IIDEV reporting from LIJA -

Strumica fallen, prepare

immediate return1"
In the Near East
Palestine to Egypt.

we

followed the movement of a British regiment from

The first indicaticn of this was the message of a

CONFIDENTIAL
5e&HFity lnftJJ maliun

..

=~----~-

- -- ---

REF ID:A56970

CONFiiiENiiAi
Seearity lnfar1111tien

MS

-14-

P-038

paymaster in the British military government ordering a certain agency to

be particularly careful to prevent the departing regiment from taking any
filing cabinets along with it, since they were needed by the military
government office.

Thereafter, the regiment s movements could be clearly

traced.
Radio intelligence against Yugoslavia produced an excellent picture
of enemy positicns.

*/Tr:

Three Armeegruppen* and one corps from each were

a weak improvised army under an army commander with an improvised

-army starfJ

located near Nish, Ueskueb and Stip, and later one at Veles.
Very little radio traffic was heard in Turkey.

By the middle of April

German radio intelligence located Greek troop units between the Aliakmon
River and the Albanian border, and also followed the withdrawal of a British
armored unit from the vicinity of Vevi to the Kozani area, subsequently to
Eleftochorion, and thence to Trikkala.

The vlithdrawal of both British

divisions (Anzac Corps) and, a few days later, further withdrawals to the
area of Larisa were observed.
In the middle of April the Commander of Intercept Troops Southeast
moved to the Salonika area with the 11Tulln station," elements of the Graz
station, and one intercept company.

The other intercept company was

released for service in Russia.

Greek radio traffic diminished rapidly and ended with the captitulation on 21 April.

German intercept units continued to follow the traffic

of the British Expeditionar,y Force until it disappeared from the air after
the final embarkation in late April.

The intercepting of British traffic

CONFIDENJIAL
Ser"d&r IAfermaliuu

~niiiaif56970
uu ........ SetDiilJ lntarmlttaR

1~

-15-

P-038

from Crete and the Aegean islands was continued.

During subsequent

British operations in the Dodecanese Islands, for instance the occupatian of Rhodes, the enemy often transmitted important situation reports
in the clear.

VI.

Norway and Denmark (1940)

The mobile operation of an intercept platoon in the Norwegian

Campaign in 1940 suffered from all the defects inherent in
prepared improvised operations.

inadequate~

A few radio operators were picked from

each of six different units in the \Vest, but no translators or c:eyptanalysts.

The equipment was also inadequate.

Later an, there was no ship-

ping space to move the platoon up. in time and close enough to the German
operations staff and the

en~

area which was to be covered, nor waF the

platoon given any data or instructions.

In its first operation, which was carried out with the assistance of

the Husum Fixed Intercept Station, the platoon intercepted onl,y coastal
defense messages in clear text from Denmark concerning ship movements.
No army radio traffic was heard.

Even these messages ceased an 9 April.

Because of the great distance only a few Norwegian coastal stations were
heard.

Up to 8 April this traffic was normal, but on the night of 8 - 9

April it increased to a point of lrl.ld confusion.

was observed in Sweden.

'Normal army radio traffic

After the platoon's .first move to .A.ls an the

Kattegat, Norwegian Army messages were also intercepted, as well as traffic

between Swedish and Norwegian radio stations.
that

i~,

It was not until

24

April,

eleven days after the operations had commenced, that the inter-

cept platoon was moved up to Oslo and thus employed :ln the vicinity of

CONFIDENTIAL
Sasunly latarmatian

REF ID:A56970

GBNFiiiEiiiiAL
Sitdllif diiUiiitalMi

Ms No. P-038 Chart 2

RADIO INTELLIGENCE
DURING THE NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN
31 MARCH-14 JUNE 1940
19

20

MILES

:z

e6NfiD~NTIAL
SICGiilf liiiDiiiiili&i

REF ID:A56970

CONFID5NJIAL
5
PCIIlilt' Ja fern1alion

MS # P-038

-16-

the German operations starr.

The Norwegian

Army

(Chart 2)

stations usually transmitted in the clear.

Radio

stations in central and southern Norway were intercepted, but few of the
messages were of any tactical _value.
Radio messages between Great Britain and Norway were more important.
The

~dmiralty

station transmitted encrypted orders to the naval officers in

command of Harstadt, Andalsnes, and Alesund.

Although these messages

--.srmn remW*N" -~ W~-i....=:...~

could not }!~=~~ !_~;~~~-<?~~;s._~~~-!~7~9~,t.~q~J4~~'"A~l:!t~A~-ion

ports of the British Expeditionar,y Force.

~.l!:~---~~-~-:~e~-i.~~~;i';.t,!*.:'~rw~~ii-:~~ .a,~'"-2t~ ,~ ~-~- ........ ~ "'-' ~"l-

In particular, they confirmed

the landings near Harstadt, which had hitherto been

mere~

a matter of

conjecture.
The Germans intercepted the field messages of the British units which
were advancing from the Andalsnes area by way of Dombas - otta - Hamar to
Lillehamm.er in the direction of Oslo.
signs and signatures.

They used code names for their call

The messages themselves could not be solved.

:.=--_-:_------ --=-=- .. -----

---

However,

--

since the code names were learned after a short time from captured documents,
the chain of command and composition of units were soon clearly recognized
and the enemy's movements were followed.

Swedish radio stations were frequentlY heard transmitting to Norwegian

stations.

They handled mostly official and business messages.

Norwegian

radiograms were then often relayed from Sweden to Great Britain.

When, in the middle of 'May, a part of the German command staff was
transferred to Trondheim the intercept platoon went along and found
especially favorable receiving conditions near this city, which is approximately 1,500 feet above sea level. A large Norwegian radio net regularlv

GONFIDENtiAL
SeouRt,g lata; matiou

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENliAL
MS

-17-

P-038

transmitted air reconnaissance reports, information on the composition and

commitment of the Norwegian 7th Division, and mobilization orders for the
unoccupied part of Norway.

They mentioned General Fleischer as commander

in northern Norway.

Two radio stations continued to operate east of the island of Vega

in the rear of the German 2d Mountain Division, which was advancing to

relieve Narvik, until they were knocked out as the result of intercepts.
The majority of the radio stations which were observed were in the Narvik
area or north of it.
in action.

The

~lta

ski battalion was often mentioned as being

Additional stations of other radio nets were identified in

Kirkenos, Vard~, Harstadt, Trams~, Alta and Honningsvag.

After the end

of hostilities on 9 June all Norwegian radio traffic stopped within a few

hours.

Messages from British and French units were also picked up, as

well as the traffic of the Polish motm.tain tm.its.

For the purpose of

avoiding confusion with internal French traffic, a temporary teletype line

to the commander of the Garman intercept troops in France was set up, so
that any sky waves from France could be recognized and tuned out.

In order to furnish Kampfgruppe Dietl in Narvik with radio intelli-

*/Tr:

a term loosely assigned to improvised combat units of various sizes,

-named usually after their comm.andery

gence of purely local importance without any loss of time, the intercept
platocn was ordered to organize a short-range intelligence section, but as
a result of the development of the situation this section never saw action.
Instead, intercepts of interest to Kampfgruppe Dietl were fonvarded to it
through SWeden by telephone .and teletype.

GONFIDENTIAL
EIBYFI\ 1Bf811Uition

During 7 and 8 June all non-

..

-------------------------------------------------------REF ID:A56970
CONRDENHAL
Slallfif! lnfUIIhdtidh

MS II P-038

-18-

rlorwegian radio traffic stopped.

from 1larvik was confirmed.

In this way the withdrawal of the Allies

This was also reported to Kampfgruppe Dietl

The traffic between Great Britain and Norway, which had already been

intercepted near Oslo, was now observed in larger volume from Trondheim.
Most of the traffic was between Scotland (possibly Prestwi.ck) and Bod$~ or
Troms.

The volume of messages was very large.

200 letters_.

.._:_":.. ,____ .t.'_-.__~. .

Th~_~ye~~g~_w~r~-~~~t was

Ever,y evening the Germans intercepted situation reports of

the Norwegian High Command in Troms, orders from the Admiralty in London,
mine warnings, SOS calls, government radiograms to England and France,
personal messages from King Haakon to King George of ll'llgland and Queen
Wil~elmina

of the Netherlands, and reports from the Reuter correspondents

attached to Norwegian units.

On

25

~ay the radio station in Bo~ was destroyed by

Scotland called Bod for twelve hours in vain.

German bombers.

:Messages then tranemitted

by the Vads station were immediately intercepted.

The Germans continued

to intercept the traffic between Norway, Sweden and Great Britain.

Both the Trondheim station and the intercept platoon radioed a demand
for surrender to the Norwegian High Command in Troms.

After its acceptance

these radio channels were kept in operation until the middle of June when
the platoon was disbanded and its personnel returned to their former units
on the Western Front.
British radio traffic was, as usual, well disciplined and offered

__ _

--- ......... --------_

few opportunities to German radio intelligence.

......

For this reason the inter-

~---~----

cept platoon endeavored to work on as broad a scale as possible, to intercept a --l;~ge

-number of messages;-and t-o probe- for soft spots.

--- --

GONFiDEtffiAL
Seea11tJ lnfo1 matiou

Since it

REF ID:A56970

CONADENTIAL
SeGUR&, IRiaRI!atiaq

lfS

II

-19-

P-038

lacked special equipment and suitable personnel, the British ciphers could
not be solved.

Therefore, clear-text messages or code names and traffic

r analYsis had to suffice as source material. The evaluation, therefore, was

l
1

based chieflY on the procedural aspects of enemy radio operations.

Today it appears incomprehensible why the British seriouslY impaired

~he va~~;;;~~:~~ ~ell-disciplmed- ~-ad.i~ -~rgan-iz~tion _a~d- th~_;~-:c ;~_~ell;t

~

-..,..__ ___ "~-------"'---~---- __._ -_

=--- --

--~:-

-_---_-----:c.--_-__ :

---- -

ciphers by transmitting call signs and signatures in the clear.

--

.. :;--Tt- '"'=..::~. .,. .!'~-=- . .:0':.--~l::.. .

mistakes of this

... -~:...__ :..,._ ::.::..,- :. ""'""::.:". r-:~---:--::=-

kin-d

. . :....:. ...~

Operating

- -

provided valuable-- information to the German inter-

capt service, although it was poorlY trained and

insufficient~

prepared.

Subsequent experience on other battlefields showed that more extensive and

intelligent efforts on the German side would have resulted in even more
opportunities for breaking British ciphers.
--==---=---..... -

- ---- --... --=--=-

British-Norwegian radio traffic was typical of the deficiencies which

rc. w.-Ji~i!~. _.......~:=:;: -

develop in a coalition with a weaker ally.

_. ._! .....- lft'BlljliaW';fi~nWHffl!J:I

~dOO...._~~it'([(f~-'f{(''tit''&~m!Ei-...f"'i!Fl!J!iJllt

It was carried on according to

_.JMP:d

Norwegian standards and offered a wealth of information to German communication intelligence.

The British and Norwegians were spparently unable to

use a common cipher.

On the other hand, the operatinG efficiency o! their

radio communication was high.

The llorwegian persamel appeared to have been

recruited from the ranks of professional radio operators.

At this point it should be

repea~ed

that the uce of clear-text messages

and code names should be avoided as a matter of principle.

If code names

vtere considered indispensable, they should have been frequently changed.

decisive transmission error prominent in traffic between the British Isles

and Norway was the use of call signs in the clear as listed in the Bern
Table" of Call Signs.

By

this means alene it was possible to recognize and

GONFIDENliAL
SIGIIFit IRfarllllltian

REF

NTERCEPT UNITS
OPERATIONS t~YO~tober 1939

MS No. P- 038 Chart 3a

..._038 Chart 3b
MS No..--

1940
Octo ber 19"'9-January
"

Augus
I'ITELLtiENCE I v INTEUE. co.. n

lilA~
Lo- ftAHE hrr~L~~IE L*

R~D.fO

E5!!!E!!!

IDa~
-

T"E - D U

GENt! lr IHTGP STATIONS

DII!ECTIONf'llll>l

CHAIII OfF COIOMAIID INCEPT STATION

SIIFT 0, FIUD INT

110

.:.11

FRANCE

Frtuelenstadt

~57110TCP

REF ID:A56970

GBNABENfiAL
I

J ;tala

MS No. P-038 Chart 3c

February-Aprill940

MS No P-038 Chart 3d

After Apnl1940

~;0~

'\
IINTGP

Aachen

~CEN
~

Godesberg

Eusk~n'l"
liNTCP

/
!.'VAL CN

r.:;.L,..K"/'""Coblenz
~IINTCP

~-

~J;;;,.

:'&INTGP

Stuttgart

.k--

B.-Bailft

~S71NTCP

L..::!::,j571NTCP

' ll<eiTn

--~
r."

:*c

L:L N

...,.....

BBNFIBENfiAL

Stuttgart

~ ~eFroodeosradt

r.::':-1

Freuden1tadt

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENTIAL
SI&HFi'J IRIIFIRHiiR

l.'.S

-20-

P-038

identify these messages after only a fevr minutes of listening.

Communications with an ally should be prepared with

...:: ;

-~-"="~a:,:!~

iii

parti_~u~ar

care

~~--:'"J=-~~-~..._.,.,.,.. -::_-_ __ :_::__~......?__::__:__:__~~~

...~

and transmitted according to one's own radio system, and preferably with
-v.~-~~..w.::..JI!..s.,;.,.:.......:~.;-'--::..:'....~.;.._.._... -----""--'---::: . ' . .:.:~"'~-!! ..:...:-:_..........~.':"'. __ ----

-_--

-_

-~ ----------------------

one's own personnel, in order to avoid all foreign characteristics

......__

a,

wr~md

'i ..

~H.Io.w.W~;:~~-=..::-:c.;;;;::.::!:.....W...:J.~!:....::.~~-~.:....==-.:..:..:-..:--.:.::::.-_-__-::__-.:...:.

:.::-:..::::::.=.--:::::-.:__-::::.:...: __-_..:;.....:._~-

By way of summary, it can be stated that during the llorwegian Campaign

British radio operators did not at all times observe the security measures
which would have protected them from interception and evaluation by German
intelligence.
The over-all results achieved b.1 German radio intelligence during this
campaign were quite modest and understandably so, in view of the shortage
of equipment and personnel, which consisted of only one
t.md twenty-four enlisted men.

f~st

lieutenant

This is- no way a reflecticn upon the quality

of their work, however.

VII.

Campaign in the West (1940)

(This section was written by Colonel Randewig, at that time commander

of the intercept troops attached to Army Group A.)
Prior to the beginning of the Western Campaign on 10 May 1940, the
operaticns and command channel structure of German radio intelligence was
.

.:....~.....

divided into four

chronological
. ----------------

phase~

as illustrated in Charts 3 a-d

Up to January 1940 the rued army intercept statfons were under

direct OKH jurisdiction with regard to loog-range intelligence covering

France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.

Following instructions

from OKH, Intercept Evaluation Center #3 -- operating with Army Group .3

Headquarters (in Frankfurt am Main), which was then responsible for operations in the West -- ordered the mobile intercept companies to intercept

GONFIBENJIAL
Seeat.r lnronranun

--.-:-

--:- ==---:-:-

- --

-- ---

REF ID:A56970

GONFIDEN'FIAL
SecUJity lufuimaHmi
l!S # P-038

-21-

Belgian and French traffic emanating from the border region.

The intercept

companies which became available for re-assignment at the end of the Polish
campaign were sent to the West.
For operations, therefore, the headquarters of intercept troops with
each army group was assigned one evaluation center and two intercept companies (the fixed intercept station at Euskirchen had been temporarily
motorized as an intercept company).

The Muenster and Stuttgart fixed

intercept stations continued to receive their orders directly from OKH,

but were instructed to co-operate with the commanders of intercept troops
(the Muenster station with Army Group B, and the Stuttgart station with
Army

Group C).

It was intended to move them forward as soon as possible.

Prior to the start of major operations the information obtained by

radio intelligence from the northern sector held by British and French
forces was not particularly valuable because of the great distance involved -for instance, 210 miles between Lilla and :Muenster -- and because of its
largely technical character.

Thus, all intercept units were thoroughly

familiar with the French system as a result of the many field messages
which had been copied.

The intercept units of Army Group B were also famil-

iar with the Belgian, Dutch, and British systems.

l\s early as December

1939 the Germans broke a special cryptographic system used by the French
command in radio messages to the armies and military district headquarters.
It had been used contrary to regulations prior to the opening of hostilities in September 1939.

The Germans were able to solve this system because

the radio station guilty of the violation v1as reprimanded and thereupon
repeated the same messages in the proper system.
"li&::\.o-.-,.::...

..... ---

-"' - - -

Their contents revealed

.._

a certain amount of organizational information, for example, the fact

GONFIDENliAL
SaaasitJ lufdiili&liou

----------------REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENfiAL
$ernrJ&r lllfaPilllliOii

MS # P-038

-22-

that the French 2d and 3d Cavalry Divisions had been reorganized into the
1st and 2d Armored Divisions and were due to move into their assembly area
northeast of Paris by 1 January 1940.

However, this type of incomplete

information could generally be considered only as a supplement to and confirmation of other intelligence concerning the enemy.

It was not possible

to deduce the enemy's order of battle from radio intelligence alone.

nevertheless, the Germans could identify the probable concentration
areas of the French and British armies from the practice messages sent by
the field radio stations, although the boundaries of army groups, armies,
corps and divisicns could not be established with any certainty.

Greater

clarity prevailed about the fortified area behind the Maginot Line in the
south.

Enemy forces stationed near the Franco-swiss and Franco-Italian

borders were not observed according to any regular plan.

Spot-check inter-

cepting failed to pick up the French Tenth army in the place where it was
presumed to be by the German conunand.

However, radio intelligence did

indicate the presence of the French Sixth Army.

Intercepted radio messages

fro~

the British 3xpeditionary Force

enabled the Gemans to conclude that the following \ll'lits had been transferred to the Continent:

one

e.rtey"

headquarters under the command of

General Lord Gort, three corps headquarters, five regular, partly motorized divisions

(apparent~

the British 1st to 5th Divisions), one armored

division, as well as several divisions of the second and third waves, the
exact number and numerical designations of which could not be ascertained.
The intercepted Belgian and Dutch messages permitted

on~

one conclu-

eion, namely that their preparatory measures were directed against Germany
exclusively.

Belgian traffic was characterized by good radio discipline,

GONFIBENTIAL
Sesari\f lnfBPIIIIItian

REF ID:A56970

GONFIDENJIAL
Securltt lnloiinattun

MS

-23-

P-038

whereas the Dutch were more careless.

The missions which OKH gave to the army group headquarters concerning radio intelligence were merely supplemented by the latter.

Army

Groups B and A were requested to give priority to intelligence pertaining

to the British

a~

as well as the French First and Seventh Armies.

Special value was attached to ascertaining at an early date whether the

French Seventh Army ( "1' armee d' intervention ~ Belgique") would immediately march into Belgium.
At first the fixed intercept stations were ordered to cover the
more remote areas beyond the French border.

OKH was guided by the idea

of retaining most tf the long-range intelligence in its own hands, and

of having the intercept companies concentrate more on short-range intelligence.

To be sure, this intention was not clearly expressed in the

orders.

It also soon became evident that two fixed intercept stations

did not suffice for long-range intelligence.

During the first few weeks the main efforts of radio intelligence
were concentrated on the area facing

Group B.

Immediately afte! the opening of hostilities Dutch and Belgian

radio traffic incr9ased
sa~~es

sudd~

in this area.

F.rom clear-text mes-

sent by the Dutch III Corps (near Hertogenbusch), which were sup-

plemented by clear-text radio reports from the Dutch 2d and 4th Divisions (near Rhenen at the Grabbe Line), we learned on 11 May that the
enemy had decided to withdraw into "Fortress Holland."
from the Belgian

~raffic

We also learned

picture, which was supplemented by clear-text

messages from the Belgian 6th Division (Beeringen), that the Belgians

GONFIDENJIAL
&1111rity

In fbi iiidUUii

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENliAL
Semttv lnfertlletien

MS

ll P-038

-24-

intended to offer strang resistance behind the Albert Canal.

...
On

lO and 11 May French radio traffic in the Poperinghe - Ypres -

Oourtrai area, and British traffic in the Ghent area, enabled us to

realize that elements of the French Seventh A:rmy' and apparently- also
elements of the British

A~

had advanced into Belgian territory.

More-

over, we were able to deduce from the transmitting characteristics that

the British 1st Armored Divisicn had moved from Brussels to Louvain.

As

early as 12 May a message from the headquarters station o:f the French
Seventh Army was solved which indicated that the latter intended to
defend the Dyle (River) positions.

Direction finders revealed the land-

ing of French units on Walcheren Island, which fact was confirmed a few
days later in actual combat.
As the result of the surrender of the Dutch

the interception

of Dutch radio traffic could be discontinued as early as lS May.

During the battle for the D,yle positions the Germans picked up the
command nets of the French First and Seventh Armies (with headquarters
plotted at Ypres and Valenciennes as of 17

M~),

although from the radio

messages transmitted within these nets to the subordinate corps and

divisions it was possible to determine only the total number and not the
designation or these units.

So far as the author can remember, only on

a few occasions could such designations be picked up from messages

carelessly radioed in the clear, as, for example, when the French S4th
and 72d rlivisions were detected on 19 May as belonging to the same corps
in the Ghent - Bruges area.
It was equally impossible to ascertain the divisional designations

CONFIDENTIAL
Set&iilf lhhlilhatiun

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

REF ~i:~70
VVIU IUI.I111ftl.

aeeblil) lnru;rnaouu

-25-

US# P-0,38

within the British army, the headquarters of

Hazebrouck on 23 May.

whi~'l

was found to be :in

However, by the end of May the presence of twelve

divisions had been traced, which included in addition to the regular

divisions, the lst London, 12th, 2Jd, 45th, 50th, and 51st Divisions.
No more Belgian command radio traffic was observed after 19 May,
when the Franco-British forces in the north under General Billotte were
threatened by a double envelopment in the Valenciennes - Cambray Maubeuge -Mons area.

Arter 22 May the Germans were able to plot the

withdrawal of French and Belgian units from the Ghent Canal and Schelde
River westward from the line Bruges - Ghent - Tournai.

On that day the British

headquarters established direct radio

contact with the Ministry of War in Landon, and the French army group
commander exchanged a remarkably J.arge number of messages with the French
High Command.

In spite of intensified efforts the Germans were unable to

break the enemy cryptographic system.

Unusually long encrypted messages -- likewise unbreakable -- from
French First Army' headquarters to an unidentified higher staff located
south of the Somme suggested that joint action for attempting breakouts
was being agreed on by radio.

These breakout attempts then actually

took place near Valenciennes, Arras, and Cam.brai.

Clear-text; messages

sent on 24 llay, in which complaints were voiced about the lack of ammunition, rations, and fuel, confirmed that the situation within the
pocket was becoming critical.

On 25 May a message to the British com-

mander at Calais, with the order to defend the fortress and port with
all available means, confirmed the seriousness of the situation.

This

same message enabled the Germans to locate the British 5th Divisicn,

BBNFIBENTIAL
..Sii'lfiS, IRIUiiilillbii

REF ID:A56970

BBNFIBENTIAL
&aaa1iiJ lufanualian

-26-

US# P-038

together with the French 66th

Division~

near Nieuport, and it also

indicated the beginning of the evacuation of the British Expeditionary

Force to .lrcgland.
<h 26 11ay intensive direction-finding operations confirmed the con-

centraticn of British, French, and Belgian forces in the area including

Ghent, Courtrai, Valenciennes, Lens, Bethune, St. Om.er, and Gravelines.
Outside this area no more enemy traffic was heard.
After 28 May, approximately the time of the Beleian capitulation,
it was no longer possible to distinguish the various radio nets and to
observe and evaluate them systematically.

Continued directim-finding

operations indicated that the encirclement area had been split up into
tlu-ee pocketst

a northern one, east of Dunkirk, from which most1y

British traffic was heard; a central pocket, northwest of

a southern pocket, southeast of Lille.

Rouba~;

and

Because of the concentration of

a great number or transmitters within one narrow area, it was no longer

possible to take accurate bearings.

The intermingling of different units

was reflected by the confusion which was beginning to spread among the
radio operators, who no longer felt bound by any rules, all of which
resulted in a situation which in German radio terminology is described
as a "call sign and wave-length stew. 11
An eva1uatian of the radio traffic during the first phase of the

campaign in the West -with the excepticn of the Dutch traffic, which
practically' disappeared after .five days of fighting following conclusionsz

leads to the

The different operating techniques made it easy

to distinguish rapidly between French, British, and Belgian tmits.

G9NFIBENIIAL
5''"'i'f

'n'emztian

REF ID:A56970

C6NfiB!NfiAL
JE&Dillj lilfdliil&lidh

MS

General~

-27-

P-038

speaking, the enemy transmitted too many messages and thus

enabled the Germans to intercept them without any trouble.

However, ex-

cept for serious violations of radio security, such as the sending of

messages in the clear, German intelligence was confronted with considerable
difficulties, because the majority of the cryptographic systems proved
unbreakable.
In view of the rapid conduct of operations, particularly those of

motorized and armored units, the information obtained by German radio intelligence was of secondary importance in comparison with that gathered by
ground and air combat reconnaissance, especially the close reconnaissance.
On the evening of the first day of the attack German radio intelll-

gence picked up messages from the area west of Namur facing

Group A.

'rhe characteristics of these messages left no doubt about the presence of

at least two French armored divisions.

The fact that this was reported in

time, together with reliable information about the dis?osition of enemy

forces an the western bank of the Maas, made it pos aibl.e to warn the
German armored tmits which had been moved forward to the Maas and which,

after crossing the river an

15 May, were actually engaged

in heavy fighting.

Remarkable radio discipline was observed by the French Ninth Army,

which was soan to be attacked by Panzergruppe* Kleist and by the inner

*/fr:

armored force equal to an army in size and op3rating in ccnjunction

-with on~?

flanks of Army Groups A. and B betwaen Maubeuge and Montmedy.

The infor-

mation obtained by the 56th Intercept Company, which was conunitted along
the axis of advance of Panzergruppe Kleist, was therefore initially unim-

G9NFIBENJIAL
"'Sec&:il) IRfiFTzf'??

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENfiAL
&111Jtt!} IRIIIIIIRIIR

-28-

YS // P-038

portant.

Since the 56th Intercept Company could not, in the

keep pace with Panzergruppe Khist,

whi~e

f'ind1ng operations, it was ordered to

it took bearings from two base linesz

~eng

run,

carrying on its d1recticn-

ha~t

on 20 KaT near Le Cateau, where

from the first, directed westward

toward J4aubeuge - Percnne, it searched the area bounded by the Franco-Belgian border on the right and by the Somm.e as far as the Channel coast
on the left, while from the base line directed southward through Arras
and Rathel it covered the Somma and A.isne sectors.
The 3d Intercept Company was assigned to the Laon - Arlen base line
after it had crossed the Franco-Belgian border on

14

Jlay.

While the French

moved up division after division in order to cover the open flank, which
had developed along the Aisne and Somme as a result of the advance by
Panzergruppe Kleist, these two intercept companies gradual}3 succeeded in
identifying the enemy groupings to the south.
As early as 14 1lay a new army net with three secondary stations was
detected.

An arJDY' headquarters was plotted as being west of Verdun, but

on the basis or the first ob:servations it could not be identified u that

of the French Second .A.rmy.

One corps was found east of' Reims, near Grmc:Jpr.8,

and in Dun-sur-M:euse, respectivel.y.

'l'h.ere was some doubt concerning the

significance of the staff detected east or Reims; instead or corps traffic

it might also have been the inter-net traffic or an army.

In the final

evaluation the results were treated cautiously, and it was merely concluded
that the French Second Army sector had been widened, leaving open the possibility that a new front was being built up between Rathel and Stenay.
Two days later, on 16 May, a new headquarters near Epernay appeared

QQNFIBEN'fiAL
\iiiiMI" IRhiiiiRill

REF ID:A56970

e8NFIB!NTIAt
Beaa:il) lufal'lllllill

-29-

MS /1 P-Q38

on the air with links to the corps in the Challerange - Grandpre area in

the center o the above-inentianed net.

On the basis of a clear-text

message this headquarters was identified as the new Sixth Army tmder
General Touchon, who was mentioned by name.

This informatioo, at first

doubted by the German command, was confirmed by other sources on 20 May.

On 22

May the western flank of the new Sixth

Amiens.

4rmY was plotted south of

On the same day near Uontdidier a mobile division was identified

which had been brought up from the area north of Verdun and had established contact with the Sixth Army.
On 23 May it was possible to determine the boundary between the

French Sixth and Second Armies at the Aisne Canal north of Vouziers.
In the meantime it was possible, solely by intercepting division
headquarters stations, to count every French d1vision in the newly-established Aisne sector and to report daily every change.

However, cnly in

one instance did the Germans succeed in establishing a divisional designation, namely that of the French 6th Colcnial Divisicn, in Uachault,
southwest or Vouziers, on 19 May.
Reinforced by the 26th Intercept Company, which Army Group B was
able to release in the north, radio intelligence now began the systematic
coverage or the Somme sector between the coast and Peronne.

Here on 23

May a new staff was recognized in the "radio picture" near Elbeu.f', south
of Rauen, and another near Clermont.

It was not initially possible to

identify clearly these two staffs as higher headquarters.

It was not

until ten divisions between the coast and the Oise were identified as
belonging to Staff Clermcnt that the commitment of
reported.

88NFIBENTIAL

mother army

was

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENJIAL
S~e~riiJ

IRfiFIIIIIian

-3o-

'MS # P-038

In the following days the French Sixth Array at Epe rnay, the

11 Staff

I!:lbeu" and "Army Headquarters Clermont" were in contact with a station

near

~eaux,

which, because of its high efficiency and characteristic trans-

mitt:ing technique, was believed to be the station of an army group headquarters.

It maintained no contact with Second Army at Verdun, but a

fourth command net did appear whose called station could not be located.
As reported by the commander of intercept troops attached to Arar:r Group
0, the French Fourth Army at Nancy was not heard after 23 Yay from the

fortified areas.

Its station was now associated with new traffic which

appeared irregularly 1n the

Oh!lans-sur~e

area but which could not be

assigned any definite part in the command radio picture.

Nevertheless, the picture of the order of battle was well rounded:

Army Group Meaux, in command of the Sixth A:rrny at Epernay, nArJn&e Clermont, 11
and "Armee Elbeu," had the mission of defending the Somme and Aisne.
This mission was confirmed by the radio address given by Premier Reynaud
on 28 'May.
Between 1 and

4 June

the information concerning the unit disposition

between the Channel coast and the fortified areas, which had been obtained
by radio intelligence, was confirmed from a source which the author can
no looger remember and was supplemented by the informaticn that the "Armee
Elbeu 11 (which had recently been plotted in La Feuillie, east of Rouen)
was the Tenth Army under General Altmeyer, which had been brought up .from
bhe Italian border; that

11

Arm6e Clermont" (now fixed as being in Creil) was

the newly-formed Seventh Army under General Frere; and

t~

A.rrrr:r Group

Meaux was presumably the staff of General Besson, who commanded the Tenth

CONPIIIENliAL
,Jcnri*V lnhnnali&ll

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENfiAL
MS

II

&1111~11

P-QJB

IRIII'IIIIItiln

-31-

and Eighth Armies on the southern !'lank.

Chart

4 contains the radio intercept results which had been obtained

up to the time when German Army Groups B and A moved into position for

4 and

their attack across the Samme and Aisne on

7 June.

For this operation .A.rmy Group B, which had lett the Euskirchen Fixed
Intercept Station in northern France to intercept United Kingdom traffic,
was assigned the 56th Intercept Company of Army Group A, which had hitherto
bean stationed near Le Cateau.

Army Group A, in turn, was assigned the

18th Intercept Company, the third to be released from the East.

Thus, each

army group again had two motorized intercept companies at its disposal:

A:rrny Group B having the 26th and 56th Intercept Companies; Arr.rq Group A,
the 3rd and 18th Intercept Companies; and Army Group C, the 9th and 57th
Intercept Companies.
On

5 June, when

Army Group B crossed the Somma, radio messages were

intercepted which indicated that the

en~

was concerned about the impending

German attack because insufficient progress had been made in completing the
positions between Fismes and the Moselle.

On the same day British traffic

was heard for the last time on the Continent, and, as far as the author
recalls, brigades of the 51st Division were identified.

A clear-text inter-

cept, according to which French troops that had escaped to England from the

pocket of encircled forces in the north were to be returned to Cherbourg,

was forwarded to the Luftwaffe, so that these French elements could be
uncovered and attacked from the air.
en 16 June, the day following Arnry Group A s crossing of the Aisne,

the main radio station of the Ministry of War (which also served the French

68NFIBENJIAL
-ii&UFily lllfDTatinn

REF
YS No. p -038 Chart4

/
/

.... '

./

/
/

LeMons
15.tUHE

_..r
/
Tours .*-

----------------------------

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENYIAL
MS

&1111 II!

H P-038

lnhllll&liln

-32-

High Command) closed down and turned over its functions to the main station
at

Tours~

which was then assumed to be the new command post of General.

Weygand.

Enemy radio traffic from the area between the Oise and
already stopped on 12 June.

On that

day~

:Marr..:~

had

however, messages were inter-

cepted from the French Fourth Arnr:r, which had lang been sought in vain.
The Germans continued to carry out direction-finding operations in the
Ch!lons area, but no further details could be ascertained.

A radio message intercepted an 13 June revealed the decision of the

French High Command to retreat behind the Loire.
On

15 June French radio traffic began to shmr signs of' complete dis-

organizaticn.

Headquarters called each other in vain; blind messages

became more frequent; the percentage of clear-text messages rose; various

code designations were used, although it must have been realized that
they were not secure.

The confusion in radio operations pointed to the

growing disintegration of the French forces.

Radio intelligence of the

pursuing German army groups had to restrict itself' to fallowing the movements of only the higher

staffs~

information is shown in Chart

particularly the army headquarters.

This

4.

In front of Army Group C the intercept service had kept the area behind
ll

the fortified front under surveillance since 10 May.

Its mission was

chiefly to find out whether, undgr the stress of the fighting in the north
and center, units of the French Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth
Armies were pulled out of their positions and moved to this part of the
front.

G9NFIBENflltL
letdlllJ In fm niBliou

GBNFIBEN'Rfi'F ID: A56970

Beca:itt lnlo:matiuu

t:s //

-33-

P-038

About three days before the attack, in order to pin down the units
along the fortified front, the Germans began to transmit fake messages in
conjunction with other tactical deceptions in the area of the boundary
between the German First and Seventh Armies.

These measures simulated the

traffic of an improvised army consisting of mobile units under the control

of three corps headquarters.

According to communications intercepted on

10 :May from the area of the French Third and Fourth Armies, where the
volume of traffic increased noticeably, the above-mentioned deceptive messages apparently caused concern.

There were no indications of any weak-

ening of the fortified front until this traffic was discontinued.

Not before 28 May was it clearly established that a mobile division
of the French Second
to the west.

had been moved out of position and transferred

On the basis of its transmission characteristics, its move-

ments could be followed as far as the

~ontdidier

area.

On

the other hand,

it was impossible to trace the location of the Fourth Army, which, on the
following day, ceased to transmit from the fortified areas.

Nor did the

radio picture reveal that its sector had been taken over by the adjacent
F!'ench Third and Fifth Armies.

The withdrawal of the Sixth and Tenth Army

Headquarters, which assumed command behind the lower Somma on 23 May, was
not detected by radio interceptioo, because the intelligence mission assigned
to Army Group C had not included coverage of the Swiss and Italian borders.
It has not been learned whether the fixed intercept stations under OKH,
which were assigned exclusively to long-range intelligence, obta:ined any
informaticn.
.~'hen

Army

Group C commenced operations on the Saar root and crossed

e6NFIBENJIAL
-seeHri~ IAfamzt;an

"

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDEN'RAL
8ecalitg llsfounatian

-34-

MS # P-038
the upper PJline on

14

June, the intercept companies were given the mission

of keeping track of those French units in the intermediate area which were
capable of carrying out mobile operations.

Along the fortified front the

enemy on the whole observed excellent

discipline, which continued

ra~io

until the German attack on the Rhine-Marne Canal ran into the Polish 1st
and 2d Divisiahs.

As a result of the advance of the army on the left of

Army Group A (see Chart

4), the area covered by the three intercept com-

panies was rapidly narrowed down, so that soon the same difficulties were
encountered as during the observation of the northern pocket.

Here, too,

the results of radio intelligence were not as effective as those obtained

by ground reconnaissance.

Nevertheless, it was possible to detect in time

that was approximatezy 15 June -

the assembly of French forces near

Vesoul which led to the attempted break-through onto the Langres plateau.
As the encircled area beca:ne narrower, there appeared the same demoralization of the radio traffic as had been observed in the northern pockets
and during the pursuit to the Loire .
After 20 June, when the French High Command requested an armifTtice,
there was no longer any possibility of systematic radio intelligence in
front of the three German army groups, because the enemy no longer possessed a well-defined command structure.
After the campaign in the West, captured documents, cipher deviceG

..

and machines, and radio dquipment of all types, confirmed and supplemented
the picture, which the Germans had pieced together from the radio traffic
of the British and French armies, and permitted them to make a fairly
accurate evaluation of the security of the enemy systems.

SBNFIBENJIAL
Sasuti&y IRfarRIIItilll

Except for their

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENfiAi
!eco;;tt fufa;maliuu

MS

/I

-3.5-

P-038

effective cryptographic systems, the enemy had made no attempt to achieve

adequate radio secrecy.

Under these circumstances enemy messages did not

have to be solved, since German radio intelligence could score valuable

tactical and strategic successes by carefully observing transmission characteristics on those frequencies employed by the enemy and by plotting the
location of his units.
German radio intelligence would have been denied these successes if
the enemy stations had changed their frequencies, call signs, and operating
sienals at irregular intervals and if they had observed the cardinal rule
of communication secrecy, namely, that one should use radio only in the
following cases z
a.

~'ihen

wire cOI:llllunication cannot be used, fore xam.ple, in communi-

cation with reconnaissance forces, including inter-unit communication

within such forces; in communication with and within armored units; in

!.

conununication with airborne units; and in air-ground canmunication.

b.

:~'hen

wire communication facilities have been destroyed and when

the messages to be sent cannot under any circumstances be delayed tm.til

wire communication has been restored.

t
c. When wire communication functions too slowly to transmit urgent
t
r messages, such as alert orders or armored and air attack warnings.
t
~,,
d. In exceptional cases when wire facilities have been captured by
t

'\the

enemy -- a frequent occurrence during the Campaign in the "Nest.

Enemy radio operations during the campaign gave the impression that

these rules had not been taken seriously.

BBNFIBENTIAL
&11Hti'J lniiiiiiRII

REF ID:A56970
6BNFIBENfiAL
&eua:ilJ l:lla:matiun

Intercept Operations against Great Britain 1940 -

VIII.

-36-

41

(This section was written by Colonel Randewig, at that time comr.tander

of intercept tm.i ts attached to Army Group A.. )
After the conclusion of the Campaign in the West OKH ordered Arm.v
Group A to initiate radio intelligence operations against the British Isles.
This intelligence mission, which was given in the form of a preliminary order on 2 July 1940, was supplemented by mid-July with requests for
the following specific information:
1.

Present Location of former British Expeditionary Force units.

2.

Organization, strength and disposition of Regular Army and

Territorial

forces in the British Isles, as well as of forces shipped

to England from the Dominicns, with special emphasis on Canadian troops.

3.

Transfer of units from the mother cotm.try for service in the

Near East (Balkans) and :Middle East (Egypt and North Africa).

4.

Defensive measures initiated by:

(a) Permanent coastal defense forces
(b) }!obile defense forces

5.

Coverage of the coastal strip J!,olkestone - Hastings -

Eastbourne - Brighton -Worthing and of the London - Chatham -Margate Dover - Portsmouth - Reading - London area, these being the immediate
objectives for a German invasion in accordance with plans for Operation
~LOEWE.

For carrying out this mission, the commander of intercept troops

attached to Army Group A was placed in charge of the following units:

68NFIBENTIAL

BiF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENT."'"
&IIHFIIY lnfllllllliiiA

l:.S J P-038

-371.

The Muenster Fixed Intercept Statioo., hitherto at the dis-

posal of OKH and recently moved from Muenster to The Hague after the capitulation o the Netherlands.
2.

The Euskirchen Fixed Intercept Station (temporarily mobile),

hitherto attached to Ar.my Group B.

3. 26th Intercept

Oo~paey,

hitherto attached to A.rrrry Group B.

4. ,56th Intercept Company, which during the first part of the

campaign was attached to 1t.rmy Group A, and, during the sscond part, to
krmy Group B.

OKH did not grant the request for the transfer of the Husum Fixed
Intercept Station until late October 1940.
The fixed intercept stations were the only ones which had years of
experience in observing routine British traffic.

The experience of the

intercept companies was limited to the relatively brief period when they
had operated against the British ]xpeditianar,y Forces on the Continent
during the blitzkrieg campaign.

~Y.hile

the British forces were being as-

sembled from September 1939 to May 1940, no noteworthy results v1ere obtained.
The use of intercept companies in peacetime to observe British maneuvers
in the home country had been impossible because of the great distance

(350- 600 miles). 'rhe 56th Intercept Company had never intercepted British traffic at all.
The transfer of the

~uenster

nature of its operations.

reduction in

dist~~ce

station to The Hague determined the

Reception was extraordinarily improved by the

to the target areas and by the fact that the inter-

cepting was done exclusively over water.

'fhe results hitherto obtained

88NFIBENiiAL
E11111*' lniiFIIIMIIR

---------------------

---

REF ID:A56970

BBNFIBEtRIAL
Smrit) llfllllllliell

MS

-38-

P-038

by the Muenster station had to serve as a basis for the operations of the
three other intercept units.
Together with the "'Muenster station" (now at The Hague) the following
in~ercept units were assigned missions by

(a)

5 JulY

1940 as indicatedz

The Eusldrchen station in Hardelot, south of Boulogne, was to

search the long and medium wav.elengths from the base line Ostend - st.
Valery-.
(b)

26th Intercept Company in Etretat, north of Le Havre, searched

similar wavelengths from the base line St. Valery - Caen.

(c)

56th Intercept Company 1n Param&, near St. Malo, searched the

same bands from the base line Cherbourg - Brest.

'l'he staff of the commander of intercept- troops, together with an
evaluation center, was located at i&rmy Group A Headquarters at St. Germainen-Laye near Paris.

It was connected with its four (after 1 November 1940,

five) subordinate units by direct wire lines.

After the middle of October the commander or

intercep~

troops was

assigned a mobile- long-range D/F platoon for the interception

wave signals.

of

short-

After numerous unsuccessful trials, this platoon worked

along several base lines, but without obtaining any important results.

The evaluation reports were sent daily to the OKH main intercept

} station, to the headquarters of .A.rmy Group .4 and its subordinate (Sixt;eenth,

I

\-

Ninth, and Sixt;h) Armies, to the military- commanders of the Netherlands,

* and

Belgium - Northam France, and Paris, to the Luftflbtte

*/Jr:

Air forcet

to the naval

a territorial and tactical command of the Lurtwaffi/

68NFIBENfiAL
9111Fitl IRfiJIRMifl

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENfiAL
9eau:iiJ l::fs::::alian

MS

II P-038

-39-

commander in Paris.
The operations of the intercept units, including the intercept areas,
are shown in Chart

S.

In spite of intensive searching during the first :four weeks (July

1940), it was impossible to intercept any messages of the kind which had
been sent b,y mobile elements of the British Expeditianar.y Fbroe an the
Continent.

To be sure, a :few messages were picked up, but they could

neither be followed for

length of time nor assigned to any regular net

traffic, and frequently they were so brief as to preclude even the taking
of accurate bearings.

The few measages intercepted, though E1'1017Pted in

a rather simple :field cipher, were not enough .forcryptanal,1a1 purposes.

In the .final evaluation these observations were interpreted to mean that
the seriously decimated divisions at the British Expeditionar,y Force first
had to be reorganized, re-equipped and rehabilitated, and that in any event
they were not yet ready far large-scale training exercises.
On the other hand, there was always regular traffic from fixed stations

believed to be operating as "coast defense sector stations" (for. example,

in Chatham, the Portsmouth - Southampton area, Plymouth, Cardiff and Edin-

burgh) with a net control station near London.

This traffic was easily

intercepted because of the failure to change callsip and frequencies.

Messages handled by this net provided material :for the first attempts at
cryptanalysis.

However, there was hardly any chance to draw conclusions

of a tactical nature from the traffic ana~sis of 'bhis coast de.fense net,

since- it was apparently operated by well-trained personnel who observed

atrict radio discipline.

Of no importance were some clear-text intercepts,

G8NFIBENJIAL
51111i&y 11111'11111111

REF ID:A56970
B8NFIBNJIAL
S FIJ I lst!iitliU&

MS No. P-038 Chart 5

RADIO INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS

AGAINST GREAT BRITA! N
JULY 1940-JAN.I941
<:l

SHIFT OF FIXED STATION

~~-=--1~0=0~~~=2~00~-----3~90
MIL.ES

BBNFIBENJIAL
IEsciit) l::lu::::zt:a::

REF ID:A56970

eBNFIBEN'fiAL
&1111i4J IRfllhlatiBR

MS

P-038

such ast "Italy has the shape of a foot; with the other one Mussolini is
standing in his grave."
Helena is an island."

"Hitler says there are no more islands, but St.

The abandonment of the Channel Islands was a mis-

take which could have been avoided."

After this initial period, which extended through August and September 1940, radio traffic emanating from mobile units increased in volume.
By means of radio bearings four "training areas" (see Chart

5) could be

plotted.
1.

The Dawns, including Sussex, Kent and Surrey;

2.

Norfolk, with \'fells-on-sea, the first locality identified;

3. York, between the Humber and Teee; and

4.

Monmouth, along the northern shore of the Bristol Channel.

In the beginning the training exercises in these areas were still

characterized by the same excellent radio discipline which was observed

by the fixed nets, such as, rapid tm:ing of transmitters preparatory to

operation, brevity and speed of transmission, and avoidance of requests

for repeat.

In spite of the use of a single frequency for each net and

the systematic use of call signs, inter-net relationships could CX1ly be

guessed at; it was impossible to draw any conclusions from them regarding ~
the organizational structure.

No Cl"l'Ptogr.apbie errors were committed whd.ch'

could have led to the solution of their ciphers.

Transmission efficiency gradually diminished, probably because the

- - .......-......... _
training given the radio operators _had been too short and :Inadequate
....... -

~=:

..

_....

- ------

Names of localities appeared in the clear, and in thf course of time abbreviations of unit designations were intercepted which were increasingly

GBNFIBENJIAL

REF ID:A56970
M8

GQNFIBENliAL
E1tulity IRflllllliiR

# P..0.38

easy to identif,y.

-41-

Thus, it was possible to locate the Norfolk training

area by the term "Wells-on-Sea brigade, n and the tmit to which this
brigade was attached was clearly revealed b.r a repeat request in clear
text.

Subsequently, the new numerical designations of the two London

divisions were identified in the same way.

tioned so

frequent~

list of units

or

Unit designations were men-

that it was finally possible to prepare a complete

the British field armies, including Canadian forces, and

the composition of divisions down to infantr.y and artillery battalions.

At the same time the territorial headquarters, as well as the corps headquarters in command of the 1q(obile Defense Forces, and thus the top-level
organization, also became known.

This information became available even

before a single radio message could be solved.

with which unit

des~ations

At first, the carelessness

were revealed raised the suspicion that this

was all part of a deliberate deception.

The enenzy- would not have committed

such serious violations of security rules unless his awn monitoring system
was a complete failure.

The

acc~acy

of German intelligence estimates was

subsequently confirmed by the contents of other messages.

As a result of the information gathered about the composition of enemy
forces, the Germans increased their regular intercept coverage of the training areas, especially those in southern Fllgland, with an eye to their
intended landing operaHons.

The constantly increasing radio traffic

now also permitted analysis of the nets structure and plotting of headquarters areas by the direction-finding tmits.

In this manner it was pos-

cible to trace the concentration areas of the divisions assigned to the

coastal defense and to follow the course of several anti-invasion exercises.

-GQNFIBENTIAr
Sa;"ri&r IRflrlllatiln

REF ID:A56970
89NRBENflAL
Etauri&y IRflriiMitn

MS

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P-Q38

During these exercises it was always possible to determine the command

nets and sometimes the link with the RAF, while mit nets could rare]
and armored traffic never be picked up at all.

In several instances it

was possibl!J to distinguish between tactical (lower echelon) and command

traffic.

By combining the two, the purpos'3 of the training exercises

could be inferred.

It was learned that in case of a German landing the

coastal defense forces were to withdraw at first and then destroy the
invader by means of mobile tactics after reassembling and forming centers
of gravity.
In the course of time the following regions were added to the con-

centration and traming areas of the''Mobile Defense Forces:

5.

South Wales;

6. The Midlands; and

7. Scotland (on both sides of the Firth of Forth).
Dur:ing :intercept operations a ff!N of the identified divisicns disappeared from the radio picture for varying periods of
gether.

t~,

some alto-

Their whereabouts in the interim could not be ascertained in

most cases.

In no instance was it possible to obtain reliable information

about their movement overseas, which, however, was subsequent] presumed

to have taken place.

A coincidence led to the discovery of a troop move-

ment from Carlisle in northern England to Belfast

jn

northern Ireland,

which the Luftwat'fe was ordered to reconnoiter and attack.

The Germans

made the mistake of neglecting to observe overseas radio communication

w1 th adequate means at the same time they were :intercepting traffic

between points within the United Kingdom.

e&NFIBENfiAL
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REF ID:A56970

G9NFI9ENJIAL
Seca:ilJ liifa:n:atien

MS

/1

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-43-

Nevertheless, the over-all picture of the disposition of the

en~

forces continued to be known, especially since many of the cryptographic

systems :in use were broken after about September 1940.

In the beginn:ing of 19Ll the radio situation in the British Isles
was so well known that five intelligence units were no longer necessary

"

for regular interception, especially after the abandonment of Operation

SEELOE'.VE for which some elements of the intercept companies had been
intended.
After one intercept platoon had been transferred to the German !frica
Corps, the 56th Intercept Company was given the same assignment :in March
1941.

About the same time, the "E'.lBkirchen station" was returned from

Ha.rdelot to its peacetime location in Euskirchen.

Experiments had indi-

cated that the reception of sky waves from British short-wave transmitters
was immeasureabl1 better in Euskirchen than on the coast.

In April 1941

the 26th Intercept Company was transferred to eastern Europe.

The subse-

quent coverage of the British area was taken over by the fixed stations
in Uuenster, The Hague, Husum., and Euskirchen.

A lang-range direction-

find:ing organization for long, medium, and short wavelengths was retained
under the direction of the comtander of intercept units of Army Group D,
which had just assumed command in France.

Summing up, British army :radio traffic in 1940-l.Jl can be appraised as

follO\'V'S:
The messages could be easily intercepted for three reasons:

each net

operated on a single frequency, frequencies were changed only at regular

intervals, and the British used a call sign system which facilitated the

88NFIBENTIAL
Sc"'i'y 'nlar111ti1R

REF ID:A56970

8iiNFIHENTIAL
sc:ri- l::hnmaddll"

MS

-44-

P-038

identification of the

rms

and secondary stations.

Nor were these C:.efecta

offset by the excellent radio discipline which the British observed in

the beginning.

When the latter deteriorated, even the most skilli'u1

encipherment could no longer

..

~uarantee

security.

Secrecy \'las lost by the

melltion of tovms, areas, tmd troop designations in the clear.

The care-

less way in which radio operations were carried out suggests that the
British underestimated German communication intelligence.
IX.

Intercept Operations Against Great Britain and the United

states 1942

No substantial changes were made in the British radio system until

the summer of 1942.

The Bergen Fixed Intercept Station in Norway was

established and it covered Great Britain, Canada, the United States, and
. the American bases in Iceland, Greenland, and Central America.
these areas were covered by about 150 receivers.

Altogether,

British nets could be

easily detected because they cont:inucd to use call signs taken from the
--

-~

"call sign families," for example, fba., fbae, fbb, etc.

...__ ... ... _. .._ __

~oreover,

clear-

text messages transmitted both by phone and CW provided many valuable

hints about the morale of the troops.

Grid co-ordinatu 'Wre easily s a.lved,

even if the fliers did not make the mistake, as was frequently the case,
of radioing place names and grid co-ordinates in the clear, after which the
ground station would immediately relay the very same designations in code.
The Canadians had to a large extent adopted the British procedures
(call signs, frequencies, and cryptosystl!IIIB) but they were distinguished
by characteristic details, so that they could be identified even before
cryptanalysis was instituted.

The presence of the other Empire troops in

C6NfiD!NTIAL
SmriiJ IRfiMJitian

REF ID:A56970

GQNFIBENfiAt
Sllllll\y

l.'S

IRIIIIliMiiR

-45-

# P-038

the British Isles was detected b,y recognition of their individual characteristics.

Still more revealing were the messages sent by foreign

mi ts stationed in England:

the Poles, Belgians, French, Norwegians,

and others.
Until its integration into the Regular Army, the traffic of the
British Home Guard showed special characteristics which made it easy to
observe its ac:.ivities, organization, strength, and deployment.

Valuable

intelligence was obtained, either through the mention of individual troop

units or of tactical doctrine,
to the Army.

qy observing RAF units which were attached

Such intelligence covered a variety of subjects, including

individual aircraft, liaison staffs, and airfields.

It enabled the

Germans, for example, to follow every detail of an engagement during maneuvers, including the identification of tactical objectives as provided
by British reconnaissance planes, the operations of major formations, and

reports sent upon completion of a bombing mission -- all from the intercaption of clear-cext messages.
Maneuvers in general were a fertile source of information, because
the procedure signs (in the clear) which headed each message could be
reco~ized

immediately.

Command post exercises provided an abundance of

information about unit designations, physical location, organization,

equipment, state of training, officers' names, in short, all the small

pieces needed by intelligence for building up a complete jig-saw picture
of the situation.

\Varnint;s exchanged between operators about impending

inspections by their superiors showed that there was a lack of radio

supervision.

G9NFIBENTIAL
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REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENJIAL
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:MS

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In the spring of 1942 a large-scale maneuver was carried out south

of Landon, called "Operation Tiger," which lasted several days.

Two

motorized divisions and several RAF units participated, and their campositian and strength were clearly recognized :In a short time.

The course

of the exercises co_uld be followed so exactly that, by sending over the

Luftwaffe, the Germans could have converted the maneuver into a real combat action.

These German intercept successes were shortly afterward con-

firmed by British press and radio reports.

The preceding description of British ar.my traffic applies also to
the Canadians during the same period.

although the distance to Canada

was too great for perfect reception, it was nevertheless possible to follow newly activated units, the progress of their training, the overseas
shipment of various divisions and their subsequent movements in the British
Isles.
i ~-

Until the summer of 1942 no difficrulties were encomtered in intercepting American radio communication, with the result that inter-net relationships could be clearly ascertained.

From the more distant areas of

the United States only the sky waves were heard, while troop exercises
could not be picked up at all.
British and

~~erican

Even after the subsequent co-ordination of

operation procedures there were still many character-

isties which made it easy to distinguish the units of each

~.

They

used different operating signals and different abbreviations for identical

service branches and units.

In phone communication differences

ciation provided the most striking contrast.

in enun-

Translaters did not find it

difficult to master both "English" and ".American" literary, colloquial,

G9NFIBENfiAL
EIIYNtY IRfiFIIIIIilll

REF ID:A56970

GONFIDENJIAL
&eaDJiiJ lnl&iiiitli&h

MS # p-Q)8

-47-

and military styles, as well as slang expressions.

Special dictionaries

and glossaries of idiomatic phrases were suppler.tented from current inter-

0
rmits~0= :i;:::::::~~c::~va:: :t::::::.::t:wn
cepts.

be ascertained from transfers to various camps.

Their degrees of combat

lt

readiness and their impending shipment overseas became evident from the

'

''~
.,

assignment of APO numbers.

~-

f If

.............. .........

~~---

... :

These APO numbers were then carefully followed.

they appeared in connection with an eastern port, for example, New York,

\ it was clear that the unit concerned was to be shipped to Europe, whereas

~western port designations,

f. _the Pacific.

for example, San Francisco, meant shipment to

American units were recognizedsoon after their arrival in the British

Isles by the

previous~

known APO numbers, and their subsequent whereabouts

could be traced from clues similar to those provided by the British units.
Thus, all major American units were currently identified.
A special source exploited by German communication intelligence was

the transmission of officers' promotion notices.

~--.'!?~~_!"',!..."-::::'~..;:.;"~~-::: ........~~-~~

(in clear text) began as follmYs:

to Do you accept?"

The typical message

"The President intends to promote you

These "promotion messages" supplemented our locator

files and enabled us to draw various inferences.

If the unit of the officer

in question had been previously known but its present station had not been
traced, a promotion message transmitted, for instance, to Iceland would
thus provide the Germans with its location.
In the spring of 1942 a new transmitting technique was introduced in

GQNFIBENliAL
seca:it; lnfo:malian

REF ID:A56970

C8NffBENfiAL
he a: it) .hlfefftiMiiR

MS

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P-QJB

American long-distance communication (both domestic and foreign) that

dried up this excellent source ot German intelligence.

The Busld.rchen

staticn, which was charged with cryptanalysis of this tratf'lc, solved

'--, -

---

the riddle within one week, however, by means of tape recordings and
_..............,_

---

systematic analysis.

It was finall.Y discovered that the process used

was a rapid system of wireless telegraphy which differed from the usual
method by the number of current impulses.

This was the "Radiotype11

*J'rt

Referred to as ~ar-type 11 in the original. ~otype 11 is a six-impulse teletype system developed. by Internaticmal. BUsiness Ja~ and
used temporarily' by the u.s. Armed Forces.7

method.

A tremendous number of military and business messages were soon

intercepted.

After a short while the receiving operators were able to

"read" the message tapes as fast as Morse code.

Fortunate~,

after a

pause ot one week, military messages in clear text became more frequEilt
for a time.

This mistake was not discovered by the Americana mtil later,

at which time they began to encipher these mechanicall:r transmitted measages.

Since it was no longer possible to solve them, work an these mas-

sages was discontinued.

German experience with these :mechanically transmitted messages ._a
the same everywhere, especially' in the case of the Army Ordnance Office

The transmitting techniques could be mastered easily', unless the messages

were encrypted in a reliable, preferably mechanical, cipher.
In the summer of 1942 the British introduced na radio techniques,

which were also widely adopted by the Americans.

At El Alamein the

British captured the entire equipment of the intercept com.pal_lY _attached

G9NFIBENfiAL

REF ID:A56970

GBNFIBEfiiiii
Srdlr bmzt'nn

liS

-49-

il P-Q)B

to the German Atri_~ Corps.

As will be explained at length in the secticn

an Africa, they recognised their former mistakes and

quia~

corrected

-----,

them on all fronts.

However 1 these new methods were not introduced every-

where simultaneously, but at f'irat c:m.].y in Africa.

German intercept troops

- --- .. - ---- ---= -

in western Europe were thus able to adjust themselves in time.

German com-

municatica intelligence now encolD'ltered considerabq more dit.f'i.cult1es in

evaluating the traffic.

Call signs and frequencies were changed at irreg-

ular intervals, which made it impossible to recognise inter-net relaticm-

ships.

It required some time and considerable experi.mentaticm betore other

distinguishing characteristics enabled German traffic ana]Jrsis and diraction-tinding units to overcome these dittiault.ies.
mative messages in clear text disappeared.

The

numerous, infor-

Ckle or the best sources ot

intelligence were the careless transmissions ot the RAF, over whose radio
..--.:."!!!t?

discipline

__....................... .....

-~
_.

-~-.:.:.:...:..

:-:-:';'"":..--------:--""1--"-----""""':---------:---.- --.!_-__-..:.._,

British A.rlq

---------

apparent~

-------

.:.

,....-.=,-

'".:=---.. . . .

,_,c..,..:r--...;;.::...

did not exercise 11f17 control or

-------: :...

BU~~sio_n_.

The landing operation at Dieppe in August 1942 provided not cal.y" the
Allies but also German cODIDllD'lication intelligence w1 th some interesting
lessons, successes, and failures.
'lbe preparations tor this operation were complete]J" concealed .tram

German radio intelligence.

The participating Allied units observed exam-

plary radio silence up to the actual landing.

This procedure

'RB

the

correct one and later resulted in the same degree or surprise during the
landings in North Atrica and during the invasion of Norm.andy'.
Even after the landing at J)1eppe, with its ensuing radio traffic,
German radio intelligence did not immetii.ate4r recognize what was going on.

GBNFIBENTIAL
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..

REF ID:A56970

CONFiuENiiii
&mfi_, IRfiMIItiln

MS

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P-Q)8

The first intercepts were received with good signal. strength by The Hague
Fixed Intercept Station.

Somewhat later the station in Etretat heard

some extremely weak signals which failed to reveal the general situation
The Hague station had no data regarding their precise direction but,
because or the strength or the signals, believed that fighting was going
on in the Netherlands.

With this in mind, it inquired at the local army

headquarters, where nothing was known.

OB West had not been notified.

The report was transmitted ver.r inefficiently from the attacked units
through the long chain of command to OB West.

By the time that the nature

and location of the event had been clarified in this irregular manner,
German communication intelligence was once again working systematically.
The interception of all messages from Dieppe was centrally controlled
from St. Germain.

Enemy messages becam.e more numerous and informative

until around noon, then remained at the same level for a while, only to
become fewer with the disengagement which took place in the late afternocn,
and then disappeared entirely during the cross-Channel evacuation.

OB

West could be informed more rapidly about every phase of the fighting
through radio intelligence than through the communication channel.s of the
field units.
the attack.

..

Encrypted messages were solved ev.en during the course of

However, the numerous code names for targets, terrain

features~

and the like, could not be interpreted during the brief course of the operation.

Conspicuous in these codes was the frequent menticn of colors.

Captured documents subsequentl.y revealed that these indicated beachhead

sectors.

--

Since this procedure was repeated during later landings, any

88NABENfiAL
GIIHRty lftfll'lllaHen

88NFIBENfi~F

ID : A5

6970

!IICdaltJ lnfeanalien

JIS

II

-Sl-

P-0)8

"Imminent danger o invasim.

When the term "withdrawal" was openly

mentioned at Diappa at the beginning or the disengagement, it became clear

that this was not an attempt at invasion but that it was an operaticn with
11mited objectives with respect to time and space.
The fact that German propaganda put the venture in a different light
is immaterial.

When the Propaganda Jlinistry finally asked .for the numer-

ous messages containing requests .for help in order to use them in the
press and on the radio, all the cryptanal;rzed messages were anitted and
texts in the clear were paraphrased to prevent the enemy from gaining a.ny
clues as to our intelligence results.

Thus, German intercept operations

were bound to appear far less effective than they actually had been.
X.
f

Africa and the !Mer East ( 1941 - 43)

---

In :March 19!J. the German Africa Corps was givm one intercept pla-

toon, which was soon enlarged into an intercept company to which were as-

signed English-language cryptanalysts from the intercept command station.

The company was equipped with receivers and directian-.f:inding instruments
suitable .for use in a tropical climate.

The personnel had had experience

in intercepting Br1tish tra.fi'ic ever since the Campaign in the West and

therefore knew the weaknesses of the British radio system.

During oper-

ations against the United Kingdom the Germans arrived at the conclusion
that the British were underestimating the successes o German communication
intelligence, and this became even more obvious in Africa.

Here, in mobile

desert warfare, radio was the only possible .form o.r communication -- a
medium as dangerous as it wae valuable -

and the British used it more

68NFIBENfiAL
&11Hf~

lntariiiatlan

-------------

--

REF r;g,;.~7o

"unrr
iiAt
""1eca:it)
IRfiMIIIill

llS

II

-52-

P-o,38

\ careless4r than ever.

A clear and accurate picture of the opposing British

i Eighth Arrrry with regard to all the details of its composition, the origin

of its divisions (South Africa, India, and so forth), and its morale and
plans, was rapidly gained as the result of the mistakes described in the
preceding section.

These mistakes included clear-text radiotelephone and

telegraph messages mentioning geographical data, the names of individuals,

unit designations; the failure to mask such terms proper4'; and the use of
extremely simple ciphers and routine call signs.

The information which the

intercept company of tm Africa Corps gathered was mainly of the shortrange intelligence type, supplemented by long-range intelligence carried
out by the Commander of Communication Intalligence (Four) in the Balkans,
who operated against British forces in the 1-lear East.

German intelligence

in Africa also had some exceptionally lucky breaks, as, for example, when

it was able to report on impending British operations after solving messages sent by the American liaison officer.
In the summer of 1942 a German submarine operating in the eastern
I .....

-:',....~.,n

'

Mediterranean captured a ship on which was found a complete set of radio

codes used jointly by services of the British armed forces in the Mediter-

ranean theater from Gibraltar to Egypt.

The security of radio communica-

tion in this area was a matter of vital concern in safeguarding the British

..

supply line.

The submarine, which had been assigned to other tasks, was

immediately recalled after reporting this valuable prize.

Because it

was then possible to decr,ypt rapidly all British radio communications

using these codes, German countermeasures at sea and in the air were es-

pacially successful ror the next two weeks.

8BNFIBENJIAL
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Then this traffic ceased

-----------------------------------------------------------REF ID:A56970

68NFIBENliAL
!ecalil) l::fa::::alian

l~S

-53-

P-038

entirely.

The British had become suspicious and did not resume radio

operations until six weeks later, after couriers had been able to deliver
new codes throughout this far-flung theater of operations.
The excellent results obtained by communication intelligence provided
Field Marshal Ramcel with accurate and welcome information, on which he
could base his bold and varied tactics.

His peculiar talent for gaining

unexpected success in armored warfare, where radio communication played a

vital role, had already brought him a number or startling victories azs

commander or a panzer division in the Campaign in the West.

In the desert

Rommel encouraged this new method of tactical reconnaissance, especially

since the results or German air reconnaissance were limited by British air
superiority.

To facilitate the detailed evaluaticn or inf'ormaticn by the

intercept company, Rommel' s chief or staff always had two field trunk
circuits at his disposal to handle incoming telephme and teletype traffic.
During all his inspection trips to the front Rommel was perscnally informed
by radio about all important results obtained by radio intelligence.

It

may be assumed that the British did not employ any radio intelligence of
their own against the German Africa Corps; at least they did not succeed in
solving Rommel's codes.

Thus, German radio intelligence was able to work

unsuspected by the British.

By means or these modem techniques Rommel was able to carry an a

masterly kind or desert warfare as long as enemy superiority was not overwhelming.

Just as the ameers of the Caliph had ance led their swift

cavalr,y armies by personal example and trumpet signals, so Rommel now led
to victory the "light cavalry" or his armored reconnaissance troops and

69NR9ENJIAL
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REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBEN:riAL
-54-

MS # P-0)8
the "heavy cavalry" of his tanks.

In this theater Rommel also made use of.

radio decepticn by having several radio stations simulate large forces far
to the south in the desert and suggest an encirclement.
-l,...v-----

On repeated oc-

--

casions radio intelligence was able to observe that the British were taken

in by this stratagem, and that apparently without any confirmation by

their reconnaissance planes they sent tanks and motorized artillery, cnce
even an armored division, to oppose the fictitious enemy.

Ci1 one other

occasion, however, German radio intelligence was unable to detect a British

armored division which had advanced far to the south, since it had observed
absolute radio silence for several weeks, as was

subsequent~

confir.Qed by

a captured regimental commander.

One interesting observation by this company was the interception of
appeals for assistance and water sent by radio to the British Eighth Army
by the Gennan Communist Battalion commanded by Ludwig Renn in the desert
fort of Bir Hacheim, south of Tobruk.
In front of El Alam.ein the intercept company was able to report the

reinforcement of the British forces and their preparations for an attack

with which the German-Italian forces could not possibly cope.
cept compaey and

it~_

evaluation center were imprudently stationed far in

advance of Rommel's headquarters

...
,.

The inter-

and only a few kilometers beh:ind an_

Italian sector of the front which was subsequently penetrated by British

tanks in late October 1942.

Whtle defending itself the company lost more

than a htmdred dead; the company commander was seriously wounded and died
-~-

_-

....

in a Cairo military hospital.

Because of the sui-prise achieved by the

tank attack, there was no opportunity to destrqy the valuable intercept

88NFIBEN'FIAL
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----

--------------

REF ID:A56970

G8NFIBENJIAL
&ooa:ia, liil&iiii&lioii

'MS

-55-

# P-Q36

fil.es.

Thus, the enemy captilred the German records of intercepted lh'it-~-.....

ish messages and codes 11 the anal.yses prepared by the German

intercep~-

service, as well as German and Italian radio schedules and ciphers.

Radio Cairo reported:

-~----

"The distinguished Captain Seebohm has been

seriously wotmded and is a prisoner of war.

We are much obliged for the

exliensive amount of excellent materiel we have captured."

The British

reaction to the capture of the German intercept receivers has been mentioned elsewhere.

In a very short time the British corrected their

numerous, costly mistakes 11 after they had become tully aware of their
damaging effects.
the

This applied not only to the Ai'rican theater, where

German conunand lost its reliable sources of intelligence, bu.t also

to all future British and American operations in North Africa, Italy,

and France.

Other sections of this l!l"tudy describe how German communica-

tion intelligence was for the most part capable of overcoming even these
dif'ficul.ties af't;er a period of' experimentation, during which results dim:inished, and how1 in the heat of combat or when opposed by less disciplined units, the enemy repeated the same mistakes over and over again.
The euccesses of the German radio intelligence mits under Rorranel
before Bl Alamain might well be considered as products of short-range :Intelligence.

The main ef'.forts o. German long-range intelligence as well

...

were directed toward the east, where momentous events appeared to be imminent.

The German farces in Egypt were dangeroUBl;r close to the Suez

Canal.

The southernmost German elements 1n Russia stood in the northern

Caucasus and were advancing southward.

Coverage of the situation in

Egypt, Pal.estine, Transjordsn, Syria, Iraq, and neutral Turkey, therefore,

G8NFIBEN'f1At
!letbi ity IRflfiiRII

REF

ID~
~--

MS No. P-038 Chart 6

FRANCE

SJ

BeiQrade

TUNISIA

RADIO INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS

IN THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER
March 1943
0
100
200
500
400
500
sqo
I

MILES

Note: The abbreviation "'ntcp"may hereafter be assumed to appear beside siQnal unit symbols.

I:IINFIBBIJIAL
...Sibil

REF ID:A56970

GQNFIBEtftiAt
.CIIIIitf lufa&iiiitldd

-56-

MS # P-0.38
appeared of prime importance to the Germans.

The possibility of an Allied

landing on the western or northwestern coast of Africa was

regarded.

virtual~

dis-

Only the Dakar area Seemed to be of interest, inasmuch as an

unusual amount of American radio traffic was observed there, as w:Ll.l be

mentioned elsewhere.
In addition to the intercept company assigned to the Panzer Arrrry of

Africa*, the intercept units mentioned in the section on the Balkan Campaigns

* /Tr:

Formed in June 1941 as Panzergruppe Afrika to control the Panzer""'korps Afrika (Africa Corps) and !tatran units. Became a Panzer Army at
the close or 1941. Entered Tunisia in the winter of 1942-4.3 and was
destroyed there the following May~

covered the

above~entiCiled

areas from stations extending from El J.lamein,

to Crete, Athens, Salonika, Kavalla, and Burgaz.

These units operated under

the Commander of ,Camnunication Intelligence (Four) in Athens, who was subordinate first to Ol3 SUed.ost (Southeast) in Salonika, later to the commander
of Army Group F in Belgrade.
Army Group E.)

( OB Suedost was simultaneously commander of

(See Chart 6)

Except for the results obtained from observing the British Eighth Jrmy,
German radio intelligence had little success, :inasmuch as nothing important
could be intercepted except British command messages, which could not be
solved.

German radio intelligence worked together with it8 Italian counter-

part against the British.

This co-o'Peraticn was extremely cordial, but

fumished few results of any importance.

Turkey was covered in collabora-

tim with the Bulgarian intelligence service.

Turkish radio operations

and cryptographic systems were extremely primitive and in no way met miilimum standards of security.

Radio intelligence furnished the usual

88NFIBENfiAL
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MS

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information about the organization of the Turkish Army, its mobilization

plans, md shipments of Allied military materiel, especially aircraft.
The receiving units lYere informed in advance by radio of the arrival of
the

shipments.

This information was, however, of no importance from the

standpoint of German wilitar,y operations.

The proposal to supplement radio intelligence operations, then directed exclusively against the east, by a cham of intercept stations directed
toward the south and extending approximately from the Balearic Islands to
Sardinia, Sicily, and Crete was rejected, since Anglo-American landmgs
in Africa were believed out of the question because of the vulnerability

of Allied supply routes to submarine attack.

posadly not enoueh

In addition, there were sup_:-

intercept units available for such a precautionary

measure.
- ____

-;::-.:..-

French colonial radio traffic, with its fixed links in Morocco and
Algiers, was intercepted by the Orleans Fixed Intercept Station, which was
subsequently transferred to

1~ontpellier.

This traffic, including ciphers,

as well as that handled by lower echelon units, presented no unusual difficulties.

As was the case in France proper in 1940, colcnial radio cot1111Uili-

cation provided reliable clues to garrison locations and unit strengths.

The known types of radio traffic in florth Africa continued to function
normally until the Anglo-."werican landings, thus providing no indication
that

landing was imminent.

Lang before the Allied landings in French West and Northwest Africa,
German radio intelligence intercepted messagee emanating from a large
American air transport and supply organization in :quatorial Africa.

e6NFIBENfiAL
&eeu:itJ l::fa::::at:a::

The

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENJIAL
EIIIFi" llfiFIIItill

MS

II

-'B-

P-038

formation and development of this organization could be followed 1n detail.

It consisted of two east-west lines operating from coast to coast with
lateral links and branch lines to the north.

Infonnation was thus secured

regarding the establishment and operation of bases in central Africa, the

arrival of air and sea transports from America at points aloog the west
coast, transport flights across Afric4, and the loading of freighters.
intercepts provided no
:......

di~ect

indicatioo. of an

impendin~ landin~.

The

Nor were

such conclusions apparently drawn by the Western Intelligence Branch or

the Armed Forces Operations Staff on the basis of these striking intercepts
concerning such a large-scale supply operation.
The Allied landings in French West and North Africa an 7 November
"'--~-- ..... -, ___ _:_-;

--

1942 came as a surprise because of the secrecy afforded by radio silence

........... ___ _

The unpredictable sky wave radiatim on the short wavelengths, preferred

by the British and Americans for militar,y traffic, was responsible tor accidental success on the part of German radio intelligence.
---

...... - ..

~.--

........

----

The intercept

stations in Norway, the Netherlands, and France which covered the west,
---

chiefly England, picked up almost all ..Ulied messages following the landing
-~~--

. --

...

and were able to work without the assistanc-e of directicn-finding staticns

---~---

_,___ o

"

to the south, since a sufficient number of localities were mentioned in

Allied messages.

....

_. -- - - ..

On the first day of the landing the Bergen (Norway)

~;

Fixed Intercept Station received the messages with good signal strength.
Bergen immediately recognized their importance and reported them to St.
Germain.

Since the traffic resembled that used at Dieppe, especially with

regard to the u6e of colors to designate beachhead

t

' longer any doubt that a land:lng had occurred.

'
(

GQNFIBENfiAL

sectors,~

there was no

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENfiAL
MS

&lllrit)r ..........

/1 P-Q38

-59-

Even during the first few hours the landing forces were reporting
"no resistance," and the like.

It was apparent therefore that the French

did not resist the landing but in fact assisted it in some places,
whereas Vichy continued to report stubborn French resistance for days.
In spite of or because of the long distances, the signals in question
were also well received in the St. Germain area, even including traffic
between regiment and battalion, since the short wavelengths were used
almost exclusively.

A large volume of messages was received, which was

nat; surpris:ing in view of the strong Allied forces committed.

There is

nothing new to be said about enemy radio procedure at that time.

In spite

of all attempts at uniformity American traffic could still be distinguished

ram the British.
lessness.

The former was generally characterized by greater care-

Field codes

and ciphers were solved and a large number of

careless messages in clear text appeared once again.

German radio intelligence gathered information about the following
pointsa

all beachheads, the nstrallzation or desertion o French troops,

the progress of the advance into the interior, same of the advance routes
and objectives, supply problems, co-operation between air and ground units,
the order o battle of the landing forces and their tactical organization
during the advance.

Arter the arrival o the iret elemente of General

vcn A.rnim' s Firth Panzer A.rmy, reports were heard from armored reconnaissance elements about German positions, movements, and Ellgagemen.ts.

Added

to these were the usual details, such as names o oicere and reports en
casualties, armament, and equipment; in short, the entire course o events
was followed in detail by a branch of German communication intelligence

e&NFIBENliAL
Swri'r lala111M111

REF ID:A56970

CGNPID!NTIAL
&11111it; lii(UJiiilltDr

MS

-6o-

P-038

that actually was assigned an entirely different mission an another front.

It is hardJ an exaggeration to say that during at least the first phase
of this campaign almost one hundred percent of the Germani IS information
about the enem;,v 1n this new theater was provided by" communication intelligence.

l
!

The next step was to forward this information to the German forces
in Africa wi. thout undue loss or time.

At that time OKH approved the es-

sential features or the once-rejected plans for establishing a theater of

operations ( OB Suedwest) and the requisi1e measures were swiftly taken.

First, an army intercept company, supported by a Luftwaffe communication

intelligence unit,

was sent to Tao:rmjna in Sicily, and later, for tech-

nical reasons, to Marsala at the western tip of the island.

There the

company operated quite successfully, since it was close to the front and
the Americans still failed to observe radio di21cipline.

This unit rendered

valuable service to the German command.

In February 1943, the position of Commander of Canmunication Intelligence (Seven) was created with an evaluation center in Rocca di Papa,
south of Rome, mtder OB Suedwest (Field Marshal Kesselring), whose headquarter!! was in nearby Frascati.
Acccrding to Chart 6 the Commander of COIIIIIllDlication Intelligence
(Seven) was in command or the following units:

the remnants or the former

intercept company which had been attached to the Panzer J.rmy or Africa,
together with the local Italian communicaticn intelligence company, for
operations against the British Eighth
gence company in Sicily for

obse~g

~;

one communication intelli-

the British First A.rtrry in Africa;

GQNFIBENTIAL
9ttiiil) liifLitiiiHUii

REF ID:A56970

GQNFIBENfiAL
Sla111i" lafam::tiun

us II P-038

-61-

and tha Montpelllel" statim in France for intercepting French traffic in

Africa.

The latter unit was subsequently used at Rocca di Papa for other

duties.

The Comr:lander of Communication Intelligence (Four) in Athens

continued to direct his attention

t~d

the east.

In additim, surveil-

lance of partisans in the Balkans was carried on.

Direction-finding operations against Africa were organized as follows:
D/F Network A. a Headquarters in Sicily.

Stations in Sardinia

and Gabes, North Africa.

Objective:

British

First Army.
D/F Network B:

Headquarters in Gabes, North Africa.

Sicily and Crete.

D/F Network C:

Objective:

Stations in

British Eighth ArrrJY.

Based at Rocca di Papa and Mcntpelller.

Duties:

to

check D/F operaticns and to assign missions connected

with the analysis of D/F data to networks A and B,
or to individual D/F staticns.

(See Chart 6)

In the wide-spread operations of these units under the Commander of

Communication Intelligence (Seven), safe and rapid inter-unit coDDnunication was just as essential to their effective operation as are cammunicatim media in general to all using agencies.

Because of the nature of the

theater of operations, radio communication was of the greatest importance.

This was true of communication across water and desert, and also of that
in Italy, where wire communication was restricted to the north-south trunk

circuit, which was frequently interrupted.

Since short..owave transmitters

were required for such great distances and since the Army did not possess
a sufficient number, the 70-watt short-wave transmitter used by' the Navy

G8NFIBENTIAL
&edlfit} lllflllllllilft

REF ID:A56970

BBNFIBENfiAL
leeUJ:tJ lafe::atu;;

MS No. P-038 Chart 7

ADRIA TIC

SEA

TYRRHENIAN
SEA

COMMUNICATION CIRCUITS
USED BY INTERCEPT UNITS
MARCH 1943
100

100

~--=::J~-'--==~MI~LE!:""S- - - -

TUNISIA

GBNFIBENTIAL
&11 t; I I :::st:tii

REF ID:A56970
CGN~IDENliAL

us# p-o)8

lllll'ltf 1111111111111

-62-

was considered preferable and accordingl3" was procured.

shown in Chart 7.

Its operaticm is

In addition to the cOJIDilunicaticn circuits shown in

this chart there were also special radio nets serving in the extensive
directicn-tinding SY"stem.

The Lutliwatfe prorlded the Caumander of Com-

munication Intelligence with channels in the microwave ( decimeter")

circuit between Sicily" and Tunis, which was extended southward by an
open wire line to the intercept company near Gabes.

S'fm1Jarl.y", the Luft-

waffe :fumished other channels by" lending its rad1otele'b1Pe line between
Rome and Sicily' to A.rmy danmunicatian :intelligence.

Since the evaluaticm

centers al.so needed the original texts of radiotelephone and telegraph

messages, these were forwarded by the daily Rome-sicily courier planes
and the courier plane which came trom Africa ev9r7 two day's.
In early March 1943 the Germans were awaiting the attack of the

British Bighth /i:nrlr aga:inst the Panser AniJT of Africa and its Italian
components, which had withdr811l1 along the coast all the way tran Egypt
to the Gabes area.
begin.

Then on

battalion

However, there was no clue as to when the attack would

13 Karch the following message we picked up tram a British

"Remember to observe radio silence untU 2200 hours 16 March."

The Commander o.t' COJIIIIlm'licaticn Intelligence immediately reported this to

the chief of sta.t't o.t' the &rDG" group, adding the question 1

indicate a major operation ?6

WDoes this

When a similar message as picked up the

following night 1 Kesselring was awkened, whereupon he tlew to Uric& in

order to examine the defense preparations and to brief his COIIIIII8Dders.
The attack began, as predicted, an the eveoing of 16 llarch, and found our

troops prepared to det'end themselves.

88NFIBEN,IAL
SICU'IJ llllasll&ill

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENJIAL
&mrit) IRiaanaalia;;

'MS

II P..038

-63-

Because of the favorable results obtained by cormnunication intelligenoa, its relations lrlth all Army and Luftwaffe headquarters were excellent.

For example, at a conference in the headquarters of OB Suedwest,

the Commander of Communication Intelligence reported a British message

just received which revealed that there was a considerable traffic jam in
a certain wadi (dried-up river bed), the looaticn of which could not be
determined by cryptanalysis but could be
were blocking the wadi.
noiter th:).s wadi.

Air

Kesselring

surmised~

radio~d

reoonnaiss~oe

since several ooluuns

orders for planes to recon-

confirmed the intercept while the

conference was still in progress, and a short time later a report was
received that the troop concentration had been successfully" bombed.
cne day, because of a breakdo'\m in tactical signal oormnunicaticn
and the resulting lack of reports, the operaticns officer (G-J) for OB
Suedwest was without any information concerning the latesli .tront-line developments.

Communication intelligenee was able to show h1m its own accur-

ate situation map, which had been compiled exclusively from intercepted
reconnaissance reports made by Allied units.
Other intercepted messages affected military diwcipline, as, far axample, when the British stated that they could observe the course of the
German posi ticns southeast of Sfax because the German troops were not using
any cover or concealment while entrenching.

Another message gave the exact

number of German vehicles because their windshields were not oamoulaged

and reflected the sunlight.
Errors in interpretation also occurred.

However, such instances were

rare, since all unconfirmed reports were given 'With reservations.

e8NFIBENTIAL
SISUSi\y llllfiiRill

For

..

REF ID:A56970
G9NFIBENfiAL
:MS #

&eaaJit) liifc;matiau

P-038

-64-

example, prior to the invasion o Sicily a British message spoke of a successful landing.

Since only one direction-finding team was available,

on]1' one bearing could be taken.

southern coast of Sicily.

..

The reading suggested a po:int on the

As was subsequently revealed, no landing on

Sicily had taken place, but a landing exercise had been carried out on
islands off the African coast which lay in the path of the bearing taken.
This experience v.ade the intelligEI'lce analysts more cautious in their
judgments.

As a result, ane o them did not immediately report a land-

ing on the Italian

mainlan~

from Sicily; because he believed that this,

too, was a training exercise.

It this case, however, it was the real in-

vas ian.

I
'

The Communication Intelligence Commander's request to save the intelligence company in Urica from impending capture and thus preserve it
for future action by transferring it to Italy was turned down because of
Hitler's order that no men or equipment were to be evacuated .from A.f'rica.
Thus, only a small part of the valuable personnel and radio equipment
could be saved.

The conduct of the personnel of the company, with whom

radio contact was maintained mtil the arrival of the enemy tanks, was
excellent.

They reported that they had destroyed all valuable materiel,

and that every man was aware of his duty after being captured.
XI.

Sicily and Italy (1943 -

45)

Since enemy air superiority seriously hampered German air reconnaissance during the fighting in Sicily and southern Italy, communica.tian
intelligence played a more and more important role.

G9NFIBENJIAL
SIIIJIIY llfiFIIIIi&ll

cne corps commander

REF ID:A56970

GBNFIBENTiAi
MS

II

&11Hii., llfiFIIIMill

P-0.38

-65-

summed up this trend by sayjng he no longer needed an intelligence of'1car (G-2) for compil:ing reports em the enemy situation, since the only .

\ available sources of information were the intercepts furnished by communit

cation intelligence.
In the course of the numerous landings during the following months

the enemy was again able to achieve surprise by maintaining radio silence.
--------=-----...,.-:...-.---="""' - -

....- - -

--~--

---~-.-.::...-.:--.-

In between landings, however, German communication intelligence was able

to gain :information that was instrumental in countering these landings.
During the fighting in Sicily an intercepted message, revealing a
planned minor landing on the northern shore of the island, was transmitted not only to OB Suedwest and to Korps Hube, which was then fighting
:in Sicily, but also to the intelligence officer of Luftwaffe cOJliiiiBllder,

Field Marshal von Richthofen.

The intelligence officer did not report

this message immediately but waited until the regular staff meeting,
which was held later.
counterattacks in time.

Consequently', the Luftwaffe was unable to carry out

Richthofen was furious and innnediately ordered

that in the future all such reports should not go through channels but
should be sent directly to him or his chief of staff and simultaneously
also to the Luftwaffe field agencies concerned.

During a similar but

bigger landing, which was supported by naval artillery, another message

intercepted by radio intelligence resulted in the timely and effective
bombing of the enemy's ships offshore, which compelled him to call off the
operation.
During the fighting at Erma in Sicily a German war correspondent
picked up a broadcast concerning radio intelligence and its successes

GQNFIBENfiAL
&eaaFit) laf111111ti11

REF ID:A56970

e&NFiBEHTiAt
&llll'i" IIIIFIIlltill

US II P-oJB

-66-

in Sicily which had been foolishly sent out by Genn.an civilian stations.

{
t

After only a few days the conduct of the Allied radio operators revealed
that this indiecretion had not escaped the enemy's attention and that he

was taking countermeasures.

The Germans were able to withdraw the radio intelligence company
stationed near Marsala in Sicily to the Reggio area without loss of personnel or equipment and without interrupting operations.

Later, the same

company could carry out additional leap-.frog moves to the Salerno and
Rocca di Papa areas.
In contrast to the former decentralized method of employing radio

intelligence units, a more efficient policy of centralization was now

1 instituted, and this radical though ef.fective change in procedure was

continued up to the end of the war.

This centralization was in keeping

with the geographic .features of the Italian theater, as well as the more
conventional tyt>e of warfare carried on there.

The long peninsula,

bounded on both sides by-the sea, reduced the opportunities for local
direction-.firl~g

operations.

In addition, reception was unfavorably

influenced by the Apennines and later the Alps.

Instead o enemy flank

attacks, the Germans expected enemy landings on the east and west coasts,
such as were later carried out on a large scale at Salerno and

~lettuno.

With shorter distances to the target areas, operations could be kept under
close control with the help of good communication.

Having been selected

as the ideal method, centralized communication intelligence intercepted

and evaluated all types of traffic at one place, from which the information was forwarded to all interested agencies over short lines of cammun-

CQNFIBENfiAt.
Stmily IRflr111atiiR

E3i.f..,,X;Q..; l\5 6 9 7 0
GUIU IUI:.n llftL
EIIIJily IRIII'IIIItiiH

MS II P-038
icatian.

The evaluation personnel

o~

-67-

the companies worked together with

the personnel of the evaluation center, thus increasing the latter 1 s

efficiency.
The companies were stationed
on~

~rom

three to nine miles apart, engaged

in intercepting and formed part of' a large intercept center that was

controlled by those in charge of' evaluation.

The Commander of Communica-

tion Intelligence maintained personal contact with OB Suedwest (Army Group

C) and with the Tenth and Fourteenth A.rmies.

In the vicinity of' various

corps headquarters short-range intelligence platoons were stationed,

which co-operated with the respective corps intelligence officers.

Here,

too, a solution for short-range intelligence problems was found that subsequently served as a model for other theaters.
The problem of quickly informing front line units of' all intelligence reports concerning them was salved in other theaters by drastic
decentralization whereby small teams were located in the vicinity of
division staffs.
was thus avoided.

The time-consuming route through the chain of' conunand

In Italy, however, centralized intercept methods could

work with greater technical efficiency, and a large evaluation center

could provide better results, in view of the
enemy.

~Y_-~~guage~

__s_poken by the

Thus, all tactical intelligence information of importance to the

lower echelons was encrypted in a special cipher and broadcast by a powerful station, with the exception of secret operation reports, which were
forwarded through the customary channels.
lives,

especial~among

These radio warnings saved many

artillerymen, and were gratefully received by all.

They general referred to German positions and movements recognized b;r the

88NFIBENfiAL
...s 1 aam~ IRis:mauur

REF ID:A56970
CON~IDiNTIAL
~s

&eaa: itJ lllflflllatien

# P-038

-68-

enemy, and hence to impending air or ground attacks, as well as

orders or requests for artillery fire.

enemy

1he German troops were thus able

to avoid the attacks in time.

J..fter iJerman radio int'3lligence had previously reported mesSE.l,f;3S from
the Italian

Na~/

indicatine

Ita~'s

approachine defsction and the sailing

of its fleet, it confirmed the accanplished fact of ItalY's defection at

end of July l?)..J.3 by means of an intercepted British radio report.
headquarters of OB Suedwest,

to~ethsr

The

with the units of comr.nmication

intelligence, were deprived of their land lines to Germany because the

rebels had occupied Rome.

In addition, they were confronted by several

Italian elite divisions which displayed a hostile attitude.

As was later

disclosed through some remarks made by Churchill, there existed the danger
of an

~llied

airborne landing for the purpose of eliminating the head-

quarters, a plan wt1ich was canceled at the last moment.

Until the situation

could be brought under control by German troops, the Commander of Cammunication Intelligence had to occupy a fairly extensive

defense sector

\with a large part of his personnel tn order to protect the headquarters,

\Vhile specially SP,lected men carried on the work of radio intelligence, so
lmportant at this :)articular time. Despite the circumstances, they were
able to furnish some valuable reports.
number of planes available,

0~1

Althou;;h there was not a sufficient

ordered the

L~ediate

transfer by air of

the entire communication intelligence organization to Army Group B stationed along the southern slopes of the Alps.

The order was rescinded

because of Kesselring's objection.

In early

19h4 the German defo:nse forces were opposed

68NFIBENfiAL
Gemit lnf&Filil&ian

by

the British

ef!htir;mi A56970
I'll

IUiooltll~

&IIMFI" hiiBIRIItl&ii

liS# P-038

-69-

Sighth and the American Fifth Armies under the 15th Army Group.

'!hese

troops were composed of British elements from avery part of the Empire.
Am.9ricans (both white and Negro), !Tench (Morocca.'ls), Poles, a Jewish
brigade, Brazilians, and Italians.
in the end.

Even Turks were expected to join them

This variety of nationalities frequently confounded the

short-range intelligence teams of the divisions, since they could not

have translators for oach language.

Such teams were, therefore, less

important in Italy than in other theaters and their work was largely replaced by the broadcasting of radio warnings.
In evaluating the results obtained by German communication intelligence in this theater during the last year of the war it should be noted
that the

ene~

signal personnel had learned in the course of the war to

respect German communication intelligence.

The Germans now had to strain

every effort to detect and exploit the inevitable weaknesses in Allied

radio

communication.

Messages which offered little prospect of success

, were now given secondary consideration.

~sages

'rhese were chiefly comoand mes-

from division to higher headquarters.

front-line traffic for1ovard of division.

Main emphasis was placed on

The difference between long-range

and short-ral'lge inteUigence had gradually disappeared, since the fanner

relied more and more on the information obtained by intercepting enemw
radio traffic in the forward lines.
In Italy the British and Americans had co-ordinated their radio techniques to such an extent that there were hardly any differences to be
noticed.

Apart from pronunciation and subject matter their respective

transmissions could be distinguished only by a few operating character-

eBNFIBENfiAL
handy lalanaaaiaa

REF e:A56970
Dr. Pettengill called to ss:y -

MS

liP

038 - Historical Div.

RE Footnote on P. 70 - Mr. Bloligh

a translator in the Historical Section
says that the German 'Cranslator of the
book was a Mr. Kl.ein and J. B. Robinson
was editor both from Karlsruhe and
presumably still there. The book was
translated here by the Army but the
footnote KKK is as orig~ translated
by Klein and Robinson. A partiaJ. source
or the translation can be found on p. 203.

REF ID:A56970

eONFID!NTfAL
&eaa1 ill lufanua lieu

MS J P-038

-70-

istics and some differences in troop designations.

recognize units which did not speak English.

It was simpler to

The French used their old

peculiar methods and were fairly easy to identify, while the Brazilians
offered no difficulties at all.

rn

all cases it was possible to obtain information from mistakes made

by the enemy.

The sending of messages in clear text, which were often un-

necessar,y, furnished unit designations, terrain data, and officers' names.

Attempts to diseuise operating signals and grid co-ordinates were still
unsuccessful.

The cryptographic systems used by the higher echelons con-

tinued to resist analysis, but many field ciphers could be broken.

In

this conn'3ction it should be acknowledged to the credit of the Jlllies that

only a

f~v

of these messages in field ciphers revealed events of tactical

or strategic importance, at least not directly.

, was frequentlY possible to draw conclusions.

On the other hand, it

Only the French went their

own way in cryptographic matters, and their systems could be easily solved.

They used a small cipher device, probably of Swedish origin, the results
of which were not difficult to solve.

It was even possible to break the

large French cipher device under certain circumstances.

The cryptanalysis

section of the communication intelligence clearing center in Italf worked

out a procedure which enabled the evaluation units in Italy to solve difficult mechanical ciphers.

The French employed in additicn so-called "worm

ciphers" (Wurmschluessel) *, which were also regularly broken.

* /Tr: A c~yptographic

device by which the key to the general system was

-determined by arbitrarily selected passages in some inconspicuous book
carried by the agent, such as a popular novel. It was called "worm"
because the key passages in question began suddenly in some apparently
irrelevant 9art of the tex.t, like an earth worm appearing above the surface of the ground. It continued for a certain specified number of
letters or sentences and then stopped~

6BNFIBENJIAL
EIBUfiiV IRIIFIIIIiiR

eMrlR.;A5697o
"n llftL

lecu;ilt lnfe:maWen

-71-

MS II P-Q3B
On

the whole, however, enemy radio communication was so good that

German radio intelligence was confronted by a crisis in March

1944,

since

it had become almost impossible to ascertain Allied intentions in time.

It had also become difficult to recognize the order of battle during the
withdrawal and transfer of units, and changes in cOJJDD.and.
subse~uently

But then, as

happened in France, the Allied air forces came to the rescue.

Intensive study of interceptR covering a fairly long period disclosed

a definite relationship between preparations for offensive operations and

the assignment of air liaison officers to front line divisions.

Assault

divisions which did not have an air liaison officer were assigned one,

Jwhile

other divisions were assigned a second one.

'were easy to

int~rcept,

The air liaison nets

since the system used was of a lower quality than

\that employed by the British and Arr~rican ground forces.

This knowledge

in turn enabled the Germans to predict accurately when enemy attacks would
begin.

German Anny interception of the Allied strategic air force revealed

the points of main effort of reconnaissance flights, and target areas,

which helped to clarify the enemy's over-all

~lans.

Some trivial details furnished information to communication intelligence, as is shown by the following examples:

An impending attack against

German defenses in the Naples area was detected in time because a small
supply unit mentioned that rum was to be issued on a certain day.

Since

it was known that the British issued rum to their troops before an attack,
----- _.,. :. .': .' !f-~-=---

it was possible to warn the German defenders.

The following remark was heard over an iunerican net:
on~

be used as waiters and postcard salesmen."

89NFIBENJIAL
-iees1 ill IRflrllla&iea

11

Iti:ilians can

This Wholly superfluous

REF ID:A56970

MS
f

CONFIDENTiAL

-72-

!i&C&iit) hildiiiiilidii

P-038

message, supplemented by D/F data, confirmed the presence of an American

unit near Naples, as had been previously suspected.
The following was heard from a British station at Lake Cammachio:
"The German troops are retreating in a hurry and even the Italians are
advancing. n The presence of the British 1mit was already known, but this
message confirmed the first employment of Italians in combat on the Allied
side.
The radio operator of a French unit described his anticipated amorous
adventures in Naples.

No

~rench

units had previously been detected at

the point from which he sent his message.

The Canadian and Polish divisions were known as assault troops.
Their appearance at the front and the narrow segments of the line occupied
by them were additional indications of an impending attack at that point.
It is difficult to understand why the

~llies,

at least during position

warfare in this theater, failed to mask their offensive gro1md operations

by maintaining radio silence just as they did during surprise landings.
Unlike the situation in the desert, their telephone lines in Italy were
certainly adequate for this purpose.

As was the case in Russia, this

carelessness was probably due to a feeling of absolute superiority.

!Jevertheless, the manner in w!1.ich enemy radio operations were conducted
offered the weaker defenders much information which cost the attackers
losses which could have been avoided.

Xn.

Defense of Western Europe (1944 - 45)

Following !".he spring of 194h German communicaticn intelligence in

68NFIBENJIAL
&1111 ill

lnleaneliun

REF IQ,.;.A!j2.::l.7 0
UUIU

IUI.I111ft~

lesa::t; l&l&lii&LDII

MS No. P-038 Chart 8

ORGANIZATION OF RADIO INTELLIGENCE UNITS UNDER 0 B WEST

(A) At The Start Of The Allied Invasion Of France, June 1944

... I

ARMY$114

r,::l-,824 L.R.
CJIMBL)

(B) After I January 1945

OBWest

82

EVALCEN

~"'li+ I

;"'71" I

Hs211L.R.,~,
c::::::J
(MBLI

GI!G

A~~~~
G~

GP.G

624 L.R. I
12
(MBLI ,.........,.,.,(FIXED)

6~

153

S.R.

r:-l-,81liL.R
~ (MBLI

~8IOL.R. r--L-,9118

~ (MBLI ~ S.R.

r-l-,811

~(FIXED!

Note: Headquaters Designations Beside Signal Unit Symbols Indicate Physical Location Of The Slg nal
Unit, Long Range Is Indicated By The Initials L.R. And Short Range By The Initials S.R.

GBNFIBENliAL
aa:t;lal

REF ID:A56970

eBNFiBENfiAl
SIEDIILJ lnforttnn

L~S

-73-

if P-038

Italy Cllld l''rance noticed a shift in heavy enemy concentrr.tions froo the
J.:eciiterranean araa to England.

!werican and British elite divisions,

which had previously been cbserved in southern

Ita~

or elsewhere in the

hlediterranean theater, appeared in the British Isles.

an example of German intercept work during that period:

The following is
An American air-

borr..e division (the 82d?) had been reported for quite some time in
southern

Ita~

when it suddenly disappeared.

About three weeks later

over a hitherto unidentified r.et in England there was transmitted a

~

reference

t~

States had instituted paternity proceedings.

to the search for a soldier against wham a girl in the United

The

r.hipment number of

this soldier tallied with the code designation used by the missing airborne
division.

When communication intelligence reported this finding and

suggested that the airborne division might have been transferred to England,
the Anned F'orces Operations Staff replied facetiously that the division
had most likely been transported by submarine, but that no transports of
this kind had been observed near Gibraltar.

Nevertheless, the new radio

net was put under special cbservatian for any characteristics of this
airborne division, and indisputable evidence of its presence in England

was soon secured.

invasion units to be reported.

It subsequently turned out to be one of the first

The methods employed in intercept operations against Great Britain

did not change substantially during the last eighteen months of the war
Chart 8a enumerates the German radio intelligence units which were available
in

1944. A subsequent

comprehensive evaluation prepared some time after

the start of the Allied invasion showed that approximately ninety-five

68NFIBENJIAL
!ecal ill IRIIPIIIIiiiR

REF ID:A56970

88NABENTIAL
letLiltJ haflaalltiau

-74-

llS II P..0)8

percent of the mi ts which landed in Normandy had been previously identi.tied in the British Islas by means of intensive radio intelligence.

Thus,

one may conclude that the information provided by communication intelligence was quite adequate and that the German Supreme Command was in a positic:n to calculate the strength of the enemy forces.

Locator cards,

regularly issued by the camnmication intelligence control center, contained precise information about newly organized divisions, and the appearance or disappearance of radio traffic trom and to specific troop units.
1

The intercepted radio activity during the numerous landing exercises

\furnished a picture of the projected invasion procedure.

It was impossible,

t.

~however, to obtain any clue as to the time and place of the landing.

The

(radio picture did not change noticeably until the last day before the tnva: sicn.

All nreviously known and observed tyoes of traffic continued as usual.

No radio deceptions were recognized.

before the landing.

No kind of radio alert was observed

According to later reports the first wave sailed on

short notice.
The Ji.llies scored a great surprise on 6 June 1?44 by the impositicn
of rndio silence.

Any different action would have been a grave blmder

not to be expected. of an enemy who had had .ive years o.r varied wartime
experience, both good and bad, with German communicatim intelligence and
who after a lone period of preparation was now launching the decisive
battle of the war.

The German radio intelligence organization in the West had been

pr~pared

for the invasion during the preceding months.

ning, therefore, brought no special changes.

GBNFIBENJIAL
ACUiitJ liifltllltll

Its actual begin-

The entire organizatim was

-----

------ --

REF ID:A56970

iiiiHFiiiEH'fiAL
&el'it!l lafaaii&liaii

JlS

-75-

II P-OJB

so well integrated that it could handle the additional work-load.

Grad-

ually" all mmitoring of lmimportant areas, such as Ireland, Spain, Portu...

gal and Brazil, was discontinued in order to save personnel and equipment

..

and to release all available man for intercepting the traffic or the Allied
forces that had landed.

Since the evaluatim data had been distributed

to all units, it was possible to transfer the intercepting of new radio

traffic from one unit to another at short notice.

This was only possible,

however, because all the 'ln'lits had thoroughly trained and experienced personnel.

Breakdowns in the cormnand net caused by enemy air attacks reduced

the speed with which intelligence results were transmitted, but this difficulty was overcome by a pre-arranged plan which was put into ef'f'ect all
along the line from the unit furthest forward back to the communication
intelligence control center.
Af'ter the :Initial landings, lang-range intelligence at first produced
only minor results.
I
f

This was explained by the fact that the Allies did

not wish to offer any clues to enemy radio intelligence and therefore
restricted their radio communication.

~oreover,

the short distances within

the beachhead areas probably permitted the issuance of verbal orders and
reports.

In additicn, the enemy was able to use telephone .connectims,

which were not disrupted by any Luftwaffe interference.

The expansion or

the beachheads resulted in the transmission or so many radio messages that

a fairly clear picture of the enemy situatim was speedily obtained.

An

even greater wealth or ini'ormaticm was provided by short-range radio intelligence and divisional combat intelligence.

The signal officer for OB West

moved his short-range intelligence company to Seventh Army headquarters

-e&NFIBENHAFF

ID: A56970

""-iiiiFi., llflllllllliiA

YS # P-038

-76-

near Caen to improve short-range intelligence operations.

The reports

on the situation emanating from communication intelligence about fortyeight hours after the beginning of the invasion listed most of the eneiJ'.y
divisions and included data on the enemy army group then in command.
The postwar press gave much attention to the opinion expressed by
General Jodl, the Chief of the Armed Forces Operations Staff, who said
that a second landing was expected north of the Seine and that therefore
the German reserves and the Fifteenth Army stationed in that area were
not immediately committed in a counterattack.

The information obtained

by communication intelligence did not support this assumption.

The chief

of the control center of Communication Intelligence West was asked to

express his personal opinion on this matter during a conference of the
Western Intelligence Branch.

He said that a comparison of the number of

units already recognized with those previously identified in Great Britain

permitted the conclusion that most of the

~llied

forces had already been

landed and that the remaining ones were insufficient for a second landing.
Any still

unco~mitted

units would be needed to feed the current battle.

This opinion was shared b;r the

~{estern

Intelligence Branch, i:">ut was in

contradiction to that of the Armed Forces Operations Staff.

The estimate

of the situation was given some validity by the fact that a short

ti~e

after the beginning of the invasion a British landing craft had been captured near Boulogne.
had lost its

However, it seemed obvious that this enemy craft

w~.

When, during the .first few days after the beginning of the invasion,
the Allies created the impression of a second airborne landing by dropping

88NFIBENJIAL
StG"tlty IAfiJIIIIItill

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENliAL
&el'il! lafll'llllllen

-77dUIIUIIY' paratroops over Brittany at night, communication intelligence

offered evidence to the contrary because of the complete absence of enem,r

radio traffic in the alleged landing area.
It should be noted lihat unfortunately not only 1n this instance

but

throughout the war General Jodl, as well as Hitler himself, frequently

Ehowed a lack or confidence in communication intelligence, especial~ if

the reports were unfavorable.

However, orders were issued as early- as

the time of the Salerno landing that all favorable reports should be given
top priority lind dispatched immediately, .. egardless of the time of day.
Jloreover, Communication Intelligence

~'lest

was required to furnish a com-

p1laticm of all reports unfavorable to the enemy derived from calle for
help, casualty lists, and the like.

11hen, during the first days of lihe

1nvasicm, :irnerican units in particular sent out messaees containing high

casualty figures, the OKW was duly impressed.

In contrast, the estimate

of the situatic:n prepared by the Western Intelligence Branch was absolutely

realistic and in no way colored by optimistic hopes.
As already mentioned, short-range radio intelligence and combat intelI

ligence provided such an abundance of information that even in Normandy

any attack of division strength and greater could be predicted one to five

days in advance.

The American field cipher device was comprgn;i_sed.

=-----=;"'-."T"-

-- ---

. -:, .--:.:

--=----

To

be sure, messages enciphered by this system could at first be solved only

after a delay of from two to four days.

Later en, when more data had been

f.:lthered, orrly a few hours were needed.

The Ilritish cr-JPtographic ssrvice

was unchanged:

to ~be careless.

while the a.rmy

lf'&S

ae efficient as aver, the RAF continued

tiere, as in Italy, comrmm.ication intelligence naintained

88NFIBENJIAL
51111ri&r ln'em;;a

REF ID:A56970

GBNFIBENfiAL
MS

II

-78-

p-o)8

: routine interception of the messages sent. b.f air liaison officers attached
I

! to British it.rm;{ headquarters, who thereby- revealed the in tentiCI'ls of the

~

: anemy command.

~ and the RAF,

nor

"!'here was no cryptographic co-dperation between the .b.'IIIY'

w;;~_~h;;;--~ mified

--''--~.

control in this field.

The follmrlng example shews how combat intelligence was carried out
by the communication intelligence team of a divisiCI'l.

Early in .aL\lf,USt

1944, west of Thury-!b.rcourt, the British 5th Armored Division attacked

in the sector or the German 277th Infantry Division, which was commanded

by the author.

The short-range radio intelligence team rendered excellent

service.
The following is a description of a typical

d~

or combat observationa

In the early' moming there was heavy ground fog and little fighting.

At

about 1000 hours the weather cleared and several eneJey" reconnaissance
planas appeared, which reported in the clear to the division air liaison
officer all Gennan movem.snts in villages, in established positians, an
roads, and at certain terrain features.

The gridded. map used by the British

for reporting terrain features had previously

f~len

into German hands

-- _______. ___ ----- ..-In the Gennan experience British artillery would open fire on these objec.:.-------.:.":'~

tives before l.aunch:lng the attack planned for that day.

Commanders in the

target areas were immediately warned of the expected artillery attack by

telephone or motorcycle messenger.

Twenty or

thir~

minutes attar the air

reconnaissance --the time required by the British artlllery for preparstian -- concentratiorts of several hundred rounds each were delivered at
a rapid rate or fire against the reported objectives.

Similar warnings

of artillery attacks could be issued through the broadcasting facilities.

-e6NFIBENJIAL 11111 ,.........

REF ID:A56970

CDNfiD!NTIAL
-79-

t*S ,II P-o38

A..fter this introducticn to the combat activities or the day", the enemy
tank crews began to chatter about their preparations, reconnaissance

..

results, and attack objectives.

As soan as the assembly areas or the

British armor were recognized the division artillery regiment concentrated its fire on these points.

rhe

en~ usua~

dth messages such as "Fr:!.tz has seen us.

reacted

immediate~

Call off the attack far today

and return to your initial assamb~ areas."

The stupendous fire delivered by the Allied naval artillery in cat-

junction with the artillery of the divisicns and corps in the beachhead,
whose supp] of 8JIDI1\B'lition seemed inexhaustible, as well as the effect or
carpet bombing, created a "radio psychosis" among the German troops.

They

believed that every tap on the key or a field radio was being pin-pointed
by small en8JII1' direction finders and that this was the reason tor the
enei!IY' fire.
took quite

Consequently', 'Jerman radio activity was discontinued.

It

some time to persuade the troops that, in view of the large

number of German transmitters employed at the front, enemy directioo.

finding could not possibly be as effective as they feared and that the
enemy fire, moreover, was equally heavy at all points.
It is remarkable that the comparativelY weaker concentrations of
fire delivered by Germans had the same psychological effect on eneJV
troops, as was revealed by captured documents.

The British troops, also,

believed that all their radio emissions were being plotted by directidh
finders.

Actually they wero unaccustomed to the s\ldden concentrations of

tire-in battalion or regimental strength which the Germans delivered

without adjustment fire in order to prevent detectioo by flash and sound-

CIIN~ID91'RAL
1111111) .......

REF ID:A56970

GBNRBENliAL
..S.IMJiala:malt1M

ranrin1~

instruments.

Captured documents revealed that the British

attempted to dispel this same apprehension on the part of their troops,

which, from a technical standpoint, was unwarranted.
As in the Italian theater, the German divisions were grateful. for

the warning messages which iJtc!lediately conveyed to them any relevant

information obtained by radio intelligence.

i:Wen toda,y quite a few

German artillerymen will tell how this system saved their lives.
'l'he Canadian, British, and American zones of action could be readily

distinguished by the characteristics described earlier in this study.

The plans for the Allied break-through at Avranches and details concernin8 the battle of the li'alaise Pocket were lmown through radio intelligence.
~en

the

co~unication

intelligence units were forced to keep on the

move uuring the ,later chase of the campaign their own communication nets
were jeopardized.

Just as in the case of the cormnand nets, disruptions

were frequent, and the information obtained from radio intellisenco

sources decreased steadily.
of

Group G

followin~

This was particularly true during the retreat

the Allied landings in southern France.

In place

of the cormnunication intelligence unit previously stationed in that area,

the German organization in Italy covered the advance or the
from the south of France.
the

~estern

en~

Its reports were transmitted to OB

Intelligence Branch.

On several occasions

ene~

~Yest

forces
and to

radio messages

raveal.ed that German units had been cut orr by the Allied advance.

In

such instances immediate attempts ware made to re-establish contact with

the encircled forces.
In spite or low personnel strength and disrupted signal cOJIDJlunication,

e&NFIBENfiAL

-------- ..

REF ID:A56970
BBIFIBtliiAL
1 111 lllaaaiJ

-81-

liS I P-038

German communication intelligan.ce proved capable of covering the Allied

forces advance to the PJJ.ine by reporting the appro:d11Ulte compositiCil

and strength of the en8JIIT uni ta as well as the boundaries between forces

of different natimalit7.

Battle-tested divisions were more caratul in

their radio O'Deratiana than n ones. The Americana ;:eneralq obaened

-- --- . - . - leas radio discipline than the British, and thus provided a better source

ot informaticm. During the first excit8JB'lt of the invaaicn., both the

Americana and l:ihe British often transmitted in the clear.
who formed the

n'UI!ISl"ical~ weakest landing contingent, supplied quanti-

tative~

the least intormaticm.

~was

the easiest to observe.

The

u.s.

The Canadians,

__ __ ----

Amcag
farces,
Pattona
- ____the
.. .....American
._
- .

Seventh A.rtq, advancing from. aouthem france, of'fered the

--.-~----

...

--

...

greatest ditticull:iiea, since it ma:fntained excaptiCilal radio discipline

- ...... ="" ...

~-"1'1..:: ..

and cryptographic aecurit7.

-----

operatione.

----ft.-

It could be plotted on~ 'b7 intensive D/r

This fact lft8T perhaps be attributed to the Seventh .&rmy-1 a

previous combat experience :in Africa,

Si~il.1',

and aouthem Prance, where

its forces had learned to deal with German communication :intelligence.

In &rrT event, the Seventh Arrq tumished an :Interesting example ot a jor
command s having tra:tned its suborcHJJ.ate mit commanders and signal
officers to observe such a high degree of radio discipline that the
sources of anem;y intelligence ware restricted to a mini.muJr&.
Another .\merican Ar'slq, possible the Third /Ji~1 could be easil.1'
observed, because ita messages nre transmil:ited in a careless manner and
'

because it used verr primitive ciphers below diviaicn. laval.

to reveal:fn3 valuable tactical :lntormation, this llrDil' gave

e&NFIBENIIAL
._IIJ 1111...11111

In additicm

awa:r ita

eeNRBENJIA~F rn = A5 6970
Ill lafauaallaa
MS

II P-QJB

-82-

passwords to the Germans twenty-four hours in advance.

The

reportt~,

which many units transmitted at the same time every

mom:lng and evening from identical stations, facilitated the surveillance

ot intra-division communication between infantry, artillery and quartermaster units, and thus also between division and corps.

The regular

pattern of the communications also facilitated the solving or new ciphers

soon after their application.
At that time messages enciphered with the small American cipher
}}device could be easily' solved, since m.aey of these devices ware in Gennan

l hands, so that ten or twelve messages sufficed .for a solution.

The Free French

A~ 1

s movements could be observed without difficulty.

Its radio system had hardl;r improved since 1940, not even with regard to
the ciphers, v;hich were easily solved.

The gateway throughwhiah Leclerc e

divisicn had entered Paris became lmown to the Germans from an intercept

.
I

~ven

before the capital was actuall;r occupied.

The British airborne land-

in~s

n9ar .U"nheim impressed the Germans ldth the necessity of devoting

more attention to the higher frequencies.

When the front lines were stabi.lized along the '.fest Hall and the

Vosges Mountains, five communication :fntelligence companies and several

head~uarters

units were withdrawn from the shortened Eastern Front and

transferred to the \Vest.

~lith

(See Chart Bb)

the assistance of the previously e11r9loyed units the newly-

arrived ones soon became adjusted to operations in the western theater.

They prov'!d especially" useful in long-range interception to which they
had been accustomed by years of' experience in Russia.

88NFIBENfiAL
liiHRir 1111111111111

Their comparison

REF ID:A56970

CONPIDBIYIAL
IWibll.....

MS

!J

-8)-

P-0)8

ot the two theaters was ot great interest. 'l'he,y believed that intercept

ing, evaluating, and solving Brl.tish and Am.erican radio messages presented
f'81'18r dif'.ficult:tea tban those the7 had encountered in Russia.

'lheir
~

contentim was that the Russians uaed

bet~er IQ8thoda to rcder ~eir
-- ... ------ _-:,...... - -- .... - ... - --- ... - .... - .......... traffic secure, act r'Jfler m~ss~ea in clear text, r:udntained atrict'!r
?s

_ _ _ &..._.. _ _ _. . . ....___......, .. ____

--------.

-----

......

radio discipline, and posed a ereater problem. to Garman

..

..

di~ctim

tinc!ers

than did their Western Allies.

':'

c=:

.... ..........:..a-~.._... .,.:... ... -:.

A new kind

..:.~ ---- -

intercept operation. was carried out 1n the regicm. or

the Upper Rhine by' ultrashort nve* detachments, which hitherto had not

*/fra

A. literal tranalaticm. ot Ultrakurnellen 1 the precise limits ot

The tara possi~

-which within the radio spectrum are not kiiawn.

embraces all frequencies a~ )0 r.ac7cles

;J

had enough receivers.

In the Badc-.Badea area, em the wastlll"D edge

ot

the

mack Forest the7 heard enflll' araored tratfic as tar 8.W&7 as the eatenl

Palatinate and SaarbrueakeD, aDd tram the Peldberg (in the M.ack Forest)
they intercepted Mssagas from the Col:ur-llulhouse area.

'lhe results

were forwarded without delq to the interested divis1CI18 b7 means

collective call arraDCsaeat such as was aaployad 'b7

headquarters.

ar'l'q

ot

group and a:nq

Because ot the method ot propagat:l.cm uaed, the

~JarED

tranamiasiona could not be picked up 'bJ' 8117 short-range intelligmae

UDits, tor instance those operating at the eutsrn edge or the Vosgea
l!ountains.
In order to prevent the dissaminaticm

ot commun.icat:l.an :ln.tall:l.cence

results to unauthorised agencies, the radio warning service emplo7ad

three different C17Ptographic arat. . , cm.e tor the &l'lll1 r,roup and armies,

CDNFIBENftAL
II

1 'e!n'"

11

REF ID:A56970

88NFJBEN'fiAL
laoa:ity lnfUiili&tldii

l:S

i/

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P-0)8

another for the corps, and a third one for the divisions.

Each higher

echelon was also acquainted with the system used by its subordinates.
~ven

during the fighting along the West Wall, in fact until the end of

the war, the results gathered by short-range communication intelligence

teams attached to newly activated or reorganized divisions were always
in proportion to the interest shown by the respective division commanders,

the intellieence officers, or the signal battalion commanders.

All the

divisions which took an active interest in efficient short-range intelligence onerations were remarkably successful s.c:ainst au enemy who was
h~coming

more r.mu more carel3ss.

EspeciallY

i~teresti~g

was the

info~atian

intellir3nce during the Ardennes offensive.

obtained by corncrunication

Before the German surprise

attack it was evident that the enemy was not cognizant of the German preparations, since the assembled armies -- the Firth and Sixth Panzer Armies
observed radio silence.

Communication intelligence clearly recognized

the composition and low strength of the American units in the sectors
which were to be attacked.

The enemy had not fortified his lines or placed

any reserves in readiness.

On the morning of D Day, 16 December

a message in clear text from the

u.s.

First

1944,

stated that the Germans

l had overrun the American positions and caught the troops by surprise
'

"while asleep."

Then followed reports of U.S. withdrawals and information

about the furthest points of advance reached by the German armored spearheads, aa well as reports of heav,r losses.
Soon afterward, German radio intelligence scored another great success
{ which, though it could no longer be exploited op9rationally, might have led

66NFIBENJIAL

REF ID:A56970
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E1111i" ln'ormgpp

MS

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J to heavy American losses.

the part of the Americans.

This was the res ul.t of a serious blunder on

A few days after the offensive began, a new

\ net of the A~~~_:!!_!!!-_!!!:..!-~~;.~~!~JlaS picked up.

..

It was established

\ beyond a doubt that MP units with radio transmitters had been stationed
\

\ at al.l important road crossings, in fact, along all main rear area traffic
\arteries.

They reported all major troop movements so that llerman commun-

)cation intelligence was able to ascertain Tf11!'Y quickly that troop units
' were being transferred to the Ardennes break-through area from all zones
of action, except the French.

The MPs used an e ..1ly broken cipher inter-

mingled with a good deal of clear text -

probably for the sake of speed -

and thus provided the Germans not only with information about the compositian of

u.s.

troops but also an accurate picture -- by mentioning advance

guards, march velocities, and column lensths -

of the time when the

German thrust could be expected to meet 'llith increas:ing resistance.

was also perfectly clear to the

aar.an.

It

that these reinforcements were not

:!lade up of makeshift emergency un:tts, but that the Americans were throwing in
complete formations, including even same elite armored divisions.

B,y so

doing they indicated how confident they were that the Germans would no
longer be in a position to attack those parts of the front from which these
troops had been withdrawn.
This phone and CW traffic provided additional valuable information
later on, for example, when radio intelligence was able to predict the

tf
f
f

transfer of a U.S. armored division to the Li,ge -Aachen area twenty-four

hours in advance.
German communicaticn intelligence continued to function smoothly in

88NFIBENJIAL
Sean1 it) lnfi11111Mi1n

e&NFIB!NnfiEF rn = A5697o
,Etbill) hifalllilti...

MS

ll

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P-038

the West during the subsequent course of events up to the end of the war.
The Germans always knew well in advance about

enemy

concentrations, such

as the one at the Remagen bridgehead, and about the direction of intended
armor thrusts.

They had no difficulty in discerning, for example, where

and with whiGh divisions General Patton intended to rstrike.

The enemy

gradually abandoned caution with the result that many messages of a highly
classified nature were sent in clear text.

The intelligence officer of

Army Group West, as well as Field Marshal Kesselring, estimated that the
information obtained by their communication intelligence amounted at that
time to

95

percent of the German

en~~

intelligence, inasmuch as air re-

connaissance was then a thing o the past, very few prisoners were captured,
and agents could no longer get behind the enemy front.
Because o the growing German impotence on all fronts, the command
was unable to exploit the results of communication intelligence in proportion to its great value.

Because of the overwhelming Allied superiority

in manpower and materiel during the last years of the war, the value of

German communication intelligence was largely theoretical.

XIII.

Russian Front ( 1941 - 1945 )

(The events in the area of Army Group South are described by Colonel
Randewig, formerly Commander of Intercept Troops for that army group.)

The vastness of European Russia, its dearth of good roads, the great
:\ distances which had to be traversed, the lack of high-capacity long-distance
commercial teletype circuits, as well as the shortage of milit&r,1 telephone
.1

'

apparatus and cables, compelled the Soviet .A.rmy to make a far greater use

69NFIBENfiAL

..

REF ID:A56970

C6NFIBENTIAL
5eeu:il) lnJe:n:atian

MS II P-038
,,
:

-87-

or radio communication than was necessary in the armies or the highly

industrialized Western countries.
During 1941-42 German radio intelligence concentrated mainly on longrange operations, which in spite of many difficulties provided the German
command with important informaticn about the enemy.
With the conclusion of pre-war intelligence operations, the task of
obsening.:; Soviet radio traffic was assigned to the Commander ot Intercept

Troops East in Posen.

After the Polish Campaign he was put in charge of

the three permanent intercept stations at Warsaw, Koenigsberg, and Breslau,

and after the Campaign in the West, the )d, 7th, 9th, and 18th Intercept
Companies were put at his disposal.

He and all his intercept units were

placed mder Army Group B (subsequently Army Group Center) when it took
command of German forces in the East in July 1940.
In May 1941, during the course of the military preparatioos against
Russia, the eastern border of German-dominated territory was divided into
three armY group areas, designated North, Center and South.

The intercept

units were placed under the command of the respective army groups in whose
area they were stationed.

The intelligence information obtained up to that

time was turned over to the new commands.

According to instructions, the efforts of the intercept units were to
be directed chiefly at ascertaining the organization and distribution of
forces of the Soviet Army and Air Force in iSuropean Russia west of the
ural Mountains.
a.

The missions of this intelligence were to be as follows:

Analysis of Operating Techniques

This phase was to provide precise information on current radio

-CQNFIBENTIAt
!eca:its h:fa::natian

tech-

-----------------REF ID:A56970

-G9NFIBENTiAL &eBHJitJ l::la: malic::

-88-

MS # P-038

niques, which were not substantiallY different from those used before 1939.
b.

Analysis of Net Structure

This was to reveal the relationship between the command nets of the
military districts and their occasional overlapping with the nets used by
the corps in the fields.

In addition, it was to furnish especially im-

portant information on the organization of corps and division nets, some

of which had been revealed when the Russians occupied Bessarabia.
c.

Cryptanalysis

This phase was to deal with the solution of all field ciphers which
were

~ncountered

(chiefly groups of two or three numbers) and with methods

for solving higher-echelon ciphers (generally groups of five numbers or

letters).

On the basis of the cryptanalyzed material an extensive card

index was compiled on personnel and unit designations.

d.

Final Evaluation

This operation was to be concerned with the top-level organization

of the Soviet Armed Forces, Army, and Air Force.
d.s a result of the interception of air force ground communications
detailed information was available on the structure and strength of the
Soviet Air Force.

Information was obtained, for example, about types of

aircraft, armament, and equipment.

With regard to the structure of the

Army, however, the status of its reorganization, the distribution of its

forces, and its preparations for border defense, the intelligence picture
was quite incomplete.
Intercept coverage of Asiatic Russia produced rather meager results
and the more distant parts of the armament production area could not be

89NFIBENJIAL
&mr:t) IRfiNiiltiiR

..

REF
MSNo P-0!8 Chart 9

Army Gro Up Center

German Second Army

Vorontzl'l

'

"I

...

~;r
_.'

Army Group A
KUBAN
Bucnarel!
eKrasnadar

BLACK

SEA

==------==-------=--==--=------:=------==--~~~------

-- -

REF ID:A56970

e&NfiD!NIIAL
...... 1111"&,

liS

II

-69-

p-o36

covered at all.

The intercept equipment then available to the Germans was no match

tor the great distances involved. Lack of information about the Soviet
border defense forces stemmed not only from the reduced volume of Russian
radio traffic, made possi.ble by extensive land lines, but to an even larger
extent f'rom the lack of ah<rt-ranga radio intelligence. J.toreover, the
German intercept units stationed near the western borders of the USSR
:tram the Baltic to the Black Sea could not reach tar into the interior of'
the Soviet Union.

Long-range direction-finding operations with short-

wave equipment were not effective until 1942.

Tbe picture
of the en.., situat~~-~~s~
on radio
~~e~~igence dif~
---------- - - - .... --- --
.
------tered substantiallY tram information
gathered
from
other.sourcea
. -~
-- : .
-- -- - . - - ~

was
eB'f)ecial.ly true of intelllgmce pertaining__~<?- --~-h~...9~~:t;.
_~---~Q.~ce.
lr.-----~~...;-...:;.!"':-=-:-:::-.::: __ :-:-_-::::.:-- .. -.:-::..-:--:--:.=---- ---- '"'-:'':-.
- --- - -----

Lack of information on the Soviet Army did not, however, lead German
canmunication intelligence to make the dangerous mistake of' mdereatimating
the Russians' strength.
The following narrative refers exclusively' to radio intelligence
operations carried out 1n the area or A.rrq Group South, commanded by
Field Jlarshal von Rundstedt from June 1941 to November 1942.

Because

of' the lack of' records it is impossible to set dawn an exhaustive aurvq

ot this period. However, an estimate of Soviet Army radio traffic will

be attempted by describing a few special missions undertaken by' German

radio intelligmce em this front.

In this cormection it will be necessary

to refer to the operations of the three intercept companies employ-ed in

this area.

(See Chart 9)

CGN~IDENJIAL
Sec"iil' l1,_1ti11

MF

88NFIB.ENll"'"

ID:A56970

-90~Vhen
o~erating

the Uerman invasion began, the following intercept units were

in

t~e

area of Army Group South:

The 7th Intercept Company, on the Pruth, facing east, operating on a

base line from Galatz to Jassy.

Its mission was radio intelligence in the

path of the Eleventh Army.

The 3d Intercept Company, on the eastern border of occupied Poland,
facing southeast between Rzeszov and Vlodavka on the Bug.

It was respan-

eible for intelligence ahead of the Seventeenth and Sixth Armies.

rh~ ~7t~

Intercept Company was en route from the Balkans.

It arrived

in Rzesvoz on 28 June after the start of hostilities and first had to be

rP.organized and to become oriented to the intercepting of Russian radio
Thus, it was not completely ready to go into operation until

traffic.
July.

It was then ordered to carryout radio intelligence missions in the

;)ath of the Sixth Army, thus releasing the Jd Intercept Company to the
Seventeenth armw.
These
companies had insufficient personnel and equipment for the
,._
--

--~

--

----

.......

-~..:

......

~--

_ ........ _~--

task of covering the large areas assigned to those armies.

..--

The command

responsible for these allocations had been informed of this discrepancy

before the missions were assigned.

On 2 June 1941, therefore,

Army

Group South ordered intercept oper-

ations to be restricted to a zone of action bounded in the north by the

Pripyat Marshes and extending as

fa:r

east as the Dnepr River.

This would

include onlY that traffic emanating from the Odessa and Kiev military

districts.

For the time being OKH rei'rained from assigning any RI

missions which were mare far-reaching than this.

69NABENTIAL
&IIHJitf IRJIJIII'tjpp

_I

REF ID:A56970

eBNFIBENftAL
llaily IJe:a::Hw

us II

-91-

P-038

th 22 June 1941, i:rmnadiately after the Garman Arrrry had made contact

with the Russians, the latter lifted all radio restrictions.

The volume

or messages rose so sharply that it was reasonable to conclude that the

Russians had been taken canpletely by surprise, if not by the attack itself,
then at least with respect to its ti.Jrdng.

IDng encrypted n1essages alter-

nated with dispatches sent in the clear.

These made it possible to sketch

the rough

outline

or the radio picture, especially

teenth and Sixth Armies.

in front or the Seven-

The Germans could then draw conclusions -- though

at first unreliable -- about the number or Russian divisions opposing them

and could identity the numerical designations of corps and divisions.

Since

the Russians continued to use codes and ciphers which had already been
broken, some or their Dassages could be cr.yptanalYzed at once.

rhe

more

difficult systems did, however, provide sufficient text for new attempts
at a solution, which were begm immediately'.
The first German impression of Russian traffic was that, when sudden-

l:r curprised by a difficult situation, the ene:my was unable to maintain

adequate radio security, although this became even more necessary than
before.

..

On

the second day of hostilities, signals were intercepted whose

points of origin were plotted east of Lvov.

The interpretation of this

radio activity was of great significance to the German command.

~t

first,

the signals consisted exclusivelY of emissions resulting from tuning

. adjustments.

The Russians used frequencies outside the rs.nge of &rtf radio

l set or which German signal intelligence had definite lmowledge as or

\~that

time.

The intercept team detailed to :investigate these signals

CDN~ID&NJIAL
Slcu:lttlnrwallaa

e&NFIBENfi~F rn = A5697o
&mri" IRfiPIIIMiaR

l.~S

# P-036

-92-

picked up a number of poorly di:sguised designations, such as "TK" (tank

korpus [_SiiJ).

The name of a certain lieutenant colonel of the armored

forces was mentioned.

In addition, brief check-calls were made by sub-

ordinate stations, all of which indicated the

force

probab~

asaemb~

of a mechanized

consisting of three divisional units, two of which were

armored and appeared to be of the same type, judging from the characteristics of their radio traffic.
though it was doubted by the

This interpretation was adhered to, al-

Gernk~

command, which considered it improbable

that mixed motorized rifle and tank brigades hitherto recognized had been
reorganized so suddenly into regular-type armored divisioos and were
coupled with a motorized rifle division to .form a triangular corps.

The

interpretation suggested by radio intellieence was confirmed, however,

in the course of the engagements that commenced in the Lvov area immedi-

ately after this information had been intercepted.

In the course of the campaign Russian tank units frequently gave

themselves away by faulty radio communication before beginning to attack.

German intercept personnel pounced on the especially careless requests
for fuel which were radioed by Soviet tank units.
of 1942 did the

C~rmans

Not until the middle

find it more difficult to intercept them.

In the path of the Eleventh Army the presence and intentions of a

strong enemy force assembled near Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy in southern

Bessarabia were accurately reported, a success which, in this case, was
due exclusively to effective cryptanalysis.
The newly-arrived

~7th

Intercept Company quickly changed over from

observing Yugoslav and Greek traffic to the interception of Russian com-

eONFIBENfiAL
Seta: it; lnfarn:atian

REF ID:A56970

88NFIDENJIAl

MS

# P-038

munications.

-93Its mission was to observe the Russian defensive build-up

west of Kiev in July 1941.

ChieflY by means of direction finding it

followed the gradual withdrawal of these forces across the Dnepr.

Then,

for the first time, it became impossible to solve messages handled by

corps and division nets, because the enemy had finally changed all his
cryptographic systems.
By

concentrating both intercept companies in the Kasatkin-Delaya

Tserkov-Uman area in the path of the German Seventeenth and Sixth Armies,
the strength of the Russian Twelth Army in particular was revealed by
its radio communications as well as by the direction-finding operations
focussed on it.

There was an especially high yield of clear-text messages

during the battle of the Uman pocket in mid-August 1941.

The utter con-

fusion on the part o the Russian radio nets, which was reminiscent o
the traffic interc3pted at the end of the Campaign in the West, spelled
an imperlding collapse.
Captured documents not onlY confirmed the results obtained by radio
intelligence evaluations but also provided valuable supplementary informatian for traffic analysis and message evaluation procedures.

Captured

radio equipment provided additional information about the frequencies

used by the Russians, and the cryptographic material which had fallen into
German hands facilitated the work of the intercept control center in
solving the difficult Russian codes.

Quite revealinG was the interrogation

of Colonel Karmin, the captured commander of signal troops of the Russian

Twelfth Army.

rhe RI results obtained during the two months prior to his

capture, which were discussed with him, indicated that Russian radio traffic

e&NffBENJIAL
Sm:ritr luhitmaoan

----------------------------------------------REF ID:A56970

eBNFIBENYIAL
_sec"'iiJ Jufuallldlibil -

-94-

lfS II P-03S

was very vulnerable to German interception because of its rigid operating

procedure, the failure to change call signs and frequencies at frequent
irregular intervals, and, especial:cy, the gradual deterioration of' their
radio discipline.

A previous:cy-made observation was confirmed, namely,

that the not too intelligent Russian radio operators at division level
,

and below could handle only simple ciphers.

On the other hand, the com-

;plicated systems used by the intermediate and high command echelons,

which were handled b,y special cr,yptographic staf'f officers, were reasonably secure.

In spite of this 1 German strategic long-range radio intel-

ligence was successful, because it devoted more attention to traf'f'ic analysis when message evaluation failed to produce results.

On the other

l1and, the Germans rarely used tactical short-range intelligence, for which
there is generally little occasion during rapid advance movements.
When the Germans captured Kiev, the Russians surprised them by the
use of radio-controlled
minas, which were actuated by tone-modu1a_ted
a
-.--:-:;.-___ -__
.'-

.
I

m=nm"-;z;:~~

carrier . ___waves.
:___ . ---

The intercept personnel, being

ful~

occupied with

--~=_

their regular intelligence missions, did not recognize these impulse

transmissions.

They were first identified by radio operators of' the

German Sixth Army.

A special intercept platoon was attached to that

army to observe these sienals, so that means might be devised for

jamming the frequencies used.

Jamming transmitters were taken from

the corps signal battalions and turnbd over to the special intercept
platoon.

After many days of unsuccessful attempts they finally suo-

ceeded in neutralizing the detonating impulses.

The discovery of

these impulse emmissions led to the suegestion that a special unit

be organized to intercept them in order to protect the troops against this

CUNFI9ENJIAL
EssuriS, lntnlllltllll

REF ID:A56970

GBNFIBENfiAL
!lcu;il) h:fo:matian

MS # P-Q38
kind o

-95-

weapoo~

OKH was unable, however, to adopt this suggestion because

of the shortage of intercept personnel and equipment.

After reaching the Dnepr the three intercept companies were stationed
side by side along the base lines Kiev - Cherkassy, Oherkassy - Dnepropetrovsk, and Dnepropetrovsk - Nikolayev; advance intercept stations were
moved up to the bridgeheads at Kiev, Kremenchug, and Zaporozhye.

On 15

September 1941 the army group assigned these units a new intelligence mission, which comprised the area embraced by the line Kiev - Voronezh Rostov - Kherson with the main effort directed at the Donets Basin.
Included also were the Crimea and the Kuban area an the southern flank.
It was urgently necessary to find out whether and how the enemy was organizing his defenses east of the Dnepr, whether reserves were being brought
up, and what changes had taken place in the command structure.
the radio traffic of the Black Sea fleet was to be observed.

Moreover,
OKH supple-

mented this mission by ordering very-long-range intelligence operations

against the western and southern regions of the Caucasus adjacent to Turkey
and Iran.

Certain .newspaper accomts stated that, between late August and

mid-october, OKH had clearly recognized the administrative nets of four

Soviet armies which were in the process of activation in the area east of
Moscow.

Those reports appear to have been exaggerated.

In any case,

findings such as these were not brought to the attention of

Group

South at that time.

Then on 2 October 1941, the German attack from the Dnepr bridgeheads
was resumed, the Sixth Army was advancing toward Kharkov, the Seventeenth
ArmY was moving in the direction of the Donets Basin, and the Eleventh

e8NFIBENJIAL

REF ID:A56970

-6BNFIBENfiAt
,.;111lli'l/ IRflflllatilll

:MS # P-038

-96-

Army was turning southward f.rom the Lower Dnepr toward the Crimea.

At

the same time PanzergrupPe Kleist -- later the First Panzer Army was advancing on Rostov.

All the while, the area under intercept obser-

vation became so much larger that the 7th Intercept Company had to be
reL~forced

and divided into three units so that it could cover the Crimea

and the Donets area, as well as carry out the OKH order for very-longrange reconnaissance.

'fhis measure was an emergency solution character-

ized by all l:ihe deficiencies inherent in improvisation.

South area could no loneer be covered adequately.

The lrmy Group

The Army Group's

request that a fourth intercept company be assigned to the First Panzer

krmy was not granted.

As a result of the new intercept operations, which had been initiated

from the west bank of the Dnepr, the impression soon arose that the enemy
r3dio traffic was becoming steadier, a symptom which obviously pointed to
a reorganization, and

presumab~

to a stiffening of Soviet resistance.

The chief characteristics of the apparent reorganization were the absence

of any corps headquarters, as suggested by the direct radio links between
army and division headquarters, and appearance of "fronts, 11 which corres-

pcnded. to the German army groups.

During October 1941 the Sixth and Seventeenth Armies and the First
Panzer Army reached the Dmets and the Mius and took K"harkov and Rostov.
For the purpose of covering the extensive Kharkov area, where the most stubborn resistance was encountered, the .57th Intercept Company was retained
at army group headquarters in Poltava and its D/F teams were assigned the
area between Lozovaya and Sumy.

The. Jd Intercept Company was moved up to

e&NFIBENfiAL
SI811Ra, llfllliiBiibll

REF ID:A56970
C6NFIBEN11AL
!Etdilli lnfctmatieu

~~s .~

P-038

-91-

Slavy&tsk, where it carried

...

ou~

its direction-finding operations on a

line from Mariupol on the Sea of Azov to a point west of 1Zyum on the
Danets.

Coverage of the enemy area as far east as the Don between Voro-

nezh and Rostov was thus

rea~onably

assured.

The 7th Intercept Company,

operating with the Eleventh Army against the Crimea on the base line
Khsrsan - Osi?enko

(subsequent~

Simferopol- Osipenko), continued to

assist in observing the Rostov area, insofar as its mission against the
Crimea and the Kuban area permitted.
During the German advance from the

Dne~r

to the Donets a reliable

picture of the composition of the Soviet forces on the fonvard part of

the

army

group front was produced from an evaluation of the Soviet radio

traffic, which had once again been revived.

The Russians now began to limit their radio activity to that of the
advance command nets.
~~nts,
t~in

In order not to lose contact with further develop-

and in the expectation that Soviet radio operators would not main-

their customary discipline, the German divisions were em?hatically

instructed to
platoons.

intensi~3

the activity of their short-range intelligence

The Jd Intercept Company stationed in Slavyansk was ordered to

employ all personnel who could possibly be spared from long-range intelligence operations for use in tactical short-range intelligence.

For all

practical purposes this company took over the direction of short-range

radio intelligence in co-operation with the short-range intelligence platoons of the divisions on the Donets front.

The German intelligence ana-

lysts now built up the enemy radio picture from front to rear, inEtead of
from rear to front, as formsrly.

After the translator problem had been

e&NFIBNJIAL
9eea:il; lnlb 1u15 uan

REF ID:A56970

CDNFIBENfiAL
llllfill lalanaaHoii

-98mora or lees solved, this unusual procedure brought good results, since
far-reaching conclusions could b9 drawn from the

~nerally

insecure phone

traffic of the Russians.

Cp to the middle of Uovmbsr 191-'1 there ware two distinct focal
~oints ~gainst

which the S7th Intercept Company was ordered to direct its

long-range intel licence O!)erations, namel:r the area embraced by' the line
l~twrkov

- Belgorod. - 1!alukhi - Izyum,

of Rostov.

~lhereas

llS

well as that east and southeast

it was impossible at first to obtain any reliable in-

formation about t.ha former area, radio nets were recoc;nizod in the 1atter
area which, bein,:
assemb~ ~f

ti~htly

organized, enabled the

several divisions.

did nrJt correspood in any

Wa;/

G3I'li18ClS

to ascertain the

rhe radio picture thus gained, however,

with reports from other sources, according

to which only weak farces were stationed near Rostov, which even the anem.1
contemptuously reterrep to as a go1aye armiya (stripped army).

It seamed

peculiar that cryptanalyzed intercepts should mentioo the numbers of divisions which had been destroyed in the previous fighting.

Their reactiva-

tion tmder previous designations was doubted by' the German command until
it was confirmed in combat
\.bout the same time, ":.ha sky wave emissions of a radio net operating
~

the short wavelengths w3re

~icked

up.

This not

apparent~

did not

maintain close contact with military headquarters but seemed to operate

'!ssantially bet.wgan armament factories.

Its clear-text messaces mentioned

division desir,nations in the hOO series and above of which there was no
previous record.

.l..t first, OKH cmsidered this a Russian deception, since

it balieved that auch

l~rge-scale

activatims were unlikely, reckoning

88NFIBENfiAL
IIeBI ilj Iii fli ILIIIUB

-----~

REF ID:A56970
AftaiPII.. Pall a I

......, .........

IIUntlutn IIAL

l~S .~

-99-

P-038

on the assumption that from every million ponulatian one could

two divisions at full wartime strenr;th.

?Opulatian of sane 160 millicn

S:l.ncc 3uropean RuEsia

fo~

but

had a

and Asiatic Itussia, about 30 million,

no more than 380 divisions, therefore, could be activated.

Some 330

divisions (260 rif'la and motorized rifle, -;;o tank, and 20 cavalry divisions) had alreaey been engaged by the Gerrn.ans.

It could be as awned

that there were L.O divisicns behind the front and 20 divisions in the F'ar
East and Caucasus.
naticns :l.n the

1-~.00

However, the existence of divisions bearing desigseri.es was actually coofirmed later in the campaign.

In late November 1941, traffic 1n the Rostov net :l.ndicated that

there were too stations in the net.

:Wen thourh one could not be sure

that lien full divisicns Were involved, Since

SOin".!

of the intr2l""'('18t rela-

tianships were not at all clear, it was nevertheless evident that a troop
concentration was undor wa:r such as had not been seen for quite some time
on the Eastern Front.

It was, therefore, reasonable to conclucle that a

Russian at tack was imminent.

4t l:ihe SLillle time new traffic was heard

from the vicinity of Yeysk on the S'!a of Azov.

However, after careful

surveillance, this traffic was interpreted as a deception measure because

of its incoherence.

On 28 November

1941 the Russians attacked Rostov,

after A.rrq Group South had ordered its evacuation

and the withdrawal

behind the lliue of the southern wing of the First Panzer A.rrcry.
Decause of the great distances, ranging from

~00

to 600 miles,

radio intelligence against Transcaucasia and the Blaek

to

~roduce

satis!actor,y results.

s~a

fleet failed

In any case, the interception or

short-wave training transmissions from the l'itlis military district

CONFIBENTIA~
&IIIPity llflflllltiiR

eaNFIBENtiAFF rn = A5 6970
"SICWIL'J IOLI11III

-100-

'MS // P-Q)8

r3vealed the presence of additional reserves in this area.

~

staffs ware detected in both fiflis and Kutais.

coverage of
incomplete.

~llied

~oreover,

On the other hand,

traffic orieinating in or near Iranian territory was

Coverage of British traffic originating in Iran was especi-

ally f'rasmantary.

It was impossible to detect in time the Russian preparations for

an attack on lihe eastem Crimea, which was carried out in conjtmction

with a

landint~

in Feod.osiya.

At the end of the first year or the war it was clear that the
Russians had made progress in their transmission security and had begun
to corract the defects which had developed during the first engagements.

In January 1942 OKH ordered the commanders of' intercept units

attached to armt rroups to effect deceptive measures by commencing largescale radio transmission along the entire front.

However, before results

could be exoected, the ensny attacked south of .r.harkov, between Slavyansk

and 13alllkleya.

Here, in contrast to the situaticn around Rostov, German

raC:.io intelligence could not rredict tho Russian attack because of its
failure to
traffic

u~tect

dur~

the asc3mblY of

ene~

forces.

Heavier Russian radio

the penetratian which the Go-nnans halted near Lozovaya

once again supplied tho intercept service with the material necessar,y to
the fulfil:nent of its mission, d'3spite the fact that the Jd Intercept
Canpany committed near Slavyansk had been inoperative for a fairly lang
period or time.

Since this company had to be utilized as a combat unit,

it was forced to discontinue its intercept operations.

As soon as the

immediate danger was over, the company was pulled back to Stalino, where
it resumed its intercept operations.

C6Nfiii!NTIAL
Secuuty IHIIMIMtll

REF ID:A56970

eBNFIBENfiAL
311Gilil1 IIIRatill

us II

-101-

P-0)8

Immediately after the enemy penetration was sealed orr, Russian radio
traffic decreased and was characterized by the same high degree of se-

..

curity which prevailed before the attack.

However, the Germans noticed

with surprise that this activity was restricted to the general area around
Kharkov.

Consequent:cy, the

shart-range:tu~

m.its were once more

brought to maxi.JilllDl strength within the means available.

The belated reor-

ganization ot the Genoan intercept service into separate long-range and

short-range RI units -

the latter by assembling the short-range intelli- .

gence platoons of the divisions into companies which were subordinate to

the conununication intelligence camnanders at army group headquarters -gradually got md9r way.

By performing a laborious and piecemeal job

the G9rman intercept units eventually succeeded in

forces north and south or f.harkov:

plottin~

three enemy

near Voltschansk, ten to fifteen rif'Js

divisions, three cavalry divisions, and five tank brigades; in the Lozovaya - Balakle,ya area, ten rifle divisions, more than five cavalry divisions, and at least ten tank brigades, presumably under the coJIII18Zld of
General Koniev; near SlayY'ansk, five additicnal mechanized units, apparently reserves, whose individual strength could not be ascertained.

In

view of the disproportionately large number of mobile forces consisting

or -

tank brigades and cavalry divisions, a new Russian attack en both sides of
Kharkov was to be expected.

t:o clues were available for predicting the

timing of the attack or whether its objective was to be limited 1n scope.

Throughout this period the Russians maintained
discipline.

relative~

strict radio

!'his may be said of the Russian attack east of Voltshansk,

the attack from the Izyum salient south ot Kharkov, which commenced on

12

May

1942, the German counterattacks from the Slav,ranak - Darvinovka

GBNFIBENJIAL
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GGNFI8.f.\tID : A5 6 9 7 0
~ lafannltlan

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-102-

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line northward to Balakleya, during which enemy forces west of the Dmets
and~he

were encircled and destra.yed,

elimination of the Russian penetra"

tion near Voltshansk.

Russian radio traffic during the final stage or the fighting in the
Crimea was far less disciplined.

After the Germans had occupied the pen-

:Snsula 'With the exception of Sevastopol, which was no longer of interest

from a long-range intelligence point of view, the 7th Intercept Company
was moved north in early June 1942 in order to increase the coverage or
tihe Kharkov area.

Abandoning its lmg and medium-wave directicn-finding

oparaticns for the time being, the company was employed for intercept
purposes only, after experiments had shcnm that reception or shart-wave
signals from the Kuban and Caucasus areas was mare favorable, or at least

ot equal quality, at a
tercept Company

~reatar

distance from the objective.

The .3d In-

stationed at Stalino was given the task o covering the

area east or the lower Den.

Radio intelligence produced hardly any results during the German
attack across the

~aneta

in July 1942, the objective or which was to reach

the Don between Rostov and Voronezh.

The Russian divisions appeared to

be withdrawing, during the course of which movement radio silence was

maintained.

At that time it was not even possible to identify the stations

in the higher-echelon c~d net, the observation of which had hi~~erto

always yielded good results.

Russian radio traffic on the northern Dan

front seemed to be under the supervision of a particularly capable

individual.

eBNFIBENfiAL
lltii ltJ Ia fen::atiua

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBfNTIAL
Security Information

l~S

/1 P-036

-103-

The Sixth Army was making preparations for an offensive aeainst the
corridor between the Don and Volga in the direction of Stalingrad, while

the Seventeenth

A~

was pulled out of the front and assigned to the

newly arrived headquarters of

A.~

Group A under Field Marshal List.

army group was supposed to seize the Caucasus.

That zone of the Den front

which had previously been held by the Seventeenth

the Hungarian Second

l'his

was taken over by

in the north, the Italian !ighth Army in the

center, and the Romanian Third Army in the south.

The three last-men-

tioned armies had weak long-range RI 'llnits, whose efficiency varied.

rhe

Hungarians were capable of performing limited independent missions, whereas the Romanians could not be entrusted with any such missions.
The Romanian Fourth Army adjacent to the right wing of the German
Sixth Army had no communication intelligence unit whatever.

The Hungar-

ians, Italians, and Romanians were unfamiliar with short-range operations

and lacked any understanding of inter-army co-operation in the pursuit
of radio intelligence missions.

rhe Italians were inclined to theorize

about radio intelligence results instead of

analysis.

s~bjecting

them to careful

Characterlstic of their methods was the fact that they made it

a practice to use aussian prisoners of war as radio intercept operators

To achieve greater security the 57th Lane-Range RI Company was sta-

..

tioned behind the Utmgarian and Italian Armies in NCNYY Oskol, with a
D/F base line along the upper Don.

The 3d Long-Range RI Company was

moved up to the vicinity of Ka:manskaya and ordered to cover the area in

the path of the German Sixth and the Romanian Fourth and Third Armies.
The 7th Lont;-Range RI Company was moved close to the new headquarters of

CONFIDER IIAL
&aea::ts lnfo:maLou

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-104-

Army Group South in Starobelsk.

Its mission was to cover either the

northern or the southern zane of advance, according to haw the enemy

radio picture developed.

As the result of repeated requests, the 26th

Lcng-Range RI Oompan;r, which had so far been held at the disposal of OKH,
finally arrived at Mariupol and Taganrog, from where it was to cover the
Kuban and Caucasus

area~

exclusively.

The newly-organized short-range

companies were committed in the Sixth Ar.mY sector.

The new mission was in accordance with the orders issued in July
and August 19h2 by the two army group headquarters, which did not limit
the depth of the

int~cept

area.

As soon as Army Group A assumed command

in the south, the Oom..rnander of Oonununicaticn Intelligence (six) was to

take charge of the Jd and 26th Long-Range Companies, as well as of the

short-range RI company of the Seventeenth Army.
During August the solution of a large number of the Soviet cryptographic systems enabled the Germans to plot the disposition of the Russian
divisions defending the east bank of the Don between the mouth of the
!\hoper and Voronezh.

By

mid-3eptarnber, chiefly through short-range in-

telligence results, the Germans were aware of the disposition of Russian

forces on the newly-formed Stalingrad front along the Don - Volga Corridor.

After reaching Stalinerad. the Germans were familiar with most of

the Soviet divisions defending the east bank of the Volga.

In view of

past experience, such comprshensive results had not been expected.

TQe

Jxplanation for this was given by a Russian radio message, which stated
that the radio restrictions which the enemy had intended to impose could
not be maintained because of the shortage of'wire communication facilities.

eBNFIBENfiAL
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REF --ID:A56970
._
-GYNI UltN IIAl
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MS

/7

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For the same reason, the Russians seemed to be compelled to transmit estimates of the enemy situation by radio.

These estimates indicated that

they had accurately gauged the weakness of the Romanian and Italian
Armies and the vulnerability of the boundaries between them.
In October 1942 the Germans uncovered the formation of a strong
Russian force on both banks of the Khoper.

According to a garbled inter-

cept, the far-reaching strategic objective of this force was Rostov.

On 19 November the Russians began to attack across the Don.
Equally timely was the interpretation from traffic analysis of the
in

~ovements which,/mid-riovember, led to the encirclement of the German Sixth

Army.

At that time the communication intelligence commander submitted

a detailed report summarizing his ooservations to army group headquarters,

where it was approved and forwarded via OKH to OKW.

The contents of this

report revealed the threatening development in all its ramifications.

The report, which was lost at the end of the war, attributed the deterioration of Russian radio security primarily to their growing feeling of
absolute superiority.
From the beginning of the Russian campaign lnltil the- reverse at Stal-

.,

ingrad in 1942-43, German radio intelligence operations against Russian

communications was carried out under the most difficult circumstances.
As already mentioned, the personnel and equipment available were entirely
disproportionate to the magnitude of the intercept mission.

It was im-

possible to cover the target area either in depth with barely a hundred
raceivers, or laterally with three long-medium wave D/F base lines and

one short-wave long-range D/F base line. Inadequate intercept communi-

-6fJNFIBENfffF.F

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"SitoJ it; fnta 1mat:an

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cation facilities, which were not improved until late 1942 when the communication intelligence conunanders were supplied with their own circui'ts,
made it difficult to co-ordinate intelligence activities and to exchange
solutions among individual units.

The vastness of European Russia, the

indescribably difficult terrain conditicns, especially after the beginning

of the muddy season (rasputitza), and finally the musual.ly law temperatures, which occasionally halted the work of the D/F teams, interfered
with the efficiency of operations.
comprehensive

resu~s,

If the Germans were able to obtain

this is to be attributed to systematic coverage

which always emphasized selection of only the most important targets and
security.
to the relatively low level of Russian transmission/ In view of the vastness of their country and the inadequacy of their land lines, the Russians,
more than any other nation, were forced to rely on radio communication.
Logically, this fact should have induced them to be especially painstaking
in maintaining security.
by

safe~uarding

They attempted to achieve security exclusively

the cryptosystems used in their higher-echelon traffic,

some of which were solved despite the fact that they caused considerable
difficulties.

Ckl the other hand, the Russians neglected to make their

field ciphers equalLY foolproof against cryptanalysis.

This was the reason

why the German intercept service could continue to produce results during

the Kharkov operations when the results obtained from observing Russian
command nets fell to a very low level.

In this connection it should be

remembered that because of its many dialects, the Russian language imparts
----

______...... -

---

a degree of security to clear-text messages which only outstanding translators can overcome.

Such translation experts are equally indispensable

. ___._----ilr-ILc:IIIWtnliUOOGa..:::..:_alli;:O:..;;_:A ,_ "

-G9NFI6EN IIAL
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- _.,......~

REF ID:A56970

C6NFIBENJIAL
!&&Dill) liifdiilldUDii

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-107-

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for euccessful cryptanalysis,_

for which a complete command
()f
is an absolute requisite.

~he :l_angl!~g~_

The evolution of Russian radio traffic during

f the period 1mder review proves that the military leadership was endeavor'\ ing to improve the security of its radio communication.
plished chiefly by imposing radio silence
use of radio communication.
a consistent manner.

This was accom-

or at least by restricting the

Actually, these orders were rarely obeyed in

It is in keeping with the mentality of the Russians

that they are more successful in restraining the urge to indulge in unnecessary chatter during troop concentrations and assemblies, defensive
actions, and withdrawals than during attacks which
during advances.

~romise

success, and

Their ability to use electrical and mechanical devices

to attain a high degree of transmission security should not be underestimated.

However, it required quite some ti:ne before the Russian field

radio operators become adjusted to such complicated innovations.

A certain awkwardness characterized Russian radio operations and
will

probab~

be difficult for them to overcome.

It is precisely this

awkwardness which constitutes the greatest danger to the secrecy of

wartime radio comm1micatia1s.

For this reason the interception of

Russian radio communications will probably always be rewarding.

file Russians were very much aware of the potential effectiveness

of enemy radio intelligence.

This was evident from the numerous inter-

capted conversations in which the parties, probably fearing that violations would be overheard and reported for administrative action, called
each other's attention to security regulations or when one party broke

CONFIDfNfiAL
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ID:A56970

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off the conversation because of such violations at the other end.

Whila serving as commissar nth Budennyt s cavalry army in 1920,
Generalissimo Stalin observed the defects of the Russian radio service.
It was he who is supposed to have given impetus to its improvement and
to have subsequently insisted upon the necessity of strict radio discipline.

The work of German radio intelligence grew even more complicated

by virtue of two drastic

in the Russian radio service during

The first change occurred as early as 1 April 1942, when

World War II.

Army

chan~~es

Group Center was suddenly confronted with entirely new cryptosystsma

and call signs, and noticed that the authentication groups which had
hitherto facilitated our traffic analysis had been discontinued.
was

probab~

This

because the methods then employed by German radio intelli-

gence and the "entering wedges" spotted

by the cryptanalysts had been

betrayed by a deserter from an intercept unit.

The changes brought about

by this incident led to a setback in Garman intelligence results lasting

several weeks.

The next crisis in German communication intelligence fol-

lowed the loss of Stalingrad, when the Russians captured intercept files.
At that time the Germans intercepted Russian instructions conceming the
restriction and supervision of radio traffic.

It was surprising, however,

., that in spite of these stringent orders, prohibitions,

t:

and threatened

penalties, and the strict, autocratic nature of the Russian command, numerous army units and many non-military organizations nevertheless did
violate the rules.
This deviatlon from strict adherence to regulations was one of the
most vulnerable points in the Russian radio service, and provided German

6BNFIBENJIAL
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REF ID:A56970

e6NfiD!NTU'(L
SitdlitJ liiiLiiii&lion

'MS

-109-

P-038

long-range intelligence with reliable information along the entire front,

even after the above-mentioned changes in procedure.

The higher-echelon

headquarters that were engaged in strategic missions, especially the

tank

a~

headquarters, observed radio silence before launching an oper-

ation, or else confined their transmissions to brief test calls, so that

little useful i.nforma.tion could be obtained from them.

It was different

,, in the case of the GHQ troops assigned to these headquarters to provide

!

~~

an addHional boost.

They exchanged lively radio traffic, not so much

't

because of iack of discipline as for administrative and supply reasons

arising from their dispersal over wide areas.

They did not use the com-

plicated cryotosystems of their superior headquarters, but easily-broken

field ciphers, \'tith the result that their carelessness nullified the precations taken by the higher echelons.
This applied equally to the artillery divisions and artillery coz::>s.
In many instances the Germans were able to learn of plans which the hieher
echelon headquarters was extremely careful to keep secret by intercepting
messages from such units as formations of the assault specialist, Sokolovski, and the heavf mortar, rocket launcher, and army engineer forces.
ln general, it was possible to obtain a fairly accurate picture of the

number of armies and divisions, their location and boundaries, the arrival
of reinforcement and the displacement of units, and thus the conc.:mtration
of forces by observing and plotting the
rocket launcher units.

GH~

artillery, heavy mortar, and

A captured Russian signa-l officer explained that

this carelessness in radio operations was due to the shortages of telephone cables and field phones and the distances to be covered,

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The heavy mortar and rocket launcher units always carried on a very
lively radio exchange.

Wherever they appeared the Germans knew that a

Russian attack was under preparation.

The presence of armlf engineer

units was often the first indication of an impending armored offensive,

before which they sent progress reports on the construction of roads,
the building and reinforcement of bridges, and the clearance of lanes
through the mine fields.
Additional clues to the preparation of offensive operations were
furnished by messages from and to supply and service troops.
German

interc~pt

Hitler

~rroneously

units uncovered the first two major nets of this type,

interpreted t,hem as a Russian radio deception man-

euver, although radio intelligence found no

opinion.

When

re~son

to substantiate this

In October ;md november 1941 a conspicuous net was observed in

the vicinity of '!ladimir, 120 miles east of Moscow, and another one east
of Rostov.

'fheir messages dealt with the equipment and training of num-

erous newly-organized formations.

The "Vladimir net" was believed to

represent four armies; the Rostov net, ten divisions.

Radio intelligence

was vindicated by the counterattacks carried out by these forces in late

November and early December against Rostov and in the Moscow area, where
the Germans suffered disastrous setbacks.
Intercepts indicating the location of ammunition, fuel, and ration
dumps provided reliable information used in the planning of German air
attacks.

The greater the strain in the Russians supply situation, the

more intensive was the radio traffic.

The Germans were thus able to draw

pertinent conclusions concerning the tactical situation of the

forces.

eBNFIBENIIAL
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en~

REF "l.tJ..i..~. ~ 7 0
GUNIII:fLN I lAb
Setal Itt JnfDIIIiillua

MS

.t

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P-OJ8

In front of Stalingrad toward the end of 1942 and the beginning of

1943 the Germans succeeded in intercepting messages from Volga steam

-.

_ _ _ ... ,__~1><-<l!..-= ..

-----~--..:--

ferries indicating the number of their nightly crossings which required

six hours whenever ice jams were present.

Other messages conveyed an

impressive picture of the shipments of infantry, artillery,

b~s,

tanks,

horses, vehicles, ammunition, and miscellaneous supplies which were moved

across the river.

Since the daily strength reports of the Russian units

in action were currently intercepted, it was possible to establish that

only a very few of the reinforcements and supplies were intended for the
decimated troops engaged in the fighting.

The obvious conclusion was

that the enemy was moving up entire divisions which he did not intend to
commit mtil the beginning of a major offensive.
In some instances the Germans were able to follow movements by rail

of newly-organized divisions from the interior of Russia up to the front,

first by plotting their location through D/F procedures,then by picking
up their trail as soon as they established contact with the headquarters
to which they were assigned.
The following is an example of German radio intelligence operations
at army level.

In December 191.!.3 ground and air reconnaissance north of

Vitebsk failed to produce any significant information.

On the other hand,

traffic analysis, D/F plotting, and cryptanalysis of the transmissions of

the radio nets operated by Russian engineer, heavy mortar, rocket launcher,
artillery, and service units provided an almost complete picture of the
Third and Fourth Main Assault Armies on both sides of the Eleventh Guard
Army.

These forces were facing the German Third Panzer Army in the

G9NFIBENJIAL
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e&NFIB!NnffF rn =AS 6 9 7 a
&laHFitJ Jnhiml&liau

1.75

If P-038

-112-

Gorodok - Yezerishchi area.

Radio intelligence furnished the usual pro-

fusion of details about division boundaries, the location and stock level
of ~unition dumps, and the exact cd:ordinates of tank-supporting bridges,
lanes through mine fields, and field emplacements.

At approximately H

minus 10 hours radio intelligence established that the attack was imminent by observing that the Russian army command posts had been advanced
up to two miles behind the MLR.
The Germans obtained accurate information on the enemy 1 s strategic
objectives by observing the radio traffic of the air force ground installations.

rhese units appeared regularly in the center of the fighting

or wherever points of main effort were to be formed.

l~.out

Here they had to

air strips, stake off suitable terrain, build shelters, and pre-

pare runways which were then used by airlift or close-support formations.

Valuable clues concerning the strategic and tactical plans of the
Russian command could frequently be drawn from the instructions issued
' to partisan units, so-called strategic reconnaissance groups, and spy
teams, as will be explained in greater detail in the follmving chapter.
The interception of messages from NKVD units was extremely fruitful.
The latter maintained their t:nm radio net extending to the smallest unit
and used their own exclusive cryptosystems.

Regular and systematic cov-

erage permitted the Germans to draw conclusions regarding the composition,

organizational structure, and employment of the NKVD units.

According to

these observations there were two blocking lines, the first one at a distance of about six to ten miles, the second one at about thirty to forty
miles behind the Russian front.

These two lines sealed off hermetically

GBNFIBENTIAL
5'C"P1 1P19M!'''PP

REF ID:A56970

69NFIBENT1At
!~S

/I

the rear areas from the zone of interior.

~~VD

-113-

!lt&&illj l::fllllll\tlft

P-0)8

:~long

many sectors of the front

operations could be recularly observed down to the individual guard

posts, sentry squads, and control points of the first blocking line.

al-

though the proportions of the individual sectors under jurisdiction of the

i~VD

units did not exactly correspond to the boundaries and ;v.idth of

sectors held by army units at the front, there existed a certain interrelationship.

Moreover, the NKVD failed to observe the radio silence im-

posed by higher-echelon headquarters. rhey were far less security con____ _,_.,:_,_ .
--- --- ---scious than these headquarters, probably because of the distance sepa.._..__~~----

rating them from the front and the lack of proper supervision.

rbe radio

messages to and from the various check points often contained requests for
apprehension including the names of individuals and their troop units,
reports on the arrival or departure of officers -- including g9nerals -and on routine chscks of travel orders, and similar matters which furnished
L~portant

information about units

coa~itted

at the front or stationed in

rear areas.
From conspicuous organizational changes and the arrival of new

~nrJD

units tha Germans were able to draw conclusions as to the scope of impending operations.

Up to the very .md of the war a great number of the NKVD

cryptosystems were solved by the Germans.

The characteristics of Russian radio operations made it impossible
to draw a sharp line between short-range and long-ra."lge operations.
As of 1943, when these two phases of intelligence activity were complementing each other

successful~,

three factors should be mentioned that

facilitated the German radio intellieence effort:

68Nf18Nl1Al

REF ID:A56970

-efaA6NFiffii6RfNtttTIMAt=
&lllril) IRIIIIII&Iilll

!~~s 1,1

P-0.38

-lJA.1.

The Russians' adherence to established procedures in send-

ing routine messar,es and in car.r,ying on conversations.

2.

As on other fronts, the ideosyncrasies of Russian radio oper-

ators who were less self-disciplined, intelliGent, or well-trained than

the average enabled the Germans to identify and observe entire divisions.
~~ong

many vthers their deviations from rules of procedure included vari-

ations in sending speed especially in beginning and closing a transmission,

~rbitrary

modifications of call signs to facilitate quick recognition by

the called station, peculiarities in tuning the transmitter, and mistakes

in transmitting unusual sienals.

Technical defects, such as a chirp, also

made it 9asy to trace a particular station.

3. Last, but not least, the Germans benefited from the fact
that the steadily increasing number of Russian radio stations, for which
American Lend-Lease supplied much e1.uipment, furnished an almost inexhaustible wealth of information.

The restrictions on radio traffic imposed

by orders from above were apparently not implemented.

A few units, such as the II Guard Armored Corps, observed strict
radio discipline, for which an energetic commander and a security-conscious
signal officer were apparently responsible.
German communication intellie;ence.

They complicated the task of

ln general, however, the radio disci-

pline standards of most front-line units was lm1.

~ust

On the other hand, one

acknowledge that until the very day of the German capitulation the

Russians never indulged in the complete relaxation of all rules and undisciplined clear-text transmission of radio messages which was practiced

GBNFIBENliAL
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98NFIBEN1'1Al
9eea::IJ

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IRfiiiiiRIR

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P-038

by the Western Allies in anticipation of an early victory.

The following figures will convey an idea of the number of radio
stations operated by the Russians at the end of 1943.
fensive along the

twenty-five~ile

Before a major of-

sector held by the Third Panzer Army,

German radio intelligence observed 300 enemy radio stations.

Various areas of the Soviet radio system were characterized b.r the
above~entioned

rigid adherence to established procedure which facili-

tated the German radio intelligence effort.

For instance, several code

designations used in both CW and phone communication remained unchanged

for years along the entire Russian front:

"manager," stood for chief of

staff, "pickle,for ammunition, "box," for tank,

11

shop," for unit.

Battalions were designated by species of trees, such as pine, oak, or

beech; companies were referred to by trades,

such as shoemaker, tailor,

or baker; and platoons were given names of animals, such as horse, cow,
or sheep.
For years, call signs and frequencies were changed on the 1st, loth,
and 2oth of each month; cryptosystems, every one to three months.
period of radio silence preceded each major
new cryptosystems would be used.

offens~ve

during which entirely

However, because of the

previous~-

mentioned operating characteristics, the Germans had no difficulty in

resuming interception of previously-known units.
reports,

The routine dai:cy-

sent according to a fixed schedule, provided a particularly

rich fund of reliable information.

During the battle for Stalingrad at

the end of 1942, German radio intelligence was able to set up a systematic
body of statistics on the Russian tank strength by entering the inter-

CONFID!NTIAL
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CONFID!NTIAr"F ID: A56970

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-116-

l.!S // P-0)8

cepted figures under the following fourteen headinge which were always
transmitted in the same eequence in such form-type reports:
Heading 1:

..

T/E allowance of tanks

II

2:

Actual number of serviceable tanks

"

3:

Total losses through enemy action

II

4: Permanent losses through enemy action

11

5: Total. l.osses through wear and tear

11

61

"

1 1 Uumber of unserviceable tanks on hand

"

8:

Uumber of tanks reparable by organizational maintenance

"

9:

Number of tanks reparable by field and depot maintenance

"

10:

Number of tanks requiring: repairs in the ZI

"

ll.:

Number of irrGparable tanka

11

12:

Number of tanks received from organizational maintenance

"

13:

Number of tanks received from field and depot maintenance

"

14:

Number of tanks received .from the ZI.

Permanent losses through wear and tear

The .following routine report

o two years.

was sent in the same form over a period

At first it was difficult to solve.

This was achieved

only as the reeult of inquiries made by the Russian net control station.
Its solution provided accurate statistical data concerning officer

~d

enlisted personnel strength, casualties, number of guns, ammunition and

zasoline supplies, the chain of command, and the location of 5un positions.
The numarical code used in this routine report

was as foLlows:

Heading 1:

334

::

J34th Rocket Launcher Battalion

2:

....

subordinate to Fifth Army

"

e6NFIBENfiAL
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REF ID:A56970

eBNFIBENfiAl
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-117-

MS .I P-038
Heading 3:

202

::

committed in the 202d Infantry Division sector

....

co-ordinates of the battalion command post

It

4:

''

5: 318/414, 309/148 :: co-ordinates of the firing positions

It

6: 16

II

7: 13/1144

It

8: 12.5

II

9: 9/60/204 :: number of officers, noncommissioned officers,

and other enlisted men

312/407

::

....
....

number of guns
1144 rounds of

TS

13 ammunition

12.5 tons of gasoline

2 noncommissioned officers, 4 enlisted

II

10: 0/2/4

::

losses:
men

II

11:

140

::

rounds of ammunition expended

12:

One infantry platoon and self-propelled gun destroyed

(This part of the meEsage in clear text)

~ter

1942 Russian phone traffic became

--~..!!;:.....,-.r-7.::

German radio intelligence.

__

increasing~

important for

Proper evaluation of it required the assistance

of excellent translators and a fairly close proximity to the front.

At a

distance of approximately six to ten miles from the MLR, provided the reception was good, the evaluation of phone transmissions was easier than
that of CW traffic.

At the same tiQe the interception of radio conversa-

tions in which brevity codes, code name indices and grid co-ordinate

..

ciphers were used was continued.

In general these conversations took place

between tank and other mechanized units after the beginning of a major
engagement.

The cryptosystem used to encipher co-ordinates was as a rule

quickly solved by comoaring the co-ordinates ;dth the intelligence officer's

situation reports and by D/F operations.

Once this had been achieved, all

details of the enemy's intentions became clear soon after the beginning of

GONRBENfiAL
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REF ID:A56970

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-118-

:1 P-038

the attack, inasmuch as messages concerning the attack directions, daily

objectives, the course of the front line, casualties, and enemy resistance
were being currer.tly intercepted.
Soma of the tactical commanders carried on conversations without
taking more than the

above~entioned

insignificant security precautions.

In April 19}~.5, for example, the cow.mander of the Second Guard .~naored

Army then located in r.he Wriezen area east of Berlin held conversations
"'ith his corps, brigade, and tank spearhead commanders and discussed the
scope of their missions, t.he axis of advance, time schedules, flank protaction, antiaircraft security, and the army's objective.

The latter was

to thrust north of Berlin up to a point north of' Potsdam, where the

woulci link up with forces advancing south of Berlin.

army

Radio intelligence

was able to submit an accurate report eight hours before the attack began.
During lulls in the fighting the results of short-range intercepticn
VIP.re insiGilifjcant, particularly when the Gennans faced disciplined infantry :md artillery units which observed radio silence and used wire communication.

The fact that an attack was pendine could best be deduced

from observation of an exchange of test sienals (v 1 s) at regular hourly

jntervals.

Once an attack had darted, even the il'lfantry :.md artillery of

front-line divisions began to ensage in phone convarsations, either using

3

brevity code or talkinG in the clear bltogether.

In contrast to these

units, which were probably supervised quite strictly, there were others
whose commanders conversed in the most undisciplined nnd uninhibited manner.
They thus

~)resented

Gennan radio intelligence vdth com;>lete information

on Russtan plans, estimates of the situation, orders, and other data.

enNfiDfNfiAL

...

REF ID:A56970

CONFID!NTIAL
WCdliij liil&iilbdii

)IS

II

-ll9-

P-<>38

Both the short-range units (employed abovs division level) and the RI teams

attached to the German divisions in Russia had that experienc.,.

The follow-

ing eDmples have been selected from among the thousands of instances in
which Russian phone transmissions provided valuable information to German
division commanders:
In January 1942 the RI team or the 2d Panzer Division intercepted a
plain-text Russian order for a night attack on Alexandrovka, south or Rzhev
(Army Group Center), at H minus 1 hour.

The defenders were alerted, and

the attack was repulsed with great losses to the li.ussians.

In July 1942 the German Ninth Army was mopping up the Russian pocket
near

BeJ.n', west of Rzhev.

The RI team of the 2d Panzer Division inter-

cepted a plain-text conversation on the subject of the intended breakout

or the Soviet 82d Tank Brigade, during which all the axes or movement were
mentioned.

Thereupon the 2d Panzer Division quickly blocked the routes of

escape with 88-mm guns, which destroyed numerous T34 tanks.

The breakout

was prevented and the rest of the brigade w1 thdrew to the swamps in the
north.

The brigade's radio traffic was kept under observation, and a mes-

sage requesting assistance in towing the tanks out or the swamps was intercepted.

The areas indicated in these messages were combed out by German

infantry, and the immobilized, but ot11erwise undamaged, T34 tanks were
neutralised. Russian division starts tried to reorganize the scattered
troops in the pocket by ordering them via radio to assemble at precise]designated collecting points.

The 2d Panzer Division artillery took them

under fire, the effect of which could once again be checked by intercepting
the Russian transmissions.

G9NFIBENJIAL
81111'117 llllliidltllll

REF ID:A56970

66NFIBENfiAL
SEtbilLJ lnfo:malian

~~

# P-038

-120-

During the German withdrawal from Rostov to the Mius, in the winter
l)f 1942-43, a E.ussian motorized corps broke through the German lines.
The gap was closed and the enemy was trapped.

Plain-tsxt Russian dis-

patches reporting a shortage of gasoline were intercepted by the RI team

or the 23d ranzer Division.

rhat am I supposed to do?" asked the com-

mander of the pocket force.

"Break out at the same point where you broke

through, 11 was

the answer of' superior headquarters behind the Russian front.

All available German forces were placed in ambush at the former breakthrough point. Nobody got through, and the Russian unit. was wiped out.
In March 1943 the German 129th Infantry Division -- then commanded
by the author of this section of the study -- Ydthdrew fram the Volga
near Rzhev to the Smolensk - MoscmT highway near Yartsevo, during the
course of the so-called Buffalo Movement of the Ninth Army. Every day
the division's RI team reported the approach of enemy troops to the suecessive German delaying positions as well as the enemy's organization and
strength,

physi~al

condition after exhausting night marches, intended rest

periods, logistical problems, the Russians' estimate of the German situation,

and their plans in general.

In the light of this reliable first-hand

information intercepted from enemy sources, the Germans were able to examine their dispositions, reinforce their units at crucial points, place
their reserves at the right points, and, above all, concentrate their fire
on the most vulnerable targets the enemy so carelessly revealed to them,
and make the proper distribution of the available ammunition on a day-to-day
basis.

CDNfiBENliAL

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENTIAL
3ecu: ill lat11111tian

VB

/1 P-039

-12~-

In February 1944 the 23d Panzer Division was given the mission or

stepping heavy Russian attacks on

Jas~.

On that occasion some T34 1 s

brolm through the German lines and concealed themselves in the close terrain.

They sent such messages as "our tracks are broken" or "turret

damaged," whereupon the German RI team inquired:

"What is your location'l"

As soon as they indicated their location, the tanks were

destr~ed

by tbe

Germans.
The Germans occasionally attempted to get a reply from Russian

..

stations and usually succeeded in their deception.

r\ from intruding in enemy nets handling routine

\

arouse the suspicion of the other party.

promised future intelligence results.

However,

~hey

refrained

traffic in order not to

Any such action would have com-

It was a different matter, however,

when, in the heat of combat, the enemy asked for assistance without getting
~

reply to his calls.

In September 1944, a Russian corps was in a precarious situation

northeast of Grosswardein.

The RI team of the 23d Panzer Division inter-

cepted a poorly-encrypted message ordering a Russian-Romanian regimental

combat team to attempt to break out along a certain road.

Elements of

the division thereupon prepared an ambush in the forest on both sides of

the road and completely wiped out the breakout force
.Appendix S gives the full

story or the intercepts made by the RI

team of a German infantry division during the course of one day of attack.
Within the scope of this study it is not possible to give more than
these few examples to show the important role played by communication
intelligence in the direct conduct of battle.

CONFID!NTIAL
&a au: iLJ lu fo: ma tiD II

There were innumerable

GONFIBENfW.F ID: A5 6970

[t1Hr4t) I::fa: iii&Ubii

MS

# P-038

-122-

instances where the Russians jeopardized their military operations by

the manner in which they conducted.their field radio communication inasmuch
as the Germans had the means for appropriate countermeasures in this
theater.
Along the entire Russian front the reports from communication intelligence were considered as information from reliable sources.
In the autumn of 1943 the author, then chief signal officer at the
headquarters of Army Group Center, received every day intercepts of CW
and voice transmissions from which it was clearly evident that in hundreds
of instances German prisoners were being murdered within a short time after
their capture.

In each instance a

~ussian

regimental or division staff

officer complained that no prisoners had been turned over to headquarters

and requested that at least one man should be spared from being shot or
otherwise murdered so that he could be intarrogated.

A truly shocking

picture of the Asiatic combat methods used by the Russiansl

When in the autumn of 1943 German-forces, encircled near

Cherkas~,

succeeded in breaking out of the pocket, their overjoyed commander carelessly told propaganda

officials about the tremendous help he had received

from communication intelligence both while in the pocket and when breaking
out of it, inasmuch as he was able to direct movements and conduct operationa on thebasis of intercepted Russian orders.

Although this statement

was publicized in the press and radio in the same imprudent manner, it did
not have the disastrous consequences which had been feared for a time.
Up to the end of the war the intercepts made by the RI teams on the Russian
front remained an important source of information for the tactical
commanders.

G9NFIBENliAL
3ttdiilj liilbiiil&libh

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENfiAL
lecs:its l::fUimaliou

MS # P-038

-123-

Strategic radio intelligence directed against the Russian war production effort provided a wealth of information for the evaluation of

Russia's militar,y potential.

Owing to the general dearth of long-distance

telephone and teletype land circuits, radio communication assumed an

especially important role in Russia not only as an instrument of military
leadership but also as

!bl

decentralized economy.

medium of civilian communication in a widely

In keeping with its large volume, most of this

Russian radio traffic was transmitted by automatic mans, as explained

in Appendix 7.

'!'he Chrman Army intercepted this traffic with corres-

ponding automatic equipment and evaluated it at the communication intelligence control center.

Multiplex radioteletype links connected Koscow

not only with the so-called fronts or

groups in the field; but also

\ith the military district headquarters in Leningrad, 'l'iflis, Baku,

Vladivostock, and in many other cities.

In addition, the radio nets

used for inland navigation provided an abundance of information.

this

mechanical~

Although

transmitted traffic offered a higher degree of security

against interception, the Russians used the same cryptosystems as in the

field for sending important military messages over these circuits.

The

large volume of intercepted material-offered better opportunities for

German cr,yptanalysis.

Strategic radio intelligence furnished information

about the activation of new units in ihe zone of interior, industrial

production reports, requests for materiel and replacements, complaints
originating from and problems arising at the production centers and administrative agencies in control or the war economy.

C8NFIBENJIAL
9eau:ilJ lnl&lll&tlan

All this information

CONFIDENTIF ID : A5 6 9 7 0
'ecunty Information

YS

II

-124-

P-038

was indexed at the communication intelligence control center where reports

were drawn up at regular intervals on the following aspects of the Russian
war production effort:
Planning and construction of new factories;
Relocation of armament plants;
Coal and iron ore production figures;
Rmv material and fuel requirements for industrial plants;
Tank and gun production figures;
Transportation facilities and problems;
Railway, inland shipping, and air conununications;
Agricultural production;
Food distribution and rationing measures;
Manpower, labor allocation, ann other relevant matters.
Strategic radio intelligence thus msde a slight dent in the Iron
Curtain, which during the war was drawn evan more tightly than at present,
and offered some insight into the operation of the most distant Siberian
production canters and the tremendous war potential of that

seeming~

endless expanse of land.

The last major achievement of German radio intelligence in Russia
was the coverage of the gigantic preparations for the Baranov offensi,re
during the first days of 1945.
higher headquarters did not

lea~

Even though the

~nformation

submitted to

to the logical tactical, strategic, and

political decisions, communication intelligence cannot be blamed for the

subsequent events.

Once again the usual pattern of Russian radio communi-

68NFIBENTIAL
JetDiilf lnfornmlian

~6970

-125-

MS # P-038

cotion unveiled itself in front of the eyes of the German spectators who .
vrere condemned to impotence against the inexorable fate which was plunging
them into the abyss.

German communication intelligence, by then an instru-

ment capable of distinguishing the finest nuance, perceived once more all
the

unmist~kable

signs of an impending offensive.

First, the arrival of

arrrry engineers and the deployment of artillery, heavy mortar, and rocket
launcher units which prematurely revealed the points of main effort of the
inevitable concentrations of fire.

Then the sparse higher-echelon traffic,

which only traffic analysis and D/F plotting could evaluate and which indicated the transfer of division after division, corps after corps, and
army after army, and revealed the structure of the "fronts."

Finally,

the gigantic proportions of the assembly forces poised for the attack were
discernible from the abundance of tactical OcY and voice. messages, which
could be easily broken, i f not read simultaneous with interception.

Once

again the front-line divisions and tank units concealed their presence b,y
imposing radio silence, which was not observed by the GHQ and NKVD units.
Once more the combat reconnaissance teams, which at an early moment had
been placed at forward points, disclosed- the Russian long-range objectives
in their radio traffic with the

..

11 front 11

headquarters.

All these small

pieces were put together to form a gigantic mosaic, which General Gehlen,
the Chief of the Eastern Intelligence Branch, presented to Hitler and
General Guderian, the Chief of the Arrrr:f General Starr, during the first days
of,January 1945 with the assurance that, according to the observed transfers of command posts, the storm would break on 12 January.
Late in August 1944, after the collapse of A::nrr:y Group Center, which

e&NFIBENfiAL
SEtdtllJ iliibliliilibll

ID:A56970
G9NFIREF
...........
.
DfnliAL
Ser!!Fi*r Inial~

US # P-038
had resulted from 150 Russian rifle and 45 tank divisions having opposed
42 German divisions at a ratio of strength of 4.5:1, the Russians controlled three large strategic bridgeheads west of the Vistula, at Baranov,
Pulavy, and :Magnussev.

Early in September came a lull in the fighting,

when the available Russian forces lacked sufficient strength to consolidate these three bridgeheads into one and to continue the offensive in
the direction of the German border.

At the beginning of October German

communication intelligence had definite clues that the Russians were getting ready to resume the offensive from the three bridgeheads.

During

September the picture had been greatly obscured by the fact that they had
switched to the defensive.

During November the arrival of four new army

groups, two opposite the East Prussian border and two between Modlin and
Baranov, was observed.

Points of main effort were being built up in the

latter two areas from which thrusts in the direction of Baranov - Silesia Saxony and Pulavy - Warthegau -Berlin were to be executed.

By 9 .January

the disposition of strength between Russian and German forces had developed
into a ratio or 11:1 for infantry, 7:1 for armor, and 20:1 for artillery.
At the points of main effort the Russians had massed 400 guns per mile of
frontage.

In this area the Germans were still able to supplement the

results of communication intelligence by air reconnaissance, which provided information on the arrival ot motorized and tank units as well as
data on the assembly of artillery forces which moved up during the hours
or darkness.
When the storm finally broke on 12 January, the defense forces in the
front lines, their superior headquarters, and the Chief of the Army

G9NFIBEN'FIAL
"Sitbiilt

li11"1iiii&li&ii

REF ID:A56970
CDNFIDiNliA~

..... .........
,~

IUS

# P-038

-lZI-

General Staff vrere not surprised by the fury of the assault, the Russian

"

points of main effort, or the directions or their attacks.

Prior to that, Hitler, who refused to admit the superiority of his

--

hated enemy, Stalin, had told General Gehlen that his

---------.--------- ----------

him of the ravings of a madman.

.s:s.-=-c"'i:to-.r

--- ....:--

--

_--

-- -

. . . . . . ----

inf_~tion_~l!li.nded

Hi tlsr was convinced that he was a

genius who could ignore the timeless laws of warfare which permit a military leader to make major decisions solely on the basis of a clear and
realistic estimate of the situation.

Such an estimate must take into

account all external factol's and must stress realism and accuracy in the
appraisal of one's own resources as well as those of the enemy.

Hitler's

disregard of the latter factor was perhaps due to the fact that his intu1 tion had helped him to estimate accurately the real mill tary potential
Fnd fighting ability of his initial enemies, the Czec-.hs, Poles, and
French, with greater accuracy than did many of his military advisers who
had based their judgment on their norld War I experience.

To an intuitive

estimate or the situation before the first shot was fired, the regular peacetime intelligence media, including comnnmication intelligence, could make
only modest contributions.

Once the first overt act of war had been com-

mitted and a certain period of initial adjustment was over, German communication intelligence was able to furnish the military leadership with a

wealth or reliable information which was appreciated by the General Staff

and senior conreanders in the field.
In the li.ussian theater the mass o:r minute rietails assembled by German
communication intelligence over a period of years provided a clear,

e&NFIBENTIAL
&lllllitl" ,.........

REF ID:A56970

.CQNFIBEN'fiALSitdillt 1nt11tinn

1JS # P-0.38
reliable, and

-1~-

alrr~st

complete picture of the military potential, the

..

strategic objectives, and the tactical plans of the most powerful enemy
which the German Army had ever encountered.

The results were far

superior to those obtained during World War I.

CONPIBENfiAL
- Secuflif liilom:Mi-

REF ID:A56970
e&NFIBENTIAL
E111nt; lulu:matlun

-129-

MS # P-0:38

Chapter Four
Appraisal of Radio Communication in Belligerent
Armies Committed in the European Theater
Although radio played only a minor part in the enemy's military operationa, German communication intelligence was able to obtain nmch information
which inf'luenced the course of many an engagement.

The author feels all

the more quali.fied to express an opinion because he has more than thirty
years of practical experience in radio communication and because his
appraisal has been confirmed by other

C~rman

experts in the field.

In radio

communication, as in other spheres of military endeavor, the old doctrine

that effectiveness is more important than security retains its validity.
Any analysis of the radio communication of the three leading Allied
~or~rs

during the recent war must answer the following three questions:
1.

Hm'l

sound vrere the initial Allied procedures in the fields

of radio communication and cryptography from the point of view of security?

What improvements did the top-level signal and intelligence officers
introduce during the war, in order to comply with the intrinsically diveri~
i

gent objectives of effectiveness and security? Hhat measures did they

take to enforce operating procedures all the way down to the lowest-r.anking

radio operator whose transmissions were subject to interception by the

enemy? llhat mistakes were made by these policy makers?

These

questions pertain to the methods adopted by Allied radio communication

QQMf\BENllAl
secmit; lnlcilll&lillf"

eaNFIBfNTI~ rn =AS 6 9 7 0
&111FiW IRtiFIIIMilll

l!S

i't

P-0,3S

-1.30-

on the planning, executive, and supervisory levels.

2. What tactical use did the Allies make of radio communication? HmY effective was this medium and how safe T1as it, considering
the fact that its security cannot but be limited? -- These questions

..

pertain to radio operations in the field.

3.

effective and secure was radio communication of the

H~

individual @rms of the Allied ground forces, of the other services

which co-operated

~~th

the Army, of those organizations which were not

under Army jurisdiction but were employed in the theater of operations,

fnd

final~

fo~ght

of those Allied netions

shoulder to

c~ication

should3r~

~~th

whom the three Great Powers

-- These questions are concerned with radio

in a theater of oparations and at the highest level of

the military and political corriDand.

I.

The

ftussi~..l:.!:m

Russian radio

connnunic~ti on

i.n v: orld r; ar II had overcome tha de fie-

ciencies with which it was afflicted during the First World War and the
subsequent 1\evolutionary Wars up to 1920, namely the use of excessively
primitive cryptosystems.

During the occupation of eastern Poland in

1939 Russian radio operations were in the hands of prewar personnel who

I.laintained a high stsndard.

As darly as the time of the Russo-Finnish

winter \Yar of movement, which required a great deal of flerlbility from

both signal officers and radio operators, a certain relaxation of radio
discipline made itself felt, as a result of which security was jeopardized
and the

ene~

was given access to secret information. This deterioration

C6NFIBENfiAL
le&Biilj IRIIMllfi?R

_I

REF ID:A56970
88NFIBENfiAL
SICUillJ \ulc:ml\iar

-1311n security became more pronounced after the German invasion of Russia,

when the fluctuating situation at the front made it impossible to exercise strict control over radio cocmunication.

These difficulties as-

sumed even greater proportions when the Russians lost their best radio
operators together with the lower of their peacetime Army.

They were

unable to train- new personnel to the same degree of proficiency, especiell,y after they suffered additional losses in 1942.

The sudden abun-

dance of radio sets which were delivered to them during the subsequent
years induced the Russians to sacrifice quality for quantity.
end of the war the Russians were

Up to the

incapable of remedying this dilutive

process.
On

the whole, Russian radio communication was well conceived and,

though somewhat, inflexible as judged by western European standards, properly adjusted to the level of intelligence of the average radio operator.
The Germans soon discovered that their opponents used simple, conventional
call signs which enabled them to idantit.f quickly the stations or a given
net.

The Russians' use of authenticators also facilitated the work of

German communication intelligence.

As early as 1 April 1942 the Russians

completely revised their radio procedures with the result that their security was tightened.

,.

German radio intelligence results thereupon decreased

proportionately for a time.

This improvement in Russian radio communica-

tion was offset by an intensification in the German intelligence activities which led to the observation of certain regularly-recurring, stereotopic subject matter, such as routine (form-type) reports and code names.

CONFIBENfiAL
Seea:it; lnfo;malion

eeNFIBEN'fiAL REF rn =AS 6 9 7 0

$'C"P1' lgfqs=a'!OR

1s II

-132-

P-03B

..r.t the same time the Russians continued to improve their cryptosystems,

so that their high-echelon radio.communications showed continuous progress

with regard to security and could be solved only because the same systems
1vere used along the entire front and the number of intercepted messages
VIas therefore very large.

In any event, it is only just to acknowledge

that the responsible top-level Russian officials

~ere

successful in im-

proving their radio communication throughout the duration of the

~ar.

However, practical application in the field did not keep pace with
the technological improvements.

On the contrary, the inferior personnel

made so many mistakes in operating the great variety of sets and other
equipment that the security of Russian radio
throughout the war.

co~unication ~eclined

As in so Tr..an.v other fields, the principal causes

for this decline were defective training, lack of discipline, and insufficient attention to minor rletails which, when arlded together, comproJ!lised the security o.f the entire ltussian rarlj o system.

Moreover, there

\':ere certain other causes vrhich contributed to this deteriorstion:

slow

transmitting speed, which enabled the speedier (k-:!rman intercept personnel

to record and plot Uussian signals, the previously-mentioned errors in
keying, the failure to change code designations for frequently-recurring
'tr.:;rrns, localities, and data referring to time schedules and units, the
use of the same

C~Jptosystems

the transmission of

messa~_,--es

over too extensive an area, end

final~

in the clear ".Vithout urgent necessity, es-

pecially in the form of voice conversations between tactical commanders.

Obviously, in the heat of combat such mistakes are made by any belligerent,
not just the Russians.

In the case of the latter the Germans observed

C6NFIBENfiAL
6mPJII IRitrsntlallo.

REF ID:A56970

CONfi6!NJIAL
&11Hritt llfll'lllltill

KS # P-038

-133-

that the Russian command repeatedly corrected the deficiencies b,y strict
supervision and probably also b,y the threat of commensurate punishment.
In addition to radio agents and numerous partisan radio stations, the
very strictly supervised infantry and artillery units or the divisions
in the line demonstrated excellent radio and cryptodiscipline.

Among

the tank forces adequate enforcement of radio discipline was frequently

observed in the case of those few units whose commanders and signal
officers pursued this objective with the necessary vigor.

German commun-

jcation intelligence was ineffective whenever Russian units followed

only
operating procedures to the letter b,y transmitting/absolutely essential
messages, and whenever they changed their codes and ciphers frequently.
However, it was much more frequently the case that Russian personnel
violated the operating procedures, thereby providing German radio intelligence with numerous openings which helped in breaking their cryptosystems.
One of the chief factors which jeopardized the security of Russian
radio communication was the almost unrestricted use of this medium by
the various command echelons.

Some of the reasons for this, such as the

lack of wire communication and the great distances to be covered, have

previously been discussed.

These factors justify the Russian procedure

in the light of the principle that effectiveness takes precedence over

security.
The observance of radio silence as a security measure is in a category of its

~.Yn.

Realizing its effectiveness in achieving surprise, the

Russians imposed radio silence each time they committed strategic reserves
and tank

units. After they had achieved absolute

GUNFIBENJIAL
SEEUiilJ liifo;mat:un

su~riority

over the

REF ID:A56970

_cONFID!NTtAL -

SRUUI) liifsllutin

liS

# P-038

-134-

Germans, the Russians no longer paid any attention to such minor details.
In any event, by failing to observe radio silence, they lost the element
of surprise and with it the necessary minimum of security.
made little use of strategic radio deception.

The Russians

Great surprises, such as

those achieved at Rostov, Moscow, and Stalingrad, were limited to instances in which German radio intelligence information was not believed
by Hitler, vrho insisted that the ltussians were using deception.
The third question to be answered in this analysis is by far the
most sigl)ificant one.

Because of the fact that the entire well-conceived

command structure and cryptosystems, as well as the efforts of disciplined

radio operators, were undermined by an equal number of undisciplined
radio operators, as was the case in the Soviet
Russian radio communication was compromised.
ments in their ranio communication and

A~,

the security of

In spite of all the improve-

crypto~stems,

the Russians actua!l1

left themselves as wide open to the enemy as in World War I, when every
~ussian

offensive plan was revealed in advance.

It is almost beyond comprehension hmT the otherwise strict and ruthless Russian top-level command could leave such excessive latitude to
individual units within the Army, with the result that GHQ artillery,
rocket launcher, heavy mortar, engineer, and service formations compromised
all the higher-echelon cryptosystems and tore the veil of security that
had been created by the imposition of radio silence on all other units.
The same lack of discipline was observed in the radio operations of
the NKVD units, which were

certain~

they were political organizations.

not under Army jurisdiction, since

In view of the

CONfi6ENfiAL
S'"d&t lnfc:iiiillbil

high~-developed

REF ID:A56970

CCNPIII!NTIAL
&easil; lnfmnwtlw

-1.35-

security systems of the Russians, it seems remarkable that this condition

was allowed to continue.
If the Russians attached any importance to the security of their

radio communication and thereby to the secrecy of their plans the light of a number of orders issued by Stalin this must
be assumed -

and in

certain~

they should have limited the number of radio stations

to that for which fulzy-trained operators were available. With all the
manpower that was at their disposal, they should have assigned a greater
number of expert operators to supervisory positions and subjected radio
communication of every unit in the Army to their control. EXperienced
intercept personnel should have been used for spot-check monitoring.
Final~,

the Russians should also have integrated NKVD radio communication

into the

Army

II.

system end standa:rdized the operating procedures.

The British

British radio communication was the most effective and secure of

ell those with which German communication intelligence had to contend.
Effectiveness was based on World War I experience in radio procedure
and cryptology, in which the British Army
Navy.

l~arned

many a lesson from the

The higher-echelon cryptosystams of the British were never com-

promised in World War II.

The radio operators were well trained and

performed their '\York in an efficient and reliable manner.

Nevertheless,

there ware also some defects. Feeling safe because of the security of
I
f- their cryptosystems, the British neglected to take into acco'\Ult the openings which their radio communication left to German traffic analysis.
Plain-text addresses and signatures contained in otherwise

-GQNFIBENTIAL,...,i., lale::::atiu::

secure~

-------------------------REF ID:A56970
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MS II P-0.3B

-1.36-

encrypted messages revealed the make-up of the British nets and thereby
also the tactical interrelationship of units in which the Ge:nnans were
interested.

Tl:le stereotyped sequence in which stations reported into

their nets indicated the structure of the chain of command, while British
field ciphers were too simple and did not provide adequate security over
extended periods of time.

Either the British overestimated the security

of their awn systems, or undereatimated the capability of German communication intelligence.

The same was true or the radio traffic of British

armored units, which used such simple codes and so much clear text that
the Germans arrived at the conclusion that the British were unaware of
their field radio communications' being observed.
In spite of impenetrable higher-echelon cryptosystems, excellent
operating procedures, and efficient personnel, the security of the British
radio communication in the United Kingdom during 194o-42 and especially
in Africa in 1941-42, was so poor that, for instance, until the battle of

El Alamein Field Marshal Rommel was always aware of British intentions.

It was Rommel who repeatedly emphasized the predominant significance of
radio intelligence reports in making an estimate of the enemy situation.
In this connection it may be pointed out that by no means all German
field commanders recognized the utility or radio communication and intelligence.

Many or them were quite prejudiced against these technolog-

ical innovations.

This may help to explain why the performance of soma

field commanders and their subordinate units so conspicuously surpassed

or f'ell short of the general average.

They were the ones who either

deliberatei or unconsciously simplif'ied or complicated their mission

eONFIBENTIAL

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by

making tul.l. use of or neglecting the facilities which were at their

-137-

P-038

disposal.
What surprised tHe Germans was that the many tactical successes
scored by Rommel as the result of his unusually profound knowledge of
the enemy situation did not arouse the suspicion of the British and lead
them to the realization that their own carelessness in radio communication
VIaS at fault
According to British statements the most important booty captured
during the break-through at El Alamein were the German intercept records.
A quick analysis of this material opened their eyes and led them to introduce immediate reforms.

The correction of the mistakes they had made

over a period of several years and the thorough reorganization of their

radio communication did much to improve their security.
~

As in the case of the other Allied armies, the Germans observed a

!,

.: general relaxation in British Army radio disc:5.pline, particularly in

> voice communication, during the course of large-scale fighting. As a
result, the secrecy which had been maintained up to the beginning of an
offensive was quickly lost.

A few other deficiencies continued to be

evident in British radio communication until the end of the war, such as
for instance the inadequate encoding of place names in connection with
grid co-ordinate designations.
The surprise achieved by the British during their landing operations

was remarkable.

It was accomplished simply by imposing radio silence.

The British Army probably acquired this device from Navy.

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Only in very rare instances did the British observe radio silence
during ground operations.
ita1~

It seems incomprehensible why the British llil-

leaders did not impose radio silence and use it in its more refined

form, that of radio deception, more often.

By achieving surprise, even

during relatively minor engagements, they would have been able to reduce
their losses.
In anS\ver to the third question in this analysis it must be pointed

out that evan British radio communication was afflicted with a deficiency
destined to compromise many of the

Army

excellently devised and implemented.

procedures which had been so

This deficiency was to be found

in the radio communication of the Royal Air Force.

The only possible

explanation was interservice jealousy which led the RAF to overestimate

the quality and security of its radio communication and to refuse to let
it be subject to the supervision and control of the Army.

At the same

time Great Britain seems to have been without a unified armed farces
command which would have restricted such separatist tendencies by exert-

..

ing an authoritative, standardizing influence on the individual services

The R.AF was certainly not aware, hovrever, that it was responsible for
revealing many carefully guarded plans of the Arrrry and thus for many
losses and casualties.
Whereas the RAF ailed to adopt the superior radio operation procedures of the British Army and Navy, other Allies who subsequently
entered the war, especially the United States, introduced the proved
British methods, much to their advantage.
much to its disadvantage.

e6NFI6ENTIAL
S111rit) IRflfllleliiR

Only France failed to do so,

REF ID:A56970
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-139-

During the last year o the Italian campaign the exemplary conduct o

.,

the British, with their wealth of experience, confronted German communicatian intelligence with a variety of problems.

In this slower and more

orthodox type of warfare strict control by the British achieved a high degree

of radio discipline and was able to eliminate most of the national idiosyncrasies that characterized their radio communication. The standard of
security in the Italian theater was extremely high.
III.

The US Army
--.- ....

~-

American radio communication developed very much along British lines.

Up to 1942 domestic military traffic in the United States and that carried
on by the first units to be transferred to the British Isles, revealed
certain distinctive features, such as APO numbers, officer promotion lists,
___C.W:'iii

:WI!:

-;,-~--

...-m-fi

.s,;;:u......,.~_-_...:._

'1..:.........,..,.
..........
--~

and unit designations and abbreviations which were at variance with their
British equivalents.

German communication intelligence had no difficulty

f~ in driving wedges at points where these features occurred and in compromising

the security of American radio communication.

The manner in which the

US Army handled the traffic showed that its radio operators were fast and
experienced.

The cormnents made in the preceding section pertaining to the

British cryptosystems are also valid for those of the Americans.

'

The use

of field cipher devices complicated German radio intelligence operations,

even though their cryptosecurity was far from perfect.
The Americans deserve credit far the speed with which they adopted
British operating procedures in 1942. They muS't have recognized the

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# P-0.38

-140..

progress made by their Allies, particularly after El Alamein.

The Germans

observed a continuous process of co-ordination aimed at eliminating the

aasily discernible differences between British and American procedures,
r3x:cept for lin..,"Uistic differences Vlhich could not be erased.
the radio discipline observed by British

an~

However,

American units alike while

---

they were stationed in the United Kingdom deteriorated rapidly and reached
the very-- limit of minimum security requirements as soon as US troops
entered combat.

The abundance of radio sets with which lwarican units

were equipped tempted the inexperienced US divisions to transmit far too

many O.V and voice messages in the clear.

They thereby provided the German

command with many clues regarding the tactical situation and US intentions
Bnd enabled German cryptanalysts to solve many an American cryptosystem.
This criticism pertains particularly to the initial engagements in North
Africa, and to the subsequent actions in Normandy and France, and to a
lesser extent to those in Italy.

In spite of the training during combined

exercises in the British Isles, the security of American radio communication was extremely poor.

During the later stages of the war the quality

and security of radio communication wss far from uniform in all the
American armies.

There were some armies whose radio traffic could hardly

be observed, with the result that their intentions remained a secret.

Other armies, either deliberately or unwittingly, denied themselves the

benefits of radio security.

Needless to say, in spite

or

their obvious

superiority, this deficiency proved detrimental to them and resulted in

needless losses.

68NFIBENJIAL
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-------

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-141The comments made with regard to radio silence and deception in the

section dealing with British radio communication apply equally to that

of the Americans.
Apparent~

there existed no centralized US radio command agena,y re-

sponsible for raising the average performance to the quality and security
standards set by the most disciplined units, or for keeping in check the
arbitrary and unsatisfactory operating procedures of certain armies.
IncidentallY, the conclusions at which the Germans arrived on this subject were confirmed by MP radio operations during the Ardennes offensive.
--------~-.-.----::--:-~----

----------_---

In this instance all established rules were violated and, given a some-

'

what less unfavorable distribution of forces, the final outcome might

have been very different, since the German top-level command had complete
information on US plans and operations.

These happenings were in para-

doxical contrast to the otherwise exemplary security measures taken by

k the Americans
In conclusion, it may be said that the Americans higher-echelon
nets were just as secure as their British counterparts.

Tactical net

operation should indeed have measured up to the required security stan-

dards.

Actually, however, over-all security was compromised by the many

openings given to German communication intelligence by

disciplined lower-echelon units.

insufficient~

That a maximum of security could have

been achieved was demonstrated b,y the efficient radio operations of the
US Seventh Army during the last year of the war, when the results obtained
~1;,-:L._....._-:.~::~.:O:~-!..... :.:..~..:

by German communication intelligence operations in the path of this army

dropped to an extremely low level.

Unified control and strict supervision

C6NfiBENfiAL
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&teBII~

htlor:nat!oR

would surely have led to greater security among the US forces in general.
lV.

The German Army

'fhe German Arrrry no doubt also made mistakes.

In cases of extreme

urgency German operating procedures permitted the sending of plain-text

i

massages, after a written authorization from the tactical conunander had

been obtained.

Inadequate training of replacements, especially field

radio operators, led to the same mistakes and breaches of discipline as

on the opposing side.
The great increase in the number and types of sets issued resulted
in a deterioration of the effectiveness and security of German radio

communication.

Attempts were made to prevent serious blunders by moni-

taring the nets of divisions and higher units.

The second question raised in this analysis was given due attention
by the Germans.

The Chief of Army Signal Communication convinced the

Army General Staff of the necessity of imposing radio silence in the assembly areas before the start of offensive operations.

He also prohi-

bited all practice traffic within newly-arrived units and relied on the
peacetime training of the radio operators and the technical soundness
of the cryptosysterns.

After surprise had been achieved at the beginning

of an operation, radio traffic was immediately resumed with the usual

efficiency.

As soon as the telephone lines became available, either

when the offensive ground operations came to a halt or Vlhen it became

necessary to switch to the defensive, most of the German radio nets
consistently closed down.

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----

SEtoJil) lnflrn 18 li&if

~s
.--

\
't.

-143-

P-038

In World War I the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs refused to

'

edopt the radio comw.unication procedures of the Army despite the fact

that the latter had far more experience in the matter.

The authori-

tarian German government in the last war was equally unwilling to correct
procedural deficiencies of nonmilitary agencies.

In theory, the powers

vested in the Chief of Armed Forces Signal Communication under the

.,.!

,.
,,i

National Defense Act, enabled him to exercise strict, unified control

t over radio communication and cryptosecurity in time of war. However,

,.

f,

i..

he was unable to rr.ake any use of these powers, since in actual practice
OKW could not prevail over the more powerful SS and National Socialist
Party.

The unilateral actions and blunders committed by the radio com-

f! munication agencies of these organizations seriously compromised German

I
t

security.

Up to the end of the war the Germans were therefore unable

to set up a unified control agency and to eliminate the most obvious deficiencies.

At a very late date the cryptographic agencies -- and no

others -- of the various services were unified under the sole authority
of

omv,

whose procedures were based on the longest experience and offered

the highest degree of security.

v.

Others
The over-all effectiveness of combined radio communication will

P.lways be determined by the weakest link in the chain, since it is this

one which offers enemy observation its first opportunitiss to secure
information.

The first time this fact became apparent was during the

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P-0.38

Norwegian campaign.

It was true in all instances where the French, who

adhered to their own system, participated in combined operations, such

as those in North Africa, Italy, and finally France proper.

The trans-

mission and cryptosecurity of French radio communication was below average before the war and in 1940.

The complete revelation of the French

troop dispositions in the Weygand Line as the result of unnecessary radio

communication was a terrible blunder on the part of the top-level signal
command and the French General Staff.
General Fellgiebel, the first Chief of German Army and Armed Forces
Signal Communication, who was a radio and intercept expert, commented
after the campaign in the West in 1940:

"I had always hoped to see the

day when tangible proof of the effectiveness of radio intelligence

~

could be given by counting the nmnber of enemy divisions right off a

\ map.

This has now actually happened.

South of the Aisne and Somrne

thirty-six enemy divisions were reported by RI, and exactly' thirty-six

of them were actually ound to be there, in the very areas where they
bad been plotted. 11
The fact that the French were still using their 1940 methods four
or five years later and that they did not adopt the superior British ones
as did all the other Allies, indicated a lack of progressive tbinldng
and faulty individualism which compromised the security of the French
military conunand, not to Jll9ntion that of their Allies.

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-145-

P-038

It was

probab~

because of former close ties with the French, that

the performance of Czech radio communication was below average.

In keeping with the general characteristics of the Poles, the radio

communication of the Polish Army was over-organized.

By overemphasizing

security to the detriment of effectivenss, the Poles dug their

own

grave.

By the same token, during the later stages of the war radio operations of
Polish partisans and resistance groups attained a high level of transmission and cryptosecurity.
VI.

Summary

and Conclusions

German communication intelligence scored its greatest and most strik-

;~

ing successes not by laborious and systematic traffic or cryptanalysis,

but rather by taking advantage of enemy blunders which violated the written
t

and unwritten rules governing radio operations. Neither the .Americans nor
the Russians maintained perfect security.
war

on~

During

the last year of the

the British came close to achieving a fairly satisfactory degree

of security. That adequate security could have been maintained was demonstrated by several disciplined American and Soviet units.
The security of radio communication, which is absolutely essential

in the exercise of command over the armed forces of a nation can be obtained only

by

setting up a unified control agency.

Its functions must

include the surveillance of all military and nomnilitary agencies which

are permitted to use radio communication in wartime.

e8NFIBENfiAL
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Moreover, this

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I P-038

-146-

central control agency must monitor radio traffic, introduce and supervise uniform training programs, sat the highest standards in traffic-
handling technique and or cryptosecuri ty, and exhaust every possibility
for improving operating procedures on the basis or the experience in the
field of communication intelligence.
These measures should be introduced in peacetime or at least be
ready for implementation at the outbreak or war.

Very far-reaching

powers must be granted to the men in charge or this radio control agency.

68NFID!NTIAL
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..

Chapter Five
Radio Intelligence Activity of the German Armed Forces
High Command -

Conclusions

The communication intelligence units of the three services co-oper-

ated close4'" during joint operations, such as the German campaigns in

Norway, Africa, Italy and other theaters.

The Navy had special RI units

which observed foreign naval movements and maritime traffic in general.

Similarly, the Luftwaffe organized a radio intercept service to observe
enemy air traffic.

Both the Navy and Luftwaffe RI agencies co-operated

closely' with the respective radar systems for the purpose of directing
German submarine and air attacks and or intercepting the corresponding
enemy countermeasures.
It is no secret that the British soon made up for the initial advantage held by the Germans in the field of radar and then retained undisputed leadership.

V~

will remember Sir Stafford Cripps' statement

that the British radar s,ystem was more decisive for the outcome of the

"

war than the atom bomb.

The new German schnorkel submarines which were "D/F proof 11 came out
-- ------------

too late.

The intercept service of the Luftwaffe. provided information

for the air-raid warning system in Germany.

In most cases Luftwaffe in-

tercept units were able to follow enemy squadrons during their entire
flight, from take-off to landing, largely on the basis of interpl.ane

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cllnversations.

-148These transmissions were heard on the ultrashort wave-

..

lengths.
During \Yorld War II other German agencies carried on cODUIIWlication
intelligence, but their achievements cannot be compared with those o the
Armed Forces.

The Cryptographic Branch of the Armed Forces Signal Com-

munication Group which was staffed mainly with

sible for developing and testing

and for observing diplo-

crypto~stems

personnel, was respon-

matic and other international radio traffic.

There were two reasons why

this mission, which exceeded the scope of the

and Armed Forces

assignments, was turned over to a military agency.

First of all, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs did not have

a~

corresponding service, and so the more experienced militar,y took over the
observation of diplomatic communication channels.

Following the misfor-

tunes experienced by German diplomacy in the field of cryptography during

Vlorlr.l Vlar I, the military and diplomatic services co-operated closely.
This co-operation continued until the end of the war.

The wealth of

material produced by the observation of this high-level radio traffic

provided military personnel with ample opportunities for practice in
cryptanalysis.

This was the only worthwhile material which provided a

suitable basis for analyzing extrema:cy difficult cryptosystems and which

could aid in the developnent of new cryptanalytic methods.
engaged in interpretation also scored notable successes.

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The personnel

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-149-

P-038

In the Cryptographic Branch, there were thirty-seven "desks" for an

equal number or countries; they were responsible for intercepting and

The

solving messages to and from virtual:cy- every country in the world.

hussian diplomatic codes were the most impregnable, and the Russian desk
was therefore the most unproductive.
"""'-

..

Nothing could be learned tram Koscaw

...:-: :.: . :.:-;: .

-~--=--

-=----: __-

except by intercepting radio dispatches from diplomats accredited to the

-

Russian government.

ispecial:cy- careless were the Turks, whose messages

.:

....-,..

were regular4r decoded without effort, even after they had been warned
by- the Germans.

This was an ideal way of keeping a check on Japan.

be

liitler ordered that no request/made of the Japanese to improve their

cryptoB,Ystems.

As it turned out, this decision was probab4r of the great-

est advantage to the United States, which was able to break the insecure
Japanese cryptosystems throughout the war.
: :sistant to analysis either.

Chinese messages ware not re-

----

--

The more advanced a nation, the more diffi-

culties cont'ronted the German cryptanalyst& in their efforts to break its

codes.

However, there was no unified control over US

.w

'itS.~-==:!.-_~-::- ...

cryptos~~~~y,

;-.:.:!".- ~-x: z_'":.__.. '"'-:--. -:-- :....-:.;_: :.-- ...: _--: -::.::.-;:-.. ----- -...

---

so

that the Germans were able to accomplish routine solution of messages to

and from one official American agency in Switzerland

Cryptana:Qrzed intercepts whose contents were important were disseminated to a small number of top-laval officials as "reliable information.n
Those destined for Hitlar were transmitted by teletype cryptogram and
submitted to him without delay-.

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S6tbillt liil&ilhiliBJi

-150In contrast to other countries, German communication intelligence

-was not subordinate to the counterintelligence secret service, but remained
a part of the signal communication organization except for a brief period
from approximately

1928-35, when the cryptographic functions were assigned

to counterintelligence.

Communication intelligence had its origin in and

was developed by the signal communication organization.

Under Signal

auspices it was in an optimum position to improve its cryptosystems and

to benefit from the latest advances in radio technology.

Old as it may

be, this fUndamental question of command channels is still the subject of

dispute.

The achievements of German communication intelligence in World

\far II may speak in favor of' the German type of intelligence organization,
which relieved the Army General Staff' of direct command responsibilities
and technological problems.

Co-operation between these two agencies was

close and the Staff' was provided with the desired information in finished
form..
However that may be, modern statesmen and military leaders will make
ample use of communication intelligence to obtain information.

On the

other hand, they will strive to protect their own country's radio communication from mistakes and failures by imposing strict control and surveillance and b,y

dra~g

up well-considered agreements with allied nations in

order to provide a maximum degree of security.

In all countries there is

a need for maintaining the security of certain military and foreign polioy
decisions, lest their effect be compromised from the outset.
/ s/ Albert Praun

G9NFIBENJIAL
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-151-

P-0,39

..

..

lura; manoR

APPENDIX I
Historical Survey of German Radio

Intellige~ce

(1918 - 45)

I. 1914- 18
In 1914 the German Army had no units for the observation of enemy

radio traffic and its radio equipment was inferior to that of the far
more advanced Russians.

During the Battle of Tannenberg, a chance

occurrence led to the interception of plain-text messages sent by the

Russian Second Army, in which the commanding general, Samssonov, revealed his intentions by having orders to subordinate corps transmitted
in clear text in order to avoid any delay and errors inherent in encryption and decryption.

The revelation of these enemy orders proved to be

an unexpected boon to the German command.

However, because of an india-

cretion on the part of the German newspapers, the Russians soon realized
what had happened.

The rigid enforcement of secrecy and strict use of

cryptographic systems in the ensuing operations soon dried up this pros-

..

pective source of intelligence, but the steadily improving intercept

"
organizations
which employed mathematicians as cryptanalysts, first in
the Austro-Hungarian and later also in the German Arrrry:, eventually broke
all the Russian ciphers.

Subsequently, German crypt analysts often solved

messages before their proper addressees could receive and decrypt them.
Poorly trained Russian operators frequently requested the transmitting

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App. I

-152-

..

station to repeat its massages, which had already been received by superior German operators, solved by e:xper:lsnced cryptana:cysts, and submitted

to the German tactical commanders for use in planning their countermeas-

urea.
The Russian cryptosystems continued to be compromised throughout
~'lorld

War I, so that the Chi.ef of Staff' ot the Commander in Ch:l.et in

the East, General Holtmann, was later able to write in his book The War
of Lost Opportunities (Dar Krieg dar versaeumten Gelegenheiten) that
"thanks to this intelligence medium every hussian offensive was revealed
beforehand to the German command during the entire course of the war."
Corresponding blunders were committed in the 'ilest by German cavalry
units transmitting plain-text radio massages which the French called
'l:arr1its telegrams 11 (!Larwitztelegramrne).

In this :instance the reason

J'nr transmitting in the clear was that, because of the precipitate mobilization of these cavalry units, the cryptographic material which the
General Staff had prepared f'or distribution did not arrive in time, and
thus the radio stations had to move into the field without it.
Another serious blunder of German radio communication aroused world
opinion

~uring

the same war.

This was the so-called "Zimmermann note, n

'VIhich the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs sent to Mexico, urging
that country to take hostile measures against the United States.
slip was decisive in turning the US against Germany.

CONFIDENTIAL
Sacunty lnfanubaa

This

Up to the end ot

------

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A.pp. I
the war, in spite of repeated warnings from the military, the German
inexcusab~

diplomatic agencies
itive cryptosystems.

The

overestimated the security of their prim-

high~

efficient British intercept service was

able to break the messages sent by the big station in Nauen to the detrdment of the effectiveness of German diplomatic and military policies.
During World Vlar I the observation of British ship movements by
German Army and Navy intercept units provided essential information for
submarine warfare.

Because of the high quality of the British .Army's

cryptographic systems, its radio messages were often not solved until
it was too late.

In some instances the solution of other enemy systems

also required several weeks or even months.

Nevertheless, the Germans

derived certain tactical advantages, even from the belated solution of

intercepted messages, not to mention the progress made in the art of
cryptanalysis.
As early as 1915 special German radio stations attempted to jam
transmissions from the crude, damped-wave apparatus carried by British
air observers, who used the Morse code.

"

These attempts were unsuccessful,

because the signals transmitted by the airplane were always stronger

at the observation battery's receiver than were those sent out by the
jamming stations.

Consequent~,

the jamming stations soon switched

over to the intercepting of enemy requests for fire against German batteries, whereupon they warned the latter before they came under attack.
Opposite the French sectors of the front the same system was later used

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-154-

App. I

by small intercept units attached to various German corps.

Here, too,

the enemy was unable to maintain secrecy, because the devices used for
concealing designated targets were too simple.
In World

~1ar

II the life of many a German artilleryman was saved by

the same type of warning service, which by then was used on a large scale
both in Italy and F'rance.
:::hen the American Expeditionary l!'orce arrived in France in 1917, it
displayed uttar carelessness with regard to signal discipline.
p."l.one security in the trenches was so poor that German wire

Its tale-

intercept

efforts proved highly effective in contrast to the lack of results obtained

elong the British and French sectors.

Since telephone

co~munication

was

1eadily available, radio traffic was at first of only secondary import:mce. i'larned by their more experienced Allies, the Americans gradually
raised their mvn security standards to the same level which the Germans,
French, and British had achieved as the result of dire experience.
In 1928-29 Soviet

militar~

authors raised the question whether inade-

quate radio security had been one of the reasons for Russia's defeat in
World \'lar I.

Some fanatics even maintained that this deficiency was solely

responsible.

The discussion of this subject ceased in 1930, apparent1y

upon a hint f'rom. above.

However, the Russians had every reason to weigh

this- problem. Even in 1920 the radio

~nd

crypt.ographic discipline of the

Hed Revolutionary Arrrr:r in the war against Poland was so inadequate that
the Polish intercept organization under the direction of French instructors
had no difficulty in observing all Russian movements, especially those of

88NFIBENJIAL
SecurrtJ lufu:nldtlon

REF ID:A56970

GiiNfiiiENiiAi
[IIHRt) liifdliil&libli

MS

-155-

P-038

.App.

.9udenny 1 s Cavalry .Army, which was advancing from the south.

This enabled

General Weygand to obtain valuable information for his decisive counterattack.

The World War I achievements of German radio intelligence which initially was improvised and later systematically developed, made it appear
necessary for the

--

.....----

* to

Reich~~

utilize this experience and, in spite of

---

---------------

/fr: The German National Defense Establishment (an army of 100,000) provided for by the Versailles Treaty~
----~-~---------------------------------------------~-----------

all restrictions, to provide such facilitie as would encourage and promote

this aoti vi ty.

2.

1918 -

;6

The military clauses of the Versailles Treaty provided that the seven
infantry and three cavalry divisions of the Reichswehr, whose strength was
limited to 100,000 men, would be allowed seven division signal battalions,
each comprising two companies, one of which was to include an intercept platoon.

In addition, the Germans were permitted to assign signal personnel

to schools, garrisons, and headquarters and to maintain twelve major military radio stations at Koenigsberg (I), Stettin (II), Spandau (III),
Dresden (IV), Stuttgart (V), Muenster (VI), Munich (VII), Frankfurt an
der Oder {1), Breslau (2), Kassel (3), as well as at Nuernberg and Hanover.
The Raman numerals in parenthesis designate military district headquarters;
the Arabic numbers, cavalry division headquarters.

G9NFIBENJIAL
3etdlll) lii(UiiiliDUII

The Treaty did not,

BBNFIBENTIAemF rn: A5

6970

SECDI Ilf Iii fbi malic::

MS

=if=

-156-

P-038

App. I

however. provide for any communication intelligence units.

Realizing that intelligence was of particular importance to an army
restricted with respect to strength and equipment:. the German military
leaders decided at an early date that the radio intelligence operations
initiated during World War I should be continued and further developed
within the framework of available means.

These activities were given the

official designation Intercept Service.

The

above~entioned

stations employed highly qualified operators,

whose time was completely taken up with their routine duties.

These sta-

tiona were therefore selected for radio intelligence operations.

During

the second half of 1921 the officers in charge of the stations were issued
specific orders to guard certain foreign radio channels. The stations in
Muenster. Hanover,. Kassel,. Stuttgart,. Buernberg,. and Munich intercepted
chiefly British and French traffic,. while those in Stettin,. Spandau,.
Breslau. Dresden,. Frankfurt an der Oder,. and Koenigsberg observed primarily
Polish,. Russian,. and Czechoslovak traffic. The advisor to the senior. signal
officer an the staff of each of the

~o

corps headquarters at Berlin and

Kassel was in control of communication intelligence operations. These two

officers reported directly to the Signal Inspectorate of the Reiohswehr
Ministry whenever they had obtained information of special interest.
At first the Germans merely intended to gather information about
foreign military procedures as a basis tor traffic analysis,. including
such elements as frequencies,. signs, prosigns,. operating signals,. hours

89NFIBENTIAL
Sem';'y lAta: maticn

..

REF ID : A5 fj!J.~fiM:

DEVELOPMENT OF
THE RADIO INTERCEPT SERVICE
1921-1939
100

100
MILES

MS No. P-038 Chart I App. I

NORWAY, DENMARK, SWEDEN

FINLAND

..,._./~

200

LOTHUANIA

Kranz(,y-'!--~LATVIA

NETHERLANDS

'

r:l--J

UNITED STATES

FRANCE

1~-1

ESTONOA

Spandau'f Bi"lin
~
'If'!
Hanover b Jiiterbog~
V
POLAND
h'Munster
'If' Frankfurt

GREAT BRITAIN

BELGIUM

StettmT

"""'"j ..

~26

Treuenbrretzen~...-

A ~
~
n
A

Breslau'tf~
!.....- ~9 Wetzlor E;jsa
{jA,_ (
,,..--,.-__,. Eusklrchen
Chemnltz
-<J. . ~
)

Dread;;:egmtzl~-le

TKassel

~-----l.-Vi4:!.."'"'~
Stuttgart

CZECHOSLOVAKOA

! t,.-~lln 1<~

~7

U.S.S.R

LEGEND

_/1---- r.ntercept Target Areas

Munich

~);

'"I

<"'
AUSTRIA

ITALY

BALKANS

SBNFIBENfiAL
s t rr

l'"

the Order of
,Their Importance.

REF ID:A56970

C6NFIBENfiAl
8eea:ity l::fe:IIMiiR

MS

:f/:

-157-

P-038

App. I

"

of operation. traffic handling procedures. and apparatus in use.

gradually did their analysis embrace an evaluation o internet relationships.

Only

No provision had yet been made for text analysis. i.e the trans-

lation o foreign language

messages in plain text and the solution of en-

orypted ones.
After a short while the number of intercepts grew so large that they
could not all be processed.

The two principal disadvantages of the then

current procedure were the lack of a unit to perform preliminary screening

at the receiving station and the employment of personnel for both radio
and intercept duties.

In

1924

it was therefore planned to establish spe-

oial intercept stations. whose personnel were to specialize in the interception and evaluation of foreign radio communication.
In 1925 intercept stations were established at Koenigsberg (I), Frankfurt an der Oder {III), Breslau (IV), Stuttgart (V), Muenster (VI), and

Munich {VII).

The personnel strength of each station was one officer. three

noncommissioned officers, fifteen male and five female radio operators, and
three translators. The stations were gradually equipped with sensitive reoeivers covering a frequency range of from 100 to 3,000 kc .

Their opera-

tiona were to be kept completely separate from those of the radio stations,
and they were located in different buildings.

(See Chart 1)

Because o the low personnel strength, uninterrupted around-the-clock

listening schedules could be maintained on only three or four o the reoeivers. The training schedule called for the best intercept operators to be

C6NFIBENJIAL
Sec"rr'f lnflrHlahan

G9NFIBENfiAtREF ID: A56970

[ 1auatr

'a'n=amn

us IF P-038

-158-

App. I

trained as analysts, wnile the translators were first to be used on plaintaxt messages and were then gradually to be trained in
oiphers.

The

oo~~anders

solvin~

sunple

of the intercept stations were to maintain oontact

,Nith the counterintelligence agencies at military district headquarters.

Each intercept station was to cover certain countries according to
established priority ratings.

An area which was given top priority, was

covered by at least two stations, which exchanged their results.

Intercep-

tion was no longer confined to military traffic but was extended to all
radio cownunication, except naval, for which the German Navy had established
its own communication intelligence agency.
interested in
for

dipl~atic

the~sis

The Army became more and more

radio traffic, since it provided the only material

of difficult cryptosystems.

The Germans continued to place emphasis on the observation of the radio

traffic of foreign armies for the purpose of ascertaining their organization, strength, and distribution of forces.

In this connection the observa-

tion of f'oreign maneuvers assumed great significance, and D/F training was
accentuated in order that a detailed picture of these manuevers might be
pieced together.
All permanent intercept stations had originally been issued a recent
:nodal of the Navy-type direction finder.

In 1928 they were equipped with

loop-antenna sets which could be used in the field.

They surveyed for D/F

station sites near the borders and made radio compass calibrations at regular intervals with the aid of mobile target transmitters.

G9NFIBENJIAL
9ttbiilj l::f&iilitl:Oii

Foreign maneu-

..

REF ID:A56970

BBNFIBENfiAt
!kea:itr lnlo:nl&tian
MS #= P-038

-159-

App. I

..

vera were observed by stations along the base lines thus established.

This

procedure was fully effective in intercepting higher-echelon messages -- in

general dawnto and including division level -- whereas the tactical information obtained from lower-echelon units was at first inconclusive.
After 1928 the attention of Gernan signal experts was focused on the
observation or short-wave traffic, and a study of the effectiveness of short
waves at all hours of the day and night, as well as under different weather
conditions was initiated.
From 1930 on efforts were made to plot medium-wave transmitting stations
operating between 1.000 and 3,000 kcs.

In 1931 automatic high-speed recap-

tion was introduced employing wax disk, tape, and other sound recorders.
The Signal Inspectorate established a cryptographic section which was
incorporated into the Counterintelligence Branch of the Reichswehr Ministry.
A central intercept station was attached to the Cryptographic Branch.
position of evaluation officer at corps headquarters was abolished.

The
The

Cryptographic Section took charge of the intercept stations, assigned missions,

acted as central evaluation agency, and was responsible for the solution of
the complicated cryptosystems that could not be solved at intercept station
level.
The observation of maneuvers from fixed base lines led to the idea of
using mobile equipment for intercept operations.

In 1930 the

Cryptograph~o

Section requested the Ar.my Ordnance Office to develop special trucks for
radio receiving, DjF, and evaluation units.

SnmrjtV lpfgratiiR

This equipment was delivered

GBNFIBMrit ID : A5 6 9 7 0
eaaa:iiJ latanaMin

~~~~
App. I

~~

to the signal unit of the Artillery School.

The first tests conducted by

the new units. which formed one intercept platoon, took place at the same
time that experiments were being: conducted with medium-wave sets having a
5-watt output and a frequency range of 950 to 3.1,0 kc.

The tests proved

that intercept units were able to keep up with the fast-moving action of
a meeting engagement, provided the necessary communication net for relaying
the results could be established.
The intercept platoon was issued additional equipment and its strength
was increased to form a company, whose table of organization was as followsc
two medium-wave intercept

platoo~s,

one lone-wave intercept platoon, a mes-

sanger section. a communication team. and an evaluation team.

The medium-

wave platoon each had one intercept team. one target transmitter, and three
D/F teams.

The long-wave platoon had three intercept teams, one target trans-

mitter. and three D/F teams.

higher-echelon traffic.

The long-wave intercept platoon was to observe

For this purpose the three intercept teams had to

be in close proximity, while the long-wave D/F teams were distributed over a
100-125 mile base line, in order to obtain azimuths which would approximate
right angles as nearly as possible.

The medium-wave intercept platoons were

to be iistributad along shorter base lines, with their intercept teams at the
same location as the D/F teams.

All teams were to be echeloned forward so

that they could intercept tactical radio traffic.

In addition to their

function in radio compass correction, the radio sets issued to each platoon
were used to dispatch orders and to report urgent information to higher

68NFIBENJIAL
511MF1t IRfiFIIII&iiR

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENTIAL
&eaMI'i., IAtlrMIIIiiA

MS

1J:

-161-

P-038

App. I

,.

headquarters. The T/0 strength of the company was 10 officers (including

civilian evaluation personnel with ass~ilated rank) and 250 enlisted men.
the
When/experimental intercept company was first tested, it was attached
to a corps headquarters with the mission of observing units which were operating under simulated combat conditions. Without solving any messages, the
oompanywas able to plot the entire higher-echelon and the essential elementa of the lower-echelon command structure solely by observing the traffic
between \he various stations.

3 1936 - 39
When Germany decided to rear.m in 1936, twelve corps and thirty-six
divisions with a proportionate number of GHQ units were organized.
cept units were at first among the latter.

The inter-

Top-level planning was concerned

with increasing the number of fixed intercept stations, forming additional

mobile intercept companies, and clearly defining the mission of both the
fixed and the mobile intercept units.
Since each military district headquarters had its awn intelligence
agency, it seemed desirable to add an intercept unit, especially since their
activities complemented one another.

The logical solution would have been

to set up one fixed intercept station at each new military district headquarters.

Moreover, the unification of the services under an armed forces

high command was in the planning stage, and such a command agency could not
function properly without an intercept organization. The implementation of
this plan would necessitate the establishment of fixed Armed Forces intercept
stations, whose primary function would be to observe diplomatic radio traffic

C6NFIB91ll 11
tmri\"; 1ata11111&ita

---------- -- - -- - - - ---- - -

~--

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENTIAL
.J!CIId' ........
~111

MS

# P-038

-162-

App. I

and thereby relieve the existing stations.

Mobile intercept companies were to be integrated into the strategic
and tactical ground and air reconnaissance units (the army and division signal
battalions of the Army and the long-range and close-range reconnaissance
squadrons of the Luftwaffe).

The intercept companies were to receive their

peacetime training by covering foreign maneuvers and similar activities.

To

accomplish their mission they needed the data compiled by the fixed interoept stations. particularly that derived from traffic analysis.

The question

of whether fixed intercept stations should be converted into mobile companies

in the event or mobilization was answered in the negative, although it was
to be expected that the workload of the fixed stations observing a potential
enemy country would gradually diminish after the outbreak of hostilities.
However, it was precisely during the periods of tension, such as prevailed
during the assembly and concentration of forces, that the information furnished by the fixed intercept stations would be indispensable, since the personnel of the intercept companies had not completed their training and were
not ready for fUll-scale operations.
Sinoe the mobile intercept teams forming part of the experimental intercept company had achieved their best results in dealing with higher-echelon
traffic, the initial plans called for the formation of intercept companiea
for long-range radio intelligence.

At least one intercept company was to be

included in the T/0 of each army headquarters.

The solution of the problem

of tactical or short-range radio intelligence was postponed for the time

bdng.

68NFIBENJIAL
Srnny 'nfiFIII&b&iJ

REF ID:A56970

EBNPID!NTIIL
lilllrl" IRII..IIill

MS .~ P-o-,a
l.:pp. I
The immediate full-scale implementation of these plans was delayed
primarily by the shortage of personnel.

The 100,000-man .!!!!~~~ he.d

only a restricted number of radio intercept operators.

They were. however.

highly qualified as a result of the then-current twelve-year enlistment

period.

It was doubtfUl whether personnel with only two years of service

could master the duties of intercept operator.

During only the first year

of service it was altogether impossible to transform recruits into reliable

operators.

Since the Arm:y. unlike the Luftwaffe. was not authorized to

extend involuntary periods of service. the solution was adopted whereby an

unusually

hi~h

percentage of permanent civil service workers and non-com-

missioned officers with long terms of enlistment was employed.

In order to train the personnel needed for the newly-activated units.
an intercept training company was temporarily established within the
framework of the training and experimental center of the A:rmy Si@'ll&l School.
This company and the fixed intercept stations provided the personnel needed
for activating the first two intercept companies. which were trained for
operations

..

coverin~

western and eastern

~rope

respectively.

intercept training company was transformed into

principal

assi~nent

In 1939 the

training platoon. whose

was to test new intercept apparatus.

Ry the

outbreak

of the wer seven companies had been e.ctivated. t.hree of which (the 9th. 26th.
bnd 57th Int6rcept Companies) were trai~ed for observing the traffic of

western !::urope. end four (the 3d,. 7th. lath. and

56th

Intercept Companies)

for east and southeast European oovoraEe

Durin~

the activation of these mobile units, a new fixed OKW station

BBNFIBENliAL
Beca: itt lai1111RI8

REF ID:A56970

---etC6WNfFHIBtREN"'Jf""ALsmrj" IINPIIIIti&::

-164-

MS .ff: P-038
l'.pp. I
was established at

an der Oder was

r reuenbrietzen,

~oved

to Jueterbog.

and the fixed Army station at Frankfurt

Another OIDV station was opened at

Lauf, and three OKH stations at I:usum, Euskirchen, s.nd -- after the annexation of Austria -- at Tulln.

Preparations for transferring the fixed

Army station at Koenigsberg to Kranz were underway.

All fixed stations

were greatly expanded with respect to both personnel and equipment.

Their

new T/0 strength was twenty-i'ive officers and civilians, i'irty noncommissioned officers, and seventy-five male and female operators. The DjF
were
sites near the border, which hitherto had merely been surveyed,/ocoupied
by teams and put into service as advance intercept and D/F stations under

the cover desir,nation of "radio security posts."

The fixed stations

together with these radio security posts, now operated an average of

tltenty intercept installations, each of which operated at least two D/F
stations.
Arter 1936 individual intercept companies had been attached to corps
and army headquarters during German maneuvers.
arrived at,

that the gathering of tactical

The judgment, previously

intelli~ence

was beyond the

capacity of intercept companies was confirmed, and it was found that they
were fUlly occupied with long-range intelligence operations.
observe the radio traffic within opposing

division~eas,

In order to

a platoon i'or

medium and short-wave interception and for medium-wave D/F was attached to
each radio company which was part of a oorps signal battalion.
platoons, however, obtained poor results.

CDNfiBENJIAL
'c"ril)

1"'" maumr

These

Their failure was due to the

REF ID:A56970

e8NFIBENJML
$r!!dlf IRf&iibldd

-16~-

difficulty in giving the personnel proper traininr,, in providing them

't':it.h essential evaluation data, and in keeping. i;.hent in practicos..

I.'.,:r~o\o""Jl" 11

t.lere was still no method for expediting the transmission of information

to division headquarters, so that it wouU arrive in time.
Division oommanders had to be provided with tacticai radio intelligenoa which would complement their combat reconnaiesance.

To this end

each dj.vision si[nal battalion was assigned one communication intelligence

to
t-latoon which was /torm part of the radio company.
equipped with receivers designed

These platoons were

to intercept

prj~arily

en~

P.nd Yri th equipment for intercepting telephone conversations.

voice traffie,
The i!Ppossi-

bility of testing them under wartime conditions made it unpossible to go

beyond t.he stage of
communication

init~al

~rovided

organization.

Employment against Ger.man signal

no criterion for estimating the difficulties which

would be encountered in intercepting foreign-language messatas.

The effi-

ciency of that operation depended entirely on the availability of linguists,

wbo had to be given extremely oaretul
Deficiencies

~nich

trai~ing

in military terminology.

had already become apparent in the corps intercept pla-

toons were equally difficult to eliminate.

Real improvements in the per-

ror.cance of short-range communication intelligence could be introduced only

under the pressure of direct en8m action.
of

From the former Cryptographic Section/the ~i~~Ministry emerged

two new agencies:

the Cryptographic Branch of OKW, which included speci-

alists from tbe r;avy and Luttwaf'fe, and the Evaluation Control Center of

CUNFIBENfiAL
=lJ h:lanaaliw

G8NRBENJIALREF

ID: A56970

Wbill) lafa&alliM

IUS I P-038
App. I

ORR, which

-166-

\'fB.S

formed as an

independent unit w1 thin the Sir,na.l Inspec-

torate ir. the General Array Office.

The f.:ryptographic Branch of OKVf was

responsible or co-ordinating the radio intelligence activities o all

three services and ul&intaining contact w1th t.he Counterintelligence
Dranoh, which had become part of OKV'T.
was in charge of all

The Evaluation Control Center

intercept activities

~d

made its service avail-

able to the Ar.my General Starr.

During the construction of the West Wall in 1938, an intercept battalion was for.med on an experimental basis.

It consisted of three mobile

con-.panies, one fixed station, and an evaluation center which was directly
subordinate to the battalion sta:l'f.

The mission of the battalion was to

observe the large-scale maneuvers, which the French Army was executing in
the Chalons-su!-t.:arne area, in order i;o ascertain \Vhether French forces
v.-ere being moved up !'rom there to Germ.a.ny' s western frontiers and to ribtain
CODlplete coverage of tho French border areas behind the l!aginot Line.
cope

~th

this assignment each

~onile

intercept

co~pany

To

was subsequently

organized to consist of one evaluation,ane intercept, one DjF, and one com-

munioation platoon.
The evaluation platoon continued to be responsible tor traffic and
crypte.ne.lysis, the results of which were improved by the introduction of
new techniques derived tram recent experience.
The intercept platoon, comprising thirt.y receivers tor the long,
~edium,

short, and ultrashort wavelengths, established a main intercept

BBNFIBENtiAL
J-!1-;&J lll&iiiildDII -

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENfiAL
lltwibf,_.

-167station and set up advance posts i:n accordance with the requirements of the
situation.

The D/F platoon was issued eight long-n~edium wave loop antenna. sets
(The highly-sensitiveganiometerwas gradually replacing the old loop-type
sets.)

The platoon then estaclished four stations with two D/F sets per

station, thus permitting each one to keep up with

frog commitment of its teams.

en~

movements by leap-

A D/F control system had been introduced,

enabling all the direction finders along the base line to be brought to bear
simultaneously against any enemy transmitter plotted by the main intercept
station.

The station at comprmy headquarters w!ls responsible for maintain-

ing contact with the individual teams.

Each D/F station was issued a

transmitter, so that i-t could report its :f'indine:s to the evaluation platoon.
This same set was used as a target transmitter for providing radio compass
data for the other teams.
The communication platoon was a service unit comprising a motorized
messenger section and a wire team.

The latter layed lines connecting the

teams wi:th the D/F :ttCS at complUJY headquarters 1 installed a remote con:trol
circuit for that NCS, put in lines connecting outlying D/F posts with the

higher-echelon command net and the Reiohapoat and provided telephone and
tfrc

!he German government postal, telephone, and telegraph agenoi/

teletype connections between the intercept

comp~ and

superior headquarters.

Attempts to establish intra-company miorowaTe links had not been veey suocessf'ul.

G8NRBENnAt

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENTIAt
3ttdl ill IRflllllltiiR

'
I

-168Intercept operations against the French met with unexpected diffi-

culties.

They apparently made full use of their wire lines and exercised

; extreme caution in radio communication.

The personnel

enga~ed

in evalua-

tion and interpretation were faced with the ever-present problem of determining whether radio silence indicated the absence of enemy forces in the
target area or a carefully disguised assembly or forces.

It required the

utmost alertness on the part of the D/F teams to distinguish the traffic
within the target area from that which originated outside it.

This was

all the more essential because the cryptosystems which were encountered
at first could not be
the location of units.

solved~

and thus there were no clues for determining

If the difficult oryptosystems were to be solved,

a sufficient volume of messages had to be intercepted.

This was achieved

by employing more than one intercept company with a correspondingly larger

number of receivers, which covered a very wide frequency range.

Unavoid-

able errors made by individual operators could be corrected through deliberate double coverage of the same channels by different units and through
a comparison of the results.
German communication intelligence finally succeeded in establishing
beyond doubt that no large-scale maneuvers were taking place in the area
under observation.

This information could be obtained because the French

failed to change ciphers often enough.

During these intercept operations en attempt was made to use the RI
platoons of the German divisions then deployed alone the West Wall for
bactical short-range intelligence~ particularly in intercepting the (ground
wave) signals emanating from French fortress units near the border.

S9NFJBENfiAL
SEtdillf ilildiihiddii

The

---- -

--------

REF ID:A56970

SIINFIDENJIAL
MS

f P-038

-169-

App. I

attempt was successful in two instances when skilled linguists acted as

intercept operators.
A condensation of the results obtained by all the intercept units was
submitted by the evaluation center to the J.rtrq General Staff, to Arm:!
Group Headquarters 2 at Frankfurt am. Main, and to Frontier Fortification
Headquarters at Kaiserslautern.

The results were subsequently confirmed

by other sources ol information.

These experimental operations along the French border formed the basis
for subsequent procedures used in wartime.

In drawing conclusions the

rrerman planners did not overlook the fact that these operations were carried
out by fixed stations, which experienbed little difficult, in controlling
the intercept units, and in reporting their results.

Obviously, mobile

operations during an advance or attack would present tar greater problems.

This point in particular led to the decision to issue more trucks to the
intercept companies, so that their operations would not be interrupted tor
a single moment during a change of position.

koreo-nr, although intercept

operations along the West Wall favored a lateral disposition, the possible
advantages of echeloning intercept units in depth had to be studied in the
light of a war of movement.

In the field of higher-eohelan radio intelli-

genoa it was decided to establish an evaluation center at each

---~

headquarters.

...

~.

- -

.~.-

...

group

Each center was to analyze the results obtained b.y the

intercept units operatine; within that army group area.

The problem of

forwarding the information in time was not underestimated, but was conaidered possible of solution.

!_9NRBENfiAL
SIEDiitj hrf::a:allla _

REF ID:A56970

eiiNfiD!NTIAL
Wiij IAhlimallaa

-170

In order to make tactical radio tnteiligenoe more effective, plans

were considered for detaChing the RI platoons from their

reapeo~ive

divi-

sions, organizing them tnto companies, and placing them under the c01111118nder of the intercept

bat~alion.

When attempts were made to introduce

this measure, ita advocates could not override the objections to the

del~

in the transmission of' information held to be indispensable by the division ommnanders.

Consequently, although the formation or equally effi-

cient lang-range and short-range Rl units appeared logical and desirable

even at that time, it wa.a not accomplished.

4.

45

1939 -

At the outbreak of war the

tn~ercept

organization of' ORB consisted of'

the following agencies

a.
fixed

The Evaluation Control Center at OIH with ita subordinate

intercept statioDBJ

b.

The evaluation centers attached to each of the three a.rJ9'

group headquarters with their subordinate mobile intercept companies;

o.

The communication intelligence platoons at division head

quarters;
d.

One single intercept

replaoem.en~

company, in which only

basic RI training could be given.

The Polish campaign tully revealed the difficulties involved in employing intercept uni ta in mobile operations.

88NFIBENYIAL
!aedliiJ idle:mallaa

Ho

sa~isf'aotory

solution

REF ID:A56970
89NFIBENJIAL
,etLiiiJ lufeuuatia.._

MS # P-038
App. I
'

-171-

had been found to the problems of transmitting intercepts obtained by

long-range intelligence rom the intercept compaey to the evaluation center and of dispatching urgent information from the evaluation center to
the headquarters concerned.

Essential elements of information gathered

by the intercept companies often reached on:cy the army commanders in

whose territory they were operating and not the evaluation center.

The

activities o the Evaluation Control Center and the fixed intercept

stations on the one hand, and the evaluation centers and mobile intercept
companies on the other were not co-ordinated.

In the matter of efici-

ency and operating procedures certain differences between individual units

became apparent.
ligence picture

In the interests of a consistent, well-balanced intelthe~e

differences had to be ironed out.

Once aGain

tl~

communication intelligence platoons at division headquarters were unable

to obtain any satisfactory results.

The Evaluation Control Center at OKH,

which had remained in Berlin, had not succeeded in establishing uniform-

I!

l'

ity among all the intercept units.

During the concentration o i'orces in tha i'lest, the positions o

Commander of Intercept Troops Vlest and East were therefore created.

They

'

were in charge of the evaluation centers, fixed intercept stations, and

mobile intercept companies within their sphere of interest.

Their newly-

formed staffs nere given the mission o standardizing the operating

procedures of all subordinate units.
For the campaign against Denmark and Norway only one intercept platoon v'Tas transferred from the units deployed in the West.

GQNFIBEiffUtl, ,itv luiDIIh&llon

REF ID:A56970

66Nfi6ENTiAL
SECLiiLJ liifo:niihan

-172-

I..S :/J: P-038

App.

Shortly before the beginning of the Campaign in the West another

step was taken in the direction of decentralization.

JCOIIIWllldor
t

The positions of

of Intoroept Troops Wast and East were bolished.

Each army

group headquarters was assigned its own commander of intercept troops

,1

and evaluation center.

They vrere responsible f'or the intercept companies,

fixed intercept stations, including 'those -v.hieh had been made mobile
temporarily (initially only the Euskirchen station) within the army group
area.

During the campaign against F'rance this organizational change

proved entirely satisfactory with regard to long-range intelligence, whereas

tactical intelligence could achieve only limited results.

Orders issued

by one army group, consolidating the RI platoons of its divisions into

one company came too late to become effective.

During intercept operations against Great Britain in 1940-l!.l the first
attempts were made to employ mobile D/F units in plotting the sources of
short-wave signals.
One intercept platoon, subsequently reinforced

t~

foro a company,

was assigned to the German Africa Corps in March 19+1.

Similar arrangements were

rr~de

for the German campaign in the Balkans.

For the campaign against the Soviet Union each of the three
1

ar~

group headquarters was assigned a cormnander of intercept troops, who was

in charge of two or three mobile intercept companies.
which was committed in

1942

on the southern wing for the offensive into

the Caucasus and Kuban areas, had its

sible commander.

The new army group,

twlll

intercept units under a respon-

During the same year the first f'ixed Adcock D,/F net was

GBNFIBENfiAt
SICLIILJ lnflrlln*'PL.

REF ID:A56970

GQNFIBENfiAL
liiiYA$f IRIIIIII,iiA

1.. lf P-038
J.pp. I

-1?3-

established alone the Kranz-Rzesz&w base line. 'It covered the entire
Russian front and

re~Ai~ed

under the jurisdiction of the Evaluation Con-

trol Center.
In 1942, during the Russian campaign, the plan to organized dis\.

.~
<

tinoti ve short-ra.ne;e intercept units was finally realized.

At the same

time, the intercept service was redesignated communication intelligence.

From the personnel and equiprrent of the communication intelligence
platoons, which vrere reduced to combat intelligence teams, each army
formed one short-range intelligence company, which \'tas placed under a
newlr-established co1w.:unication intelligence battalion staff.

This staff

in turn was subordinate to the commander of the communication intelligence

re~iment

at army group headquarters.

To the latter's staff were assigned

one cornrr.unication intelligence platoon for special intercept operations and

one comBunication section equipped with short-wave transmitters and telet;>,;:e terminals.

No changes were made with regard to the evaluation center.

The ~/o of the short-ranee communication intelligence company called

for

..

7 officers and 300 enlisted men,

lVhO

were equipped with irr.proved

~~re

intercept apparatus and radio receivers -- prilnarily for intercepting rhona

traffic on frequencies above 3,000 kc

-- as well as portable short-wave,

short-r&nge D/F equiprr.ent which had been recently developed.

The T/0

specifinally included an evaluation team., a messenger section, a wire

(oommunication) team., a re..dio (collUllunica.tion) team, a radio intercept platoon, three intercept-t/F platoons, and a. wire intercept platoon.

The

radio intercept platoon had one radio (co:mmunica.tion) team and three

GQNFIBENfiAL
Seta: ilJ liifDillidUUII

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENTIAL
SIIIFiW In foliilidbli

i>.S ,j~ P-038

-174-

ArP I

intercept teams.

The intercept-D)}' platoons 0omprised one evaluaticn

team,. one radio (communication) team,. three intercept teams, e.nd thx:ee
D/F teams.

The w:ire intercept flatoon consisted ot' six intercept teams.

Tho standing operating procedure was as follows:

Disrogarding

i corps and di 7hi en bounC.aries, the company usually ots.tionad its evnlu-

J ation center near

fl.

corps ccmmP..nd post, together with the radio intercept

platoon which was equipped with about thirty receivers but rad no D/F
taarns.

The principal mission of this platoon vras to brid:e the gap betv!aen

long nnd short-range intercept operations.

the three intercept-D/F platoons, which were equipped vfith i'ifteen
recei vera and three D/F sets each, were moved a.s far forv;arc'!. as the situation permitted in order to be within effective ground wave range of the
anenly field sets.

The DjF base line of the indivirlual platoons vras not

to exceed six to ten miles.

J,1oreover,. each platoon had its ovrn SI:la.ll eval-

uation unit staffed with oryptograrhers, who did not engage in cryptanalysis proper but decrypted messages with tl1e help of

co~plete

sets of

cryptanalytica.l solctions. ln'b!lrcepts made by advance platoons were to be

reported without celay cirectly to tho staffs and units concerned. eftar
which the data was reported to the

into~cept

company headquarters.

The wire intercept platoon employed its teams either

~s

a unit, or

individually, or as members of rrd.xed units V!ith the mission of uncovering

11ew possibilities.

The intercepts obtained by all platoons vrere compiled by the company

~valuation

cantor,. and the information was transmitted to communication

eBNFIBENfiAL
_.swri\y lnta::::atoll -

REF ID:A56970
CURflO!M~IIt
.,.catilJ htlatmattr

-175-

'if P-038
App. I
f..S

intelligence battalion headquarters at

munication were used for disseminating the

All available means of cam-

inforn~tion

vdthin the army

area including the higher-echelon and tactical nets, as well as the intercept company's mv.n oomnunication facilities.
Althour.h this was contrary to their original mission, elements of

the short-range intercept companies soon had to be diverted to combatting

partisans and radio agents in the rear areas, since only these companies
had equipnent suitable for locating the

ene~~

stations.

In order not to

jeopardize tactical short-range intercept operations at the front, special

radio counterintelligence

* units

were formed for the rear areas and put

*--~-

/Jr: This term is used to render the German F'unkabvrehr, for which
there is apparently no suitable Enrlish equii.ralent. The author uses
this expression to refer to radio intercept operations a~ainst partisans
nnd enemy ~ents in rear areas, the zone of interior, and occupied
ccuntries.!f

------------

-----------
under OICVf jurisdiction.

The fixed intercept stations had either been transferred from their
prewar locations to the theaters of operation -- to Warsaw, The Hague,
~trasbourg,

Bordeaux, and Athens

or else disbanded and used for the

activation of mobile long-range intelligence companies.

The fixed stations

at Husum and Euskirchen were the only ones to remain at their peacetime
location.

The Euskirchen station, which was temporarily motorized during

the _l;'rench campaign and had moved to Hardelot near Boulogne, later
returned to Euskirchen, where, it was chiefly engaged in very-long-ranGe
interception o United States traffic.

e&NFIBENJIAL
seeurnr nmmauuu

-GQNFIBENTIAL. ~F ID : A5 6 9 7 0
EIIIF~

:MS

1/=

llllflllllio::

-176-

P-038

App. I

The distribution of comounication intelligence staffs and units after

the reorganization was as follows:

Servine OKH there was an Evaluation

Control Center, a fixed intercept station, and a.long-range D/F platoon.

At

a~

group level the

C~~der

o Intercept Troops had under his control

an evaluation center, a fixed intercept station, a long-range intercept

company, and an intercept platoon (at army group headquarters).

The com-

munication intelligence battalion staff at army headquarters controlled a

lonr-range intercept company within the army area and a short-range com, pany within the subordinate corps areas.

A short-range intercept team ras

assigned to each division but was not in the chain of command, which
began at OKH.
The development of radio-guided, rocket-propelled missiles in
led to the

fo~ation

of a special radio

intelli~ence

unit.

1944

An intercept

company was organized within the radio battalion of the Long-Distance

Rocket Division 'bo receive the impulse waves of V-2 missiles for the purpose of measuring their velocity, providing release of the propellant cutoff, and perfec'bing control by pilo'b beam.

In addi'bion, the missile was

observed in flit,ht by radar control and the impact point was ascertained
by radio DjF.

However, the most important mission of' this company was to

determine the location of any enemy sta'bion that atteir.pted to :iam the
impulse waves o 'bhe missiles.
The fixed intercept station at.Huswn discontinued its long-rane;e
activities at this time and assumed responsibility for the systematic

68NFIBENTIAL
nHFitr lafllllltl

REF ID:A56970

88NABNf1AL
5
'"'itr 'n'om'ti8A

-177-

1iS :Jj: P-038

App. I

observation of all impulse radj.o sieuals which could be picked up at that

point.
Soon after the

begir~inf,

of the Allied invasion of France and during

t:;he German withdra.vm.l from western Europe, it became evident that the
German comnunication intelligence units employed in this area were too
v:eal::.

Arrrry GToups G in southern France and H in the Netherlands had no

communication intelligence

co~nanders,

and most of the army headquarters

were without communication intellitence battalions, such as the ones

which were available to their counterparts in Russia, where they had proved
very effective.

The weakness of the German communication intelligence

units in the West prior to the Allied invasion could. be expla:i.r..ed as the
price which had to be paid for

buildin~

up the more urgently-needed in-

tellieence organization in the East, but

n~

that the western European

front was no longer static immediate steps had to be taken to

situation.

re~,1cdy

this

In the autumn of 19.~, the Army m1ief of Signal Communication

transferred a number of communication intelligence headquarters

~1d

com-

panies from the RussiE'..n front to vtestern Europe in order to support and
strene;then communication intelligence in this critical area.

They were

placed under a "Senior Cor:unander of Cmronunication Intelligence" attached

to OB West.
In additicn. the position of General of Corrmunico.tion Intelligence
wns created in the autumn of 19ltl.r under the Chief of Army Signal Connuunicstion.

}~ide

from being a tribute to the steadily increasing importance

of communication intelligence in warfare, the creation of this position

e6NFIBENTIAL

~c'mt) lniOiliiiddn-

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDfNTIAL Sitbilij liiiDiilllliUII

:rJS

1/=

P-038

-178-

.App. I

served the purpose of raising the general standards of performance.

The

newly-appointed general and his staff were to co-ordinate communication

intelligence activities, accelerate the exchange of essential information,
and bring about a steady improvement in the over-all efficiency of operations by assuming control over training, personnel assignments, and the
development of new equipment.

The General of Communication Intelligence

was placed in charge of the Communication Intelligence Control Center,

which collected, processed, and disseminated information of importance
destined for Ritler, OKW, and

the Eastern and Western Intelligence

Branches of OKH.
Centralized control over short-range intelligence performed b,y
individual companies provided the corps and army headquarters with more
reliable and comprehensive tactical information about the enemy capabil'"

ities than had formerly been obtained by decentralized operations at division level. However, this information reached the division headquarters
too late to be useful in the conduct of operations.

Even with the quick-

est processing methods, the new and more extensive organization functioned
in such a way that too much time was required to relay information
the tactical evaluation center to the combat sector concerned.

throu~

In viewt of

the increase in the number of enemy sets using voice and the multitude of
openings thoir users granted to the Germans, the front-line divisions
decided to organize improvised short-range RI teams with the personnel and
oquipDent of their

O\~

division signal battalions.

astounding successes ar-ainst enemy voice traffic.

GQNFIBENfiAL
SIIHPIIJ hil Oliiiibon

These teams soon scored

All that was needed

"

----~~~--====0---------------------------------------------

----.-- ..

REF ID:A56970
6HNIIIItNIIAL
Eaou:it; lnfolliiilldii

-179-.

MS ://= P-038
.App. I

to achieve such success were a

~ew

radiomen with portable receivers, same

good linguists and an opponent who, whenever the fighting amounted to more

than just position warfare, grevl so excited that ha committed breaches of

radio discipline which could be immediately exploited by German artillery
fire.

This was true of the Russians, the British, and the Americans in

equal measure.
In most instances, infantry divisions

ew~loyed

six to

eir~t

receivers.

Some armored divisions intercepted Russian voice communications even while

moving to new combat posts.
For the sake of completeness n,ention should also be made of the operations of those wire intercept teams

~hich

at first belonged to the short-

range communication intelligence platoons of the divisions and were subsequently part of the short-range intelligence companies.

They were finally

returned to divisional jurisdiction and moved up to the forward-most line.

In position warfare against the Russians these teams produced valuable
information at certain points, especially when, during a withdrawal to a
new position, they were able to leave behind ground intercept circuits in
the area that the enemy was about to occupy.

In such instances they ob-

tained information from enemy conversations dealing with intended operat ions and movements, thus enabling the combat forces to take immediate
countermeasures.

On the whole, however, the employment of such teams was

impractical, because it required a large number of highly-skilled personnerwithout furnishing commensurate results, either qualitatively or quantitatively.

V01enever the situation called for or permitted the use

teama, they could always be improvised with the assistance of a few

CGNfiii!NJIAL
EIIHPitJ lalonnation

o~

such

--

REF ID:A56970

"""1C~ON11111
FittHD!FIIliNfFNIA~l
!etbfil) lafam"ion

L:S if= P-039

.App. I

lineuists.

-180-

This was particularly true in cases where the Ger.mans were able

to tap lines which the enemy continued to use before he finally imposed
saourity measures.

A few such instances oocu.rred also during World \far II,

including ocoasional,briefly-successful

atten~ts

mi~t

ta-pping

to deceive the other party

on the line and thereby obtain answers to questions.

one

To illustrate this,

mention tho.t the Germans were able to exploit an opportunity for

French talaphone lines in the outpost area of' the \'Vest 1fall and

listen to the conversations of an outpost-guard.

case they tapped an inadequately

proteo~ed

In a more significant

trunk cirouit out of \Varsavr dur-

ing the siege of that city in 1939, and intercepted tne conversations
the Polish commander and his subordinates in the different defense

be~veen

sectors.
No

\"tire intercept teams were employed during the German retreat from

;:3stern d:urope.
weeks

or

On the other hand, during the confusion of the final

the \far the Germans, fighting within their ovm borders, m.a.de e:x:-

tensive use of vmat might be called telephone intelligence.

Postal tale-

phone workers, public officials, and private persons were requested to give
information about the enelily in occupied or contested areas over ci-.rilian
long-distance belephone lines. Whereas in eastern GermallY the Russian ar.i_ mored
points were immediately followed by signal troops, which occupied
telephone exchanges, thus gaining control of the circuits, the Americans
were quite derelict in takins over phone facilities promptly.
~ao.son

For this

the Germans were usually able to obtain information about American

movomants during a per.iod of several hours after a city or town had been

C6NFIBENfiAL
Oacacilt hifdliliidbii

REF ID:A56970
99NFIBENfiAL
Ellllliij IHIIFH11ti8H

-181-

MS lfo P-038
App. I

captured.

The fact that this carelessness did not result in heavy casual-

ties was attributable solely to the weakening of German resistance.

The actual strength figures of

in the German

A~

at the

~nd

c~nrriunication

intelligence personnel

of the war in 1945 were approximately as

follows:
General of Co~nunication Intellig.ence 1 including his staff)
and the Communication Intelligence Control Center
)

6 commanders of communication intelligence 1 with their

staffs and evaluation centers

)
)

250
11200

10 communication intelligence battalion staffs

500

5 fixed intercept stations

750

10 long-range companies

3,500

15 short-range companies

4.500

'.Ar'!:ro/ personnel employed in radio counterintelligence units

tmd the Cryptographic Branch of OKW

1,300

Total:

~.D_Q.O

These figures do not include the short-range teams directly subordinate to division headquarters. the numerous female auxiliaries Who were

employed as radio operators 1rvi th rear echelon units, the communication intelligence replacement battalion at Frankfurt am Main, the translator
replacement battalion at

Arm

~~issen,

the provisional instruction unit at the

Signal School in Halle, and the communication intelligence training

company.

-88NfiD!NTIKL
Sec"dty lnflrttaliau

REF ID:A56970

CCNfi6!NTIAL

.....iiil; liilbliillfion-

MS

P-038

ffi

-182Appendix II

Survey of the Technological &volution of Ger.nan Radio

Intelligence

In World War II a great number of the successes scored by German radio

intelligence could be attributed to the effectivenss of its special equiplilont.
Durin{; Horld War I J.;he intercept service used general-purpose receiv-

ing sets.
~fforts

When

a~~ospheric

interference was not too great radio intercept

were successful, because damped-wave transmission, using high parTer,

was customary at that time.

The Germans had large, highly-sensitive gonio-

1ueters, which were ideally suited to position lvarfare.

The transition to

undamped-wave transmission -- with its hie;h

-- toward the end

sel~Jctivity

of the war made it necessary to adopt different methods.

During the first years of its existence the Reichv1ehr 11sed commercialtype receivers and direction finders, which, hmvever, proved inadequate for
both active and passive military radio operations.
impro~hlents

Special research led to

in e;eneral-purpose equipment, vmich continued in use for

intercept operations.
Not until

1937 was it definitely decided that the intercept service

should develop some equipment of its own.

Intercept receivers had to have

a sufficiently-vnde frequency range and m3et the special requirements

peculiar to intercept activity.

For the purpose of instantaneous recogni-

bion, rapid recording, speedy direction finding, and mechanical jeciphering, the intercept service needed equipment of maximur:J. Inechanioal sturdiness

e&NFIBENtiAL
S!C"'''Y lni811RitiiR

REF ID:A56970
-- -------CIIIrlbtn
IIAL
llcant; IWIMWiili&

MS

-183-

P-a,8

App. II

which would be wea-therproof under arctic and tropical co:o,ditiona.

More-

over, this equipment had to be reliable and easy to install and operate.
The frequency tuning of the receivers had to correspond to that ot the
direction finders and it was necessary th'at both have sutticient output.
To satisfy these requirements the Signal Equipment Branch of the
I

Ordnance Office added to the wire and radio equipment sections a special

I section tor the development ot radio and wire intercept

'

Arnf'

equipment:

and cryptanalytic

This section developed a series of highly-effective radio

intercept receivers covering the frequencies to be observed.

model. which had a

frequ~

range of 10 kc. - 150

Mo., was

!he beat
re~

tor issue

The quality of these seta was acknowledged in British scien-

in mid-1939

tific publications in 1942, after several of these receivers had been

captured at E1 Alamein.
In contrast to the militar,y establiShments of other nations the
German

Arm:~

made but 11ttle use of the unreliable short waws trom 10 to

-- ....__

100 meters.

..... ::.:.~..n:::~:. .... .

.:

--

- ---

At a very early date German armor took the

,...

**iT

bol~ ~!._ep

of

:m =-::.... -

adopting
ultrashort-wave
equipment,which
proved var.y satisfactor,r in iDter_____
_....;E.:!"":r.:::=;:.,._-_=..
.. ----:_-_______
--- . . . .
:-~-:.-

tank communication, since, contrar.y to predictions, the propagation of these

waves was not limited to direct line of sight.

..

generally used medium(lOO - 300 meters)wave sets, while higher-echelon

--- --------=-

..=.--

Intermediate headquarters

--

headquarters employed the long wavelengths (~00 .. 1,000 me:te~~)..!..

--::-=------- -

Hm:lB all over the world have taken advantage of the wide propagation

oharaoteristios of the short waves.

Coverage of great distances w1 th a

small amount ot power was a commonplace ooourrenoe.

-G9NFIBEiftiAt
-&suit; I&(DidllltDU

It was therefore

BBNFIBENJIAL

REF ID: A5

6970

Seca; Itt liifaa::ctlea

IJS ~!f:

-184-

P-038
App. II

logical that many countries should use

poses.

these waves also for military pur-

However, short-wave signals have a [reat disadvantace in that

they fluctuate and are extremely unreliable when received in the skip
zone whose limits are difficult to determine.

The sky wave component of

a signal can be counted on with accuracy only after extensive observation

of its behavior during different seasons and

t~nes

of the day.

These considerations had to be taken into account in developin[

intercept receivers and direction finders.

The interception of short-

wave signals required two fairly complicated types of direction finders:

a short-range set for ground-wave reception and a long-range one, Which
was initially designated the "Adcock direction finder" after its inventor.
The latter was used along a wide base line; for example, in Russia it
operated along a 400-mile base line between Rzesz&w (Galicia) and Kranz
(East Prussia), and in the Mediterranean area agai~st the British ~ighth

Arm in North Africa along a 750-mile base

lL~e (Tripoli and Crete).

During the winter war in Finland reception of short-wave signals fro1n

Finland was better in Galicia than in East Prussia.

Likewise, Allied

traffic following the landings in French North Africa was, surprisingly

enough, heard particularly clearly in northern France.
In addition to developing these highly-intricate direction finders,
the intercept service brought

'j

o~

receiving equipment designed to handle

radioteletype, multiplex, facsimile, and sound-recorded transmission.

For the development of mechanical equipment for use in cryptanalysis a
special research unit was created.

Technical and organizational details

CQNFIBENliAL
..J&tr"i'l l::taliiilflor

REF ID:A56970

C8NFIBEHJIAL
J&tDIILJ hifbiiiiitlbii

MS

=If=

P-038

-185-

.App. II

of this evolution, which received strong impetus in the course of: the war,
are given in Appendix VII

..

"

CONFID1fnAt
&IIUPit) lnf&ihi&Ubii

REF ID:A56970

~eiJF111N~FIB"'E1RNfF111A.c-the11iiJ lnflr1111i1n

-186Appendix III
Basic Elements of Radio Intelligence
This account is based on the operating procedure of an intercept

company.

Fixed intercept stations, such as the subsequently established

long-range and short-range communication intelligence companies and the

evaluation centers farther to the rear, all operated in similar fashion.
Numerous alternatives by which the operating procedure may be changed
through the transfer of units and the building up of points of main effort
in accordance with the opposing radio traffic have not been taken into
consideration in the following.

1.

Interception
The personnel of the intercept company could operate thirty-six re-

ceivers under normal conditions or twenty-four on an around-the-clock

schedule.

On the basis of the tactical situation and the intercept mis-

sion assigned it was usually possible to determine the radio sets and the
channels that would be used by the enemy units (ar.mored, infantry, or
artillery elements, reconnaissance planes, or higher-echelon headquarters)
which were to be observed.
ing the potential
to be guarded.

ene~

The less information that was available regard-

traffic, the more channels there were which had

Until he was given more specific instructions, the individ-

ual intercept operator had a certain portion of the spectrum to guard.

He had to be able to identify the particular traffic in which the
Command was interested and to disregard the rest.

Ge~man

For this purpose the

operator had to have a comprehensive knowledge of the military and non-

88NFIBENJIAL
Jttdiilj liilbiiil&bdii

REF ID:A56970

C6NfiD!NTIAL
9ecu; it; lnftmnztiw

MS

II P-0.38

-187-

App. III
military radio communication services of the various nations involved, ineluding call signs and abbreviations.

ilhen they received their particular

assignments, the operators were given all pertinent information based on

previous observation by other RI units and on peacetime experience.
Intercepted enemy messages were then recorded and the call sign and type
of message were determined from the heading, authenticator, and group
structure.

If an enemy net used two or more frequencies then these had

to be determined, frequently in co-operation with another intercept operator, who woulrl be tuning across the band in which the still-unidentified
net stations were likely to be found.

Then bearings had to be taken by

direction finders in order to make sure that the traffic singled out by
the operator originated from the area which he was assigned to cover.
After all the

r~t

stations had been identified, specific frequencies were

assigned to individual operators.

Thereupon, the operator was supposed to

intercept all the traffic on that frequency, to note all call signs used
and references to links with higher headquarters, to record any change of
frequenc,y or call signs, and
messages transmitted.

final~

to copy or record accurately all

Several D/F teams were used to determine the exact

location of the stations from which the traffic originated.

A close check

had to be kept on the volume of traffic and any special characteristics,

such as, for example, changes in signal strength, which would indicate some
unit or command post movement.

In such instances new bearings had to be

taken to ascertain whether the station was operatinr, from a different location.

Where traffic was handled by just two stations on a single frequency,

GQNFIDENliAL
!Etdillf Iii fbi iii&l:OU

REF ID:A56970

-CDNPIDENFIAL !eacct) lnfa:n:alian

-:We-

MS # P-038
App. III

in the case of which call signs were usually omitted, the beginning and
ending time of each transmission had to be recorded, so that the stations
could be constantly distinbruished from each other for purposes of accurat3 D/F results.

Attention had tp be paid to relay messages, whose

interception made it possible to discover the interrelationship between

one specific link and others.
tor had to

When intercepting net traffic, the opera-

identify every participating station, including the net control

station, and its relation, i f aQY, to other links.

Moreover, the operator had to watch out for possible errors and charac~eristic

traits

in the technique of the

ene~v

radio operators.

Their

r"Jisappearance and subsequent reappearance at some other point often indicated the relief or transfer of the entire unit to which the operator
balanced.

To accomplish such a variety of difficult tasks the intercept

operator had to be thoroughly trained.

He had to be able to receive an

average of 120 characters per minute.

In addition, he had to be familiar

with enemy redia procedures, so that he could observe traffic without

particular strain.

Only then was he able to recognize peculiarities and

errors, anc record in full all conversations, plain-text messages, operating signals, and abbreviations.
In the performance of his duty the operator made out an intercept

report.

This was a form on which he entered all details pertaining to

station identification, frequencies, message headings, and chronological

nata.

The massage proper was recorded on a special intercept form.

The officer or senior noncommissioned officer, who was in charge of

CONfiBENJIAL
ii811Ji&v IAfiJIII&iiR

REF ID:A56970

C6NfiDfNJIAL
!18011 ily IulSi llltilll

MS

If P-038

-189-

App. III

an intarcept

had to arrange the work shifts and establish priorities

unit~

ror the observation of channels on the basis of requests received fron the
evaluation center.
a traffic chart.

He was also in charge of the D/F teams and had to keep

On

this diagram he merely showed

signs, and

trans~ission

cal data.

The

call

times without enterinr, any geographical or tacti-

coi~pleted

to the evaluation center.

intercept reports and messae;e texts were forwarded

Any peculiarities or changes in the general

radio picture had to be reported to the latter

2.

frequencies~

~~ediately.

Direction Finding
The mission of the D/F units was to determine the location of enemy

stations which had been identified and were beinr, observed by the intercept
operators.
The operating site chosen by a D/F unit had to he favorable for radio
reception and have a minimum magnetic declination.
~No

E~ch D/F team included

operators, one of wham received messages from other D/F teruns, vmile

the second acted as intercept operator, observing traffic on Nhich he reported to his UCS.
In addition to their training in intercepting, the D/F operators had

..

to acquire adeptness in rotating the loop antenna to the point of minimum

volume 1 ascertaining the width of this band of mini!Ilum response, and computing the exact azimuth from the marginal readings.

Moreover, DJl'

operations had to be carried out with exceptional speed. since often only
one or two call signs or an acknowledgement lasting a few seconds could
be intercepted.

Extreme care had to be exercised lest the evaluation

88NFIBENJIAL
&aeuril; lnf01:nation

REF ID:A56970

89NFIBENfiAt
8ttdlilJ liiidlhlitidh

;;s J P-038
App. III

-190-

personnel be misled.

Each operator used a report form on which he entered

information regarding the time, frequency, call sign, and fragments of

intercepted messages, as well as the azimuths obtained.

To dispatch ~/F teaL1S a trans~it~r at the intercept center was used.

"f~e

operator stated the frequency nud oo.ll sign or the station to be loon-

ted and the number of the ~/F team, so that the azimuth thus taken could
be later confirmed by checkine;.

If no teletype comr.mnioation was available,

the ~/F data ~as forwarded to the evaluation center by radio.

3. Evaluation
The mission of the evaluation unit was to correlate the reports of
the intercept and D/li' units itl. order to obtain an accurate picture of
enemy radio ccmununiontion and to sum up the information in a radio situation report.

To

acc~nplish

this mission each evaluation

center
was sub__________ .. ...-=......-----
- -- - - ...

~=....--__._...-

divided into five sections, namely the traffi~ procedure, DjF, message,
and final gvaluation section.

The first four sections were headed by

{ noncommissioned officers, while an officer was in charge of final evalua-

'

tion.

The company commander was responsible for writing the radio situa-

tion report.

Working in conjunction with the evaluation units was the

o~t~_8:!Y-i;ic __ :;;eiJ~S,.2~-! _headed

by another officer, which solved simple

field ci,hers that could be handled by the field-type equipment issued to

the intercept companies.

The data needed for current cryptanalytic oper-

ations was distributed by the Evaluation Control Center.

The individual sections were responsible for

~1e

following functions:

---

-------------------------------------

REF n.lP.itMP,97 0
\IUIUIUt.n IIKL
S&Cblllf liifdl.iii&LUii

MS .ff: P-038
.~p.

-191-

III

The traffic evaluation section maintained the radio traffic chart

and recorded all guarded frequencies, call signs, and prosigns on lists
or index cards.

This reference material helped to uncover any organiza-

tional changes on the opposing side, such as the relief,transfer, or

first appe,arance of units, and changes in frequencies and call signs.
The stereotyped procedure used by the Russians often enabled the Germans
to predict when individual snamy stations would change call signs and
frequencies.
The procedure evaluation section identified net rela-tionships on
the basis of characteristics, such as special operating signals, abbreviations, peculiarities in message texts, and the idiosyncrasies or certain
operators.

This section observed the traffic of the various nets and

registered the results on diagrams.

In addition, it identified the net

control stations from such details as intervals bemveen messages, time

signals, collective calls, and identical

~essages

and acknowledgements

transmitted on more than one frequency.

The D/F evaluation section had to summarize the reports suhnitted by
the D/F teams and make entries on the D/F chart.

From these findings it

was possible to drmr conclusions concerning the location or the enemy radio
stations.

By combining this information with that produced by the tra.i'fio

and procedure evaluation sections, one could determine the organizational

structure of the enamy
a~

un~ts,

since the establishment of radio stations

too great a distance from the headquarters which they served was imprao-

tical.

Any changes in the location of

ene~

e&NFIBENJIAL
Ersun&y IAIIFRialia::

forces. that is, any tactical

CONFIDENTIALREF ID: A5 6970

&11:1Ji&y IRIIIIIRIR

!.1!3

If P-038

-192-

App. III

movements. had to be recognized without delay and reported immediately.

As the initial step in setting up operations. ~he D/F evaluation

section had to provide the teams with data taken from the chart of mag-

netic declination.

These corrective faotors were appliad by the teams.

thus obviating the necessity of recalculating each figure at the evaluation center.

Ono of the functions of the section was to com?ute !;he

boariUB error of 9ach team \Yith regard to direction and frequency and to
make duo allowance for them in estim.ating each fi:x:.

By this rneans the

assumed location of a radio station under observation -- theoretically

at the intersection of the bisectors of the angle of the
~ould

more nearly coincide with its actual position.

er~or

triangle

In co-operation with

tho intercept control station. the D/F evaluation section was responsible
f'or supervising the D/F ta8IllS. for repeating operations whose results were
tUlsatisfactory. and for continuous plotting of stations which were believed
to have changed their location.
at the teams arrived at the
v~iting

A staady flaw of D/F reports originating

saotion~ire

or radio and eventually in

and had to be carefully processed.

The azimuths ware

to overlays on l:loo.ooo or 1:50.000-soa.le maps.

tr~1serred

In plottinr. aver extrmne-

l:r lone; distances. the deviations due to l:ihe curvature of the earth had to
be calculated and taken into account when the long, straight azimuth lines
;Tero tra11.serred to t.'le overlay.

it'or this purpose n simplified method

suitable for field operations was developed.

In addition to 1nessages in clear 'text. the message evaluation section
dealt chiefly with combat and supply messages which were partly enorypbed

e6Nfi6!NTitct
hcacit; lafs:matian

REF ID:A56970
eBNFIBfNJtAt
=ofelll'it) llfiMIItilllw

!W } P-038

-193-

.App. III

by means of signal charts, brevity codes, and ot..lJ.er code designations.

The

solution of fUlly encrypted texts was a function of the cryptographic

Branch as explained in Appendix V.

This branch provided the message eval-

uation section with the solutions to cryptosystems, so that subsequent

messages, for which the same systems were used, could be solved on a local
level.

The message evaluation section maintained lists and

containing
~s

info~nation

~ndex

cards

on its interpretation of enaqy code designations,

well as the names of officers, radio operators, and localities, and

any unit designations which were occasionally intercepted in the clear.

The purpose in gathering every little piece of information was to make the
!ltaterial readily available to the final evaluation section.
The final evaluation section collected the inforlila.tion obtained by
the four other evaluation sections, checked it for accuracy and condensed
it in the radio situation reports.

In this process the personnel or the

section "translated" the commonly-used radio operator's jargon i::Lto the

kind of' German which wou"ld be understandable to any general staff officer.
In the radio situation report any statement or data which could not
be fUlly and reliably substsntiated by evaluation results had to be ape'!

cially designated as
~

conject~r~

=--.:--~~--

--

But even conjectures had to be logical

conclusions drawn froin underlying facts.

strictly forbidden.
t~e

The commander

o:f

Imaginative speculations were

the intercept company, who signed

radio situation report, fUlly realized that the information he had

collected represented only a part of the intelligence picture.

The over-

all estimate of the enemy situation was an Ju:,:.-ry General Staf:f function.

GONFIBENTIAL
Sltbillj liifdiiiidllbii

REF ID:A56970

CGNfi~!NfiAL
IIB&iilj hilliiblddil

:ts

-194-

:'/= P..038

App. III

The experience of German radio intelligence shows that the emphasis

on the different types of evnluation fluctuated oonstmttly in accordance
7fi th the ever-chaneing enemy radio procedures.

it might be mentioned that in Russia

i~telligence

75

To illustrate this point

percent of the communication

results tram higher-echelon nets were obtained from traffic

and D/F evo.luation and 25 perce-nt :f'rom message evaluation.

'1

At the

purely tactical level 95 percent oi' all information was derived from

, dessage evaluation.

The Evuluation Control Center collected 50 percent

: of its intelligence from Message evaluation and the other 50 percent

I

1 from traffic and D/F evaluation.

e&NFIBENliAL
......., l::llillllill

REF ID:A56970

-e&NFIBEtffiAl_
&1111 itJ lniDIIii&dDII

-195Appendix IV

Radio Counterintelligence
(Bsed on a report by Lieutenant Colonel de Bary, director
German radio counterintelligence 1942 - 45.)

1.

Amateur Radio

or

.~tivity

In view of the similarity of radio systems in general, former peacetime hams constituted an important reservoir of potential radio intelligenoa agents and operators for the resistance movements.

Amateur radio

operations developed along widely differing lines in various countries.

For example, at the request of the

~~~~-~~

the Weimar Republic pro-

hibited amateur radio traffic in order to paralyze the illegal communication between the Communist

p~ty

and Soviet Russia.

In view of the

conditions prevailing at that time, this decision was probably correct,

even though it was instrumental in preventing an increase in the number
of experienced radio operators.
vlhich,

althou~:,h

The Third Reich adhered to this policy

perhaps a mistaken one, can be explained by the fear of

increased espionage activities.

It was quite different in the United States, vmich, unconcerned about
such risks, encouraged amateur radio activities as a kind of sport.

This

policy had the advantage that the amateurs helped to advance technical

..

developments and formed an ever-growing pool of experienced manpower

This wealth of technical experience and trained personnel gave the United
States a heud start in the desie.;n and production of radio equipment.
Then it was suddenly confronted with the large-scale requirements of a

CONFIDENTIAL
9eea:its tnfa;maliun

REF ID:A56970

e6NFIBENfiAL
9eca::lJ lufa:matian

-196-

MS -!/: P-o38
App. IV

; fighting war. However, this freedom of' the air waves involved the risk

that a ham might easily become a radio agent.

Germany took advantage of

this opportunity by recruiting radio agents in the United States and

South America before the war; these continued to send messages to Gennany
after the war had started.

The Germans collected valuable economic and

political information from this source.

j

Great Britain took no chances with regard to the loyalty of its radio
amateurs.

The British Radio Amateur Association performed a loyalty check

of its members and prevented any abuses.

At the same time the British en-

oouraged radio operations throughout the Empire.

Things were entirely different in the Soviet Union.

Thera the Party

retained firm control and encouraged amateur radio operations

devoted

its

in order to make use of them in wartime as partisans and

~embers

radio agents.

amo~

Many hundreds of such experienced radio operators are

probably available in the Iron Curtain countries today.

Nowadays the field of radio offers many opportunities for subversive

!activities.

'i

l
l

The most elaborate means are required to track them down.

The doors stand wide open to espionage and subversion unless this "war of
the air waves" cnn be won in peacetime.
2.

Radio Agents in Occupied Territories

'!lhen German troops occupied Czechoslovakia and Poland in 19?9, Norway,

Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France in 1940, and the
Balkans in

1941,

it was impossible to prevent the formation of underground

C6NFIBENFIAL _
-seca;Jl) fnfa:mauen -

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENliAt
&a111iiJ lnlelmatiun

as

11=

-197-

P-o,a

.App. IV

movements

~d

resistance groups or interdict the activities of numerous

agents equipped with radio sets.

The mission of these agents was to

discover military and economic secrets; those workine; for the Soviets
ware &ivan the additional task of planting the seeds of subversion within
the German armed forces and civilian population.

The latter were able to

contact the internal German resistance movEnnent and secure its support.
Co~nunioation

within the resistance groups and among agents was

handled by courier, while, for reasons of speed and security, reports to

the central control stations, and orders originating from them were sent
aL~ost

exclusively by radio.

The most important of these central control stations was located

near London and was used by the western European gover.nments in exile, ineluding those of Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkan countries.
the
Oame of the agents worked through/British relay station in Cairo. Whereas all these activities were clearly differentiated according to nationali ty,

a number of individuals who l i vad in different countries and sympa-

thized with the Communist ideology co-operated with the central control
station in Afuscow.
The radio interoept branch of the German civilian police, which was

}
f

responsible for locating unlicensed transmitters, was unable to cope with

the increasing volume of these illegal communications.
signific~ce

In view of the

of these underground activities to the war effort, the Arllled

Forces decided to intervene in 1940 and proceeded to take energetic counteraction through their experienced radio intelligence organization,

-cONFID!NJJA~
Sesur:lj' lnfmntian

REF ID:A56970
llfffltl!flfiAL

MS No. P- 038 Chart I App. 4

ORGANIZATION OF RADIO COUNTERINTELLIGENCE

1941-1945
OKW
CounterintiWCJince
Group

Armed Forcee Signal Communication

Group

Wire
Radio
Cryptographic
Communication Communication
Branch
Branch
Branch

Counhft1nt~Daence1
Branch
I
Central Office fot
National Security

Ar'tJI)'
High
Comtnand

OKW
Radio Intercept
Company

NGYJ
High

Command

Eastern and Weetern Intelligence

Branch11 of the General Staff.

Lla110n
Squadron

Chief of Army Signal Communication.

I ~enerolln charge of Communication

l,!ntelllgence.

Short- RaniJI
DIF

Arreete

Short-Rona
DIF

Leaend
- - - Official Channell
- - - - - 'to-operatlvechannela

Reaponalble for tracking down Ene'tJI)' Radio Operatlona by Enemy Agent a within Germany and In Occupied Terrltorlea.

CCINABENJtAL

REF ID:A56970
C6Nfi6!Nflitl
...iTS':st')' 'a'lfll ztitR

..

MS No. P-038 Chart 2 App. 4

RADIO INTERCEPT COMPANY(MTZ)

OPERATING PROCEDURE
1941-1942

I~I(MTZ)!

...

~0/F

--- - __....

8EVA1--------

=-=-

T
\V.~~v
~
~L~ .

L.R.

~Tv

L.R.

88NFIBENfiAL
&aau: :l; Iiii a: maben

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENTIAL
SBCGilli liihilllilllll

~.lS

P-058

-199-

App. IV'

especially that of the Arm:!

F'rom. the very beginning the military rea-

lized hl1at they would have to

empl~

different organizational and techni-

cal procedures than those currently used at the front.

,.
'

Ore;anization
Vlhereas the activities or Geruum radio agents had

I b,y Cowoborintolligenco Branch I,

alw~s

been directed

tho Radio COUDtorintelligenco Section

't was formed under the Radio Com::nunica.tion Branch of the Armed I!'orces Signal
f

Communication Group, although this measure was adr:l.inistratively unsound.

Up to

~1e

end or the war this confused organizational structure -- in

which "co-operation" took the place or clearly-defined responsibility and

i.n which the authority' of the counterintelligence agencies, the civilian
police, the Central Office of National Security, and the like overlapped

constantly -- led to a waste of effort and constant jurisdictional conflicts.

As a result many an

en~

radio at=ent was able to escape, although

his whereabouts had been definitely established by D)F.

The organizational structure of the Ger.man counterintelligence agencies is shown in Chart 1. Radio intercept

c~~anies

were activated as

operating agencies; their operating procedure is shown in Chart 2.

The

T/0 of these co~panies (1941~~) included a motorcycle messenger section,

an e~uation platoon, an intercept platoon (two sections), a 1~-rante
D/F pl~toon (four teams), and a short-range D/F platoon (three teams)

The Radio Counterintelligence Section emplo.yed roughly 2,000 officers,

civili~s,

noncommissioned officers, enlisted men, and female auxitliaries,

, Jlloatly f'rom the Army and Lu:rtwafi'e.

A similar nmnber of poople continued

CONFIDENTIAL
Srrup&f

IRtemwlioll

REF ID:A56970

BBNFIBENfiAL
ltciiilJ

1&1

MS No. P-038 Chart 3 App.4

1941-1942
0

100 200 300 400 S0 600 700 BQO

MILES

:~E:~~-r:F
~tK~ge
H

}..-Hanover

::r:r~L-R.

Brest

k~Brussels!<R
~
L.R._____
'#(#,
----,0/F

Parra Y(l ~ L.R

~ OSR. ~ Langenargen

Y(l _
&s":'R Bordeaux

L.R.

Mllan~R 'I:R.

~__,3~....::.;;,;~-'-

Nate- The Symbol" refers to Field Agency of Radio CI

GBNFIBENliAL
AC&Iif)

,.

Iiiia:: t

..

~~------------------------~~~~el-===~----

GBNFIBENTIAL
Sitdillj liifdiiii&tilll

-199-

:/f P-038
App. IV

MS

to serve with the radio intercept branch of the civilian police, Ymich op3rated fixed radar stations in Berlin-Spandau, Tilsit, Brunswick, Cologne,
Construnce, Vienna, and Paris.
/

These stations employed lon~-ran~e D/F

sets which were controlled over a special long-distrunce telephone circuit.

A small number of short-range D/F tenms under police jurisdiction covered
Germ.runy proper, occupied Poland, Norway, the

~etherlands,

tionwith the Armed Forces, the area around Paris.

and, in conjunc-

In all these territories,

which were considered outside the theaters of operations proper, no mili-

Jtary radio counterintelligence tm.its were employed.

The civilian police

( stubbornly opposed any military interference within the areas under its
Chart 3 shows

jurisdiction, and many an agent was thus able to escape.

the areas in which military radio

counterintelli~ence

operated up to

1943.

The system of decentralization which was adhered to until that year

and Which corresponded to the system formerly employed in

interceptin~

long and medium-wave traffic at the front, did not prove effective because
of the difficulty in intercepting short-wave signals, the increasingly
complex enemy radio systems, and the inevitable duplication of effort.
Strict centralization was the answer to these problems.

The radio inter-

capt companies were relieved of their evaluation functions, which were

then concentrated at an evaluatiOn

control center at Jueterbog.

Radio

intercept stations, staffed mainly by female signal auxiliaries and operating in conjunction with long-range D/F posts, were set up in Belgrade,
Vienna, Paris, Hanover, Klge, Kranz, Rome, Pulsnitz, Athens, and Jueterbog.
In addition to these, three mobile short-range D/F c~pnnies were formed.

GQNFIBENfiAL
!etDiilJ lnfe:::ldtian

REF ID : Aillfil&f/l':mt~~~~

...

MS No. P-038 Chart 4 App.4

RADIO COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROCEDURE

INSTITUTED IN 1943

L.R.

B--~---

------rL,_____B
y

''\

''

v.

L.R.

8=-=-----7,3:::;:~
L.:V .,_._...,_.,~..__.._-+J.~~I.-...-"'Jt

T
~-------------------=1~

~L.R.

::::=

CDti~ID&IIliAl
,

1 II

LA

'kR.

L.R.

ee~iu.ilfP
= A5 6 9 7 a
l'lllftlo
I

.....

&lllril) IRf1rati11

~..13 ;'/=

-200-

P-038

App. IV
With this streamlined organization the Germans had less difficulty in
coping with the rapidly increasin~ number of radio agents.

Chart

4 indi-

cates the structure of this centralized organization.

Intercept operations were no longer executed according to territorial
jurisdiction, but were directed by the evaluation control center and oarried out by those radio intercept stations which were best able to observe
and plot short-wave transmissions.

The last step in the process of reor-

ganization, which would have been particularly commendable for military

reasons,

na~ely,

the organization of radio counterintelligence into one

regiment with subordinate battalions, corresponding to other military units,

could not be effected in time

4.
I
~

Operating Procedure
Apart from the use of ultrashort waves by American agents, all the

others operated with short-wave sets which, by taking advantage of skywave radiation, enabled their users to cover long distances with extremely
small sets.

Moreover, the skip zone offered the agents a certain amount of

protection.

.Accordine; to the central control stations with which th(!f com-

~-

1' :n.unicated, the agents employed the frequencies which offered them the most
favorable propagation at a particular time of day, taking into account the
distance to be covered.

This observation provided the Germans with clues

__________

for interceptine messages sent by

en~

agents.

The traffic of the govern-

,._....
ments in exile retained the national characteristics
which were known

frOlll intercept operations previously carried out ae;ainst the fie;hting

forces of these countries.

the war

cor~tinued,

-68NFIBENfiAL .
tnMMV lnla:::atian -

< '

these characteristics

REF ID:A56970
-s"'=

-Y..
=-~-

=-t:'

CDNfiD!NTIAL

~- -~.

. u, liiiUiiiidlii

ir ..

~~

~~-

~~.... :r.tS # P..038

~:
..A.pp. IV

.,,.
~:~-

-201-

were progressively elilllinated. the radio agents :buitated :rn.ore and more
~I

ra

4.,.;;... .- .

.........

o.:~ '

-----

............,

- - ....

''"

t.be German techniques

and thus confronted German radio intelligence w1 th
rr.
_ _ _ _

....,,Noll~"''

to~dable

...

..

I'

'

problems.

Originally simple and easily observed, enemy systems

becme increasingly complicated the longer the "Vrar lasted.

1'he enenw

operated with several different traffic procedures, constantly changing

call signs, and varying t::l.me schedules.
Otten. three stations within a net took turns 1n transmitting a massage, or else the stations changed their location eaoh time they tre.nsr.J.tted.

Usually they l'Tere located in hotels or apartment developments in

large cities, !'rom which the operator ha.d more than one avenue of escape
and was able to watch for aD approaching danger.

In order to preclude the

possibility of being deceived by fake radio traffic.

where~-

Ger.aan RCI

(radio counterin1.ell:l.gence) simulated the traffic ot an enac;y- agent attar

he had been apprehended the eneJey" introduced warning signals whioh were
supposed to be transmitted at the very le.at moment.

Having adapted itself

to these peculiarities in teChnique. Ger.man RCI operations proceeded in

the following sequence:

Observation l'lith or without net control station

..
"~

co-ordinating long-rar~e D/F operations, evaluation. short-range interception , arrest of the agent, and final evaluation.

Durine

the observation stage ell previously identified friendly and

foreign civilian and military radio nets were first eliminated with the
aid of the so-called radio

identification manual, and all other suspici-

ous traffic was constantly observed and

fi~sobtained.

In v1estern

~brope

intranet D/F cOI!IIlunication was maintained largely by wire,; in Russia, by

CONFIDENTIAL
5
"rilr lfe::::aliun

REF ID:A56970

GBNFID!NTII[
.,.. n, IIIIWiiilllr

:MS

:{/=

P-038

-202-

App. IV

radio .It was organized in such a manner that several.D/F teams were
siu~ltaneously

notified in code Ydthin a maximum of ten seoonds after

ir.itial interception vrhich of the stations were to be plotted.

procedure, whereby the D/F data was forwarded, was equally fast.
to gather additional

~~terial,

The reply
In order

previously identified agents and central

control stations were kept tmder obserV&tion, and their bearings were occasionally checked in order to detect any changes in location that might
have taken place.
Radio agents vd1ose identit and location hnd been definitely established were kept under constant surveillance by at least two intercept
stations in order to secure additional message texts.
The preliminary evaluation section at the intercept stations rechecked the intercepts in order to eliudnate traffic of no interest.

This

section compiled deily DjF and intercept reports vmich were forwarded by
tole-type or radio to the evaluation control center in Jueterboc;.

The

traffic analysis personnel at Jueterbog classified these reports according

to the following six categories&

a.

Western net (Radio traffic of British and American agents)

b.

Eastern net (Radio traffic of Russian agents and spies)

c.

PS-net (Radio traffic of Polish and Czech agents)

d.

Southeastern net (aritish and Tito radio traffic in the Balkans)

e.

Illegal tre.nsll'.it't;ers Yrithin Germany. proper

f.

.\'

Unidentified nets.

The daily evaluation results, subdivided into two categories, were

forvtnrded to all radio counterintelligence field agencies and to the

CQNFIBENTIAL
SaturitJ IulGi lliililii

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENfiAL

:~;

Sitdiilj h:llll"ti"

~~;

~1::: I&. I

P-038
App. IV

-203-

rr civilian police.

In the first category was the so-called intercept loca-

ting data for agent-operated stations which were to be subjectec to

further observation prior to short-range scrutiny.

In the second were

the so-called observation results pertaining to stations which were under

short-range surveillance end were to be subjected to further observation

and eventual counteraction.
After the arrest of' an agent, it was the task of' message evaluation
to solve previously intercepted messages with the help of' the captured
records.

Cryptanalysis proper_. as practiced in field radio intelligence,

Wl'.s no.t possible, since the worn systmr..s used by the agents were based
on certain books -- usually novels -- which provided the key.
\"lhenever a station operated by agents was considered ready for the
shol"t-rane;e phase, personnel in ch-ilian clothes with short-ran~e D/F

II

sets insi.alled in motor vehicles (with no visible antenna) and in some

jinstances in small airplanes, obtained a fix and-encircled the suspected

______
_

_____

......
I location. .Usually lll.iniature
D/F sets attached to the. operator's belt
...__ ...

were used to determine the speci fie house and floor where the transmitter
was locntec.

Until the end of' 1942 the time element was not-so crucial,

making it possible to call on the law-er.orcement agencies to mnke the

arrest.

By

1~~3,

however, the increasing caution of' the agents compelled

J the intercept teams to take in'Jnediate and independent action after having
/ definitely determined the location of' a station, lest months of' diligent
observe.tion should be in vain.
In this connection it is worth mentioning that the Germans on some
occasions sustained serious losses of valuable

G9NFIBENJI~t
$''"5it} IRf&,iii&tlbii

special~st

personnel.

REF ID:A56970

COIPID!ITtAt

-.u, lrtfaa:liu

l~ -Jf: P-038

App. IV
!~er

successful arrests,

exp~rienced

radio operators of the short-range

intercept team8 were occasionally. called upon to tranSJ!I.i t fake messages .

in an attempt to continue the apprehended agent 1 s traffic.

The arresting

party had to catch the radio operator by surprise i:n the very act of

transmi tti:ng in order to secure intact the maximum amount ot -traffic data

vlhich he was using.

This data was submitted to the final eve.luation

section,. where it was

used to solve the extrsL&ly complex

cryptogr~

previously transmitted by agents. . Dy this procedure RCl obtained valuable

information about intra-nat relationships, other agents the ring leaders,
and espionage activity in ganeral.

5 Results
a.

Against Agents
Working with its

equipment, RCI was able to effect about 30

0'11111

direct arrests 1D 1941. 90 in 1~. 16o in 1943, and approximately 130 in

lstJ.,..

In all, this amounted to sODte 1.,.J.o oases, in about 20 percent of

which the civilian police forces lent their assistance.

lioreover, indirect

arrests could be made on the basis of the information compiled

evaluation section.

This source contributed a.ppro:xilr..e.tely

cesea during the same period.

140

the final

additional

Thus, a total ot 550 arrests stemmtng tram

RCI operations were effected in tour years.

The figures tor arrests made

by other counterintelligence &geDOies and the Central Cttioe tor Katianal

Security are not known.

In considerine this figure of 550 arrests, however, one must mention

/the

fact that there were at least 500 agent-operated stations Which were

CDNPID!ITiat . ,
l:atiiiW:: lia.

---------------------------------------------

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBEN11AL
SECUiili Mlllll

~'S

if P-o3B

/.pp. IV

..go5-

under observat1on and bad even been located. but were never actually
se1zed.

There were at least tw1ce as many suspected. unident1f1e4

ege~t~

Oerated stet1ons Wh1Ch had beer- 1nteroepted at-one t1me or another

ht..t whose exact number remuned

~own.

Chart 5 shows the approximate

d1str1but1an of agent-operated stat1ons 1ntercepted as of the end of

One of the most atrik1ng facts

~s

that not a

stet1on could be located 1n Germapy proper.

short~~~e

1ntensif1ed observet1on and

s1~cle

1~3.

aeent-operated

In sp1te of constant and

p}ott1ng 1n the Derlin area.

near the Fuehrer's headquarters 1il Sast Pruss1a 1n. the :Harz kounta1ns
(V-2 test1ng range) all efforts ~ere unrewarded. althou:h there was
def1n1te proof that even top-level
by persons located in the

Fuehre~'s

gec~s~ons

and plans were be1ng betrayed

herdquarters.

Among the most notable ach1evements of rad1o counter1ntell1gence

t}!e Red Tt1o 11 case deserves to be mentJoned.
1n Brussels fratments of

agen~

to the

h1d1~

after a

search throuehout Fraz1ce and Belg1um.

me~jagfB

The deoi"Y}1t1on of

revealed the ex1stenoe of a pro-Russ1an res1stanoe croup

\d.ose members held

~~ortant

egenc1es

also included two members of the cryptanalysis

~d wh~ch

of the Ger.mag

r
/
l

were found wh1Ch proV1ded clues

places of the code books, wh1oh 1n tur.q were evantually found

l~gt}ly

numerous

~essa~es

.Ai'ter the arrest of a radio

re~~o

pos1t1ons in Qer.man c1V1l1an and mil1tary

seotl.o~

counter1ntell1eence service proper.

Details about th1s case ere descr1bed 1n a novel1stio manner in

!i~- f~10 (Ill.!

am Rhe1n

~~

li'!_f;!> Kapello) b)' W. F. Fhcke (V10r Bruocbnwrlag, iiildOD

1944). a

so~ca~led authent1c factual report 1 wh1ch actually

SECII ilJ IIIIZ""P

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENIIAL
.tiillj liifGIMiltW

MS

Chart

P-038

Appendix IV

Agent-Operated Radio Stations Observed and Plotted in 1~~'~

---- ----------------------------------------.
I

.
Location Russian
(Controlled
from

lioscow)

US
: Polish :: Czech :: British British
: (Con(Con1 ultra(Con:
:: trolled trolled t short
: trolled :
: from
from
s
: from
1 wave
: London) r Cairo) r
: London) 1

: - -..---.....!. -----~-----.::.:____.:;:_ _
I

c In front :

: ot lines :

in France:
I

Partisans:
behind

: German
: lines in :
Russia
r

Poland

140

BelgiWil

...=

:
:

4 :
:
:

25 :

t
:

t
t

27

:
r
:

r
:

'5

'0

Switzer- 1
land
:

'I

lt

Spain

22

t
I
1

t
t

'

'

20

50

t
I

10

:
I

Southern
France

17

:
:

1
I
1
1

:
r

:
:
r

Western
France

I
1

:
:

'

Paris

20

,.

20

15

15

140

15

20

:
:

:
=

:
:

Total

:
:

Czecho- :
: Slovakia 1

:Holland

:
:

: Norwq
:
r Denmark

_;.

.:

_ _________ ------

:
I

:
:
I

20

:
I
I

61

10

I
I

-~--~----~t-----------=--~ --~=------~'---~----~=--------~'-----~--~~--~~-----'

G8NFIBENfiAL
S'F':rilr llal'lllalien

REF ID:A56970

S8NFIBENfiAL

MS

Chart 5 (Continued)
Appendix IV

P-038

=/1=

----------------:
:

. Russian : Polish
:
: (Con(Con.: trolled
: trolled
. from
:
r from
.
i1loscow) : London)
.---------.:
:

Location

. Northern

.:.. trolled
from

::

-----

.
:

Yugo-

.
:

: Hungary

Bulgaria

:
:

.
:
:

25

:
:

2
2

25

:
:

'fiflis

:
:

________
169

from

:
:
:

12

:
:

--------6

40

:
:

189

---

*-controlled
London
Controlled
from
Moscow
**
*** ~U ternate central control station

- GQNFIBENTIAr
&eeac il) 111161 niiliiii

***
1

4
I

:
:

-----------:
:
90

:
:

.
:
:
I

20

1
:

..

30

:
I

20

2
2

:
:

Cairo
:

.
:

: Totals

5 :

:
I

Istambul

..:..,_

:
:

:
:

. Greece
:

'

: Roznania

:
f

::

-------

: slavia

20

Sardinia
:North
Africa

trolled :: short
from
:: wa'le
Cairo) :

Total

: & Corsica:
:

..

Italy

:
::
:

: London)

Southern
Italy

.
.
:

:
British : us
: Czech : Briti-sh
:ultra: (Con: (Con-

15

:
:
I

:
:
:

509

REF ID:A56970

CIINFIBENfiAL
&aau:il; l::la:aallii

l::S ~~ P-038
App. IV

-206-

contains numerous inaccuracies.

In the publishers' introduction tho autt.or

is described as the former chief of the Ger.maa intercept service, which

is a gross misrepresentation, since he actually held only a minor civiliml
position.
The Bed Trio \TOre .t.hree radio stations.which the Ru.ssie.n intellie;ence
service operated in Sw1 tzerland e.nd 'Whose messar;es -to .h!oscow were currently
intercepted by the Gennans.

The contents or these messages .revealed tha-t.

traitors were inside the Fue:t-.rer s headquarters proper and that repo1ts
on strategic plans, secret weapons, and other top-secret matters were reaching these stations

throu~

channels which could never be determined.

Rare is an example or the procedures which had to be used in radio

counterintelligence:

A Greek o:r:ricer landed surreptitious:q. .from a

in the vicir..ity of Athens in order to obtain military information.

sul:rnar~

lie

c.ttempted but failed to establish radio contact with. the British central ..
control

stat~on

in Cairo.

Ger.man

radi~

counterir.telli[ence intercepted

his calls, sont a fake roply pretending to originate from the British
ce11tral control ste.tion. and instructed the officer t9 8\rl. tch to an sere;ency frequency.

The officer was assigned a new mission vrith. tPe promise

that a submarine would pick him up at a specifi~ place.

The officer and

four companio~s unsuspectingly clill'lbed aboard a motor boat of the Gerr:tan

Navy ~nich was disguised as a subaarirel
b.

A{;ainst Partisans
The expansion or the theaters of' war and the methods of' cam.bat

used in the Balkm1s end Russia had -the ef':f'ect that cm:munication intelli

CONFID!NfiAL
!letJJiiJ IHflllllliiR

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENliAL
lee:: ilJ lnllnaaliW

J.;s .,;.~

P-038

-207-

App. IV

gence wo.s burclened with add,.tional missions lmich initially had not been
expected and which led to the organization of units employine special
techniques.

In the occupied areas of western Europe and in roland tho

Gorr~s

had to observe and ferret out the constantly inorensinf number of radio
agents. whereas in the Balkans and in the center of'

tl~e

!lussian Front

they had to dee.l w1 th the partisans who disrupted the lines of' COl:!JIIUnicatiorts in the rear areas and who formed cDr.!bat uni i~s of' considerable
strength which obstructed troop :mover.tents ond interfered vii th the Coman
Tlithdrawals in

191-14.

They. too. had to be observed md neutralized.

The radio coz:nnunication nets which enemy agents and partisans built
up behind tl1e German front were characterized by procedures which differed
from those of' the regular field units and therefore had to be counteracted
by new intelligence procedures.
In l~-3 on the RuSBion Front, a cor.une.nder of' COJ:l!r.unication intelligenae vdth several intercept companies. includine two HunEarian ones.
and one evaluation center. was given the mission of observing

enem~

radio

communication behind the German lines 1 whereas in the Balkans no special

units wore

c~itted

the front.

beyond those perf'ormint current operations against

The radio techniques used by the partisans in the Balkans.

resembled those employed in field radio traffic, while the Russian parti..,.. ........ __ ....
...
..
snna operated in the same manner as radio agents.
~..~

.;.

Par,isan radio traffic was intercepted for tl1e double purpose of

gathering

inf'oru~tion

for anti-partisan warfare and for obtainine

eDtlfiDENfiAL

insi~ht

REF ID:A56970

88NfiDEITIAL
9eeuriiJ ll&iea
IviS i.~ P-0313

-208-

App. IV

into the enemy's over-all strategy as expressed by the missions and move-.
ment orders transmitted to partisans.
aa.

The Soviet Union

Whereas in the Ukraine and in the former Baltic states the partisans

wero of minor importance until

1944, they went into action in the extensive

wooded swamps behind Army Group Center in lVhite Russia, in the Pripyat
liar shes, and on both banks of the Dnepr and Deana as early as the winter

of

l~l-!,2.

They constituted a plague with which all rear-area head-

quarters supply, transportation, and signal units had to contend every

day.
At first the partisan units were improvised by communist fanatics
and individual officers who recruited able-bodied men, women, and children
of the civilian population and countless Red Army soldiers whom the
rapidly advancing German combat forces had left behind unnoticed during
On

3 July

1941

Stalin proclaimed ~ver the radio:

"In the areas occupied by the enemy we must

organize partisan detachments to fight tile
invader. We must extend the partisan war
everywhere for the purpose of blowing up
bridges and roads, damaging telephone and
telegraph lines, and setting fire to forest~,
warehouses, and rolling stock. In the lost
territories we must make life unbearable for
the enemy and all their collaborators; we
must pursue and destroy them step by step
and frustrate all their activities. During
withdrawals all valuable property that cannot be taken along must be destroyed without exception."
These banda soon developed into formidable, well-trained units.

Radio communication became increasingly important for giving them missions

eBNFIBENtiM:

REF ID:A56970

etiNFIBENfllL

--

r 5aniiV

lnflilfi

and receiving their reports and requests for supplies.

Especially selected

men and women were gi ftn excellent training in special radio communication
schools.

Radio operators jumped by parachute into the areas assigned to

them, or else landed on partisan airfields with short-wave sets the size
......

of a cigar baz.

their radio communication with the

a~

,...,.,.._ .: ,. - ...

~r

.. , ........

group headquarters,

and more often w1 th Moscow, adhered to standing procedures and were far
superior to those of the ordinary field radio operator.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -........~ ... -

-= . ........

Their radio disci-

... :..-......... .

pline and cryptosystema were better. Finally, these C()J!Eunications were

--------- . - . .. . .
difficult to intercept because partisan operators made their messages

---

- - - - - - - -......... ~-~.........

__.. ___ .......~--- ....... .,.............~ ...... - ..- ......

'">: .. ~.--

---~-

..........~ ..--.,..

'"I"Y brief and changed their procedure frequently. The techniques of par. -..
......... _. _, ..... ,...... __ ........-..:.., ..........
"' ........... .
tisan radio operatians were constantly improved and their communicationa

...

...,........,_.....~..

thus became more dirfioult to intercept.

Employment of the short waft-

lengths caused the usual difficulties in reception and in D/F operations.

!he increase in organized raids and surprise attacks upon individual
vehicles, convoys, or towns, demolitiom of railway tracks, and interruptions
of telephone and telet,pe linea called for energetic punitive measures
which were beyond the scope of the security detachments, which consisted
of seoond-rate troops, police forces, and Hungarian units.

During the

autumn of 19!f.3 a monthly- aftrage of 2,000 poles and 300 cables were cut

-----down or demolished along the line routes which the two signal regiments
..

of

Arm

- " - . . . . . . - . . ........ _ , . , _ ..........

Group Center maintained between

armies, and the rear areas.

Y.-ere correspondingly high.

a~

. . . . . . l ... -

..,.~

... -:

'

group headquarters, the four

Casualties among the maintenance personnel

The army communication intelligence units

observed the partisan traffic behind their front and gathered information

- 88NFIDENTIKL j'#'IJ lalanlitllil

REF ID:A56970

GBNFIBENfiAL
&11U:iljliii61W-

1:8

=/1=

P-038

-210-

App. IV

about the hideouts, conduct of operations, and strength of the partisan

UJlits, as well as about how they were kept supplied with \Yeo.pons, sabotage equipment, and rations.

The results

~~re

of local sieniticanoe

and provided basic information for cottntermeasures.

In some instances

it was possible to track dow.n partisan groups by ampla,ying short-range

D/F teams.

Occasionally the Germans succeeded in deceiving Russian air-

cra.tt loaded with supplies f'or the partisons Yli th take radio and light
sit-nals, thus causing them to drop their cargoes or land at the wrong

point.
By committing companies, regiments, and e'V'8ll divisions, important

lines of cammunioatioiSwere cleared of partisans and troublesome areas

\ were mopped up, but the Germans were never able to eradicate this danger

If'rom

the extensive areas which had

poo~--~-o~~ "~~~;~~~~-;:-- ....

The inseouri;:...!~ ~~;~,a:_~:.:_~~s=-seri.~~! ~~~ ~ Gr..~l, ..~:.

designated a special partisan warning channel on which ambushed or
threatened units could send out emergency calls.
The fateful role played by partisan units after the collapse of
Group Center in June/July 19!44 will be long remembered.

By blocking the

routes of withdrawal along the Beresina and o.t other points the,y contribef'f'ectively
ute~to the German disaster.
!he German top-level

oomr.~d

was greatly interested in the degree

of co-operation between the Russian combat and partisan f'orces.

Bef'ore

any major operation or offensive the partisan units were given combat

missions designed to disrupt the German lines of communicatiou. By inter-

CDNFtBENfiAL

REF ID:A56970

- C8Nfi8Nf1Al S'!GII'iiJ liiiW Mini

~ P-038

-211-

App. IV
cepting and evaluating these orders the Germans were able to deduce the
directions in which the Russians intended to attack.

The partisan units

behind the German lines kept pace with the westward advance of the
Russian forces and some of them did not join up with the latter until
they had reached the

~ediate

vicinity of the German frontier.

The

movements and the direction taken by these units, as inciceted by interceptad radio messages, often furnished valuable clues to the Germans.
The Russian plans were even more clearly revealed by the radio traffie of their strategic intelligence sections.

These were teams, eight to

twelve men strong, operating ten to sixty miles behind the German lines.
Their mission was to gather
group staffs

concerni~g

info~nation

for the Russian army and

a~ny

German lines of communications,supply depots, and

garrisons occupying inhabited localities.

orders for and reports from

~~e

!he points of

cc~nitment,

intelligence section commanded by hlajor

Buchmostov, for example, were observed for many months in 1943--l.,k behind
the German Third Army front in
wore the spy teams \vhich the

~~e

Vitebsk area.

Russi~~s

Of strategic importance

dropped from planes far ahead of

their major offensive thrusts.

These spy teams consisted of one radio

operator and three to five

those operating on Polish territory were

~n;

of Polish nationality; those dropped in German territory were former Ger.r:en

prisoners of war.

The radio Ti19Ssages containing their observations pro-

vided the German higher-echelon command lVi th excellent clues as to the

Russians' intentions.
TI1ese results must be credited to the previously-mentioned partisan

CONFIBENftA[
IIIBJiitJ liifUJJIIItiWI

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENJIAL
lllllllrllllnl...

MS

-212-

P-038

.App. IV
RCI uni ta which were given specialized trainil'lg tor 'thie technically complioated task and worked in close co-operation with the other RCI unite.
b.b.

Poland
The radio operators IUD.ong the Polish partisans and in the Polish

resistance movemant were also outstanding.

The resistance organisation,

with headquarters originally in Warsaw, where six ot its radio stations

were neutrali1ed by German radio counterintelligence, was 1D contact with
the central radio control station ot the Polish government in exile in
London.

Within Poland the organi1ation followed the linea ot the termer

m111tar,y district subdivisions.

!he itinerar.y ot the Polish troops under

General Anders attar their expulsion trom Kuibilhev, Russia, through the
Near East to Cairo, and trom there to North .A:trica and southern Ital,- was
observed and reported

b.1 radio counterintelligence.

the Polish partisans were as ettective aa their Russian counterparts

... :.t...

... .......~-- ...- ..... _ .......... _____ ...........

-~

.....__..._4___ ....~- ........... .,.._,. .........

in harassing German linea ct communications.

increased up to the time ot the upriaing led

~---

...............-..- -

~'"-~.

Their activities steadily

bJ

Polish General Bor in

Warsaw during the autUJIII'l ot 1~, as the Ruuians were appro~cbing the city.
Numerous radio meaaages were sent by' the insurgents to the Polish Firat
and Second Armies then fighting with the Rusaiana in an attempt to induce
them to intervene.

!he traffic with London at that time dealt with plana

for supply b,y air.

During this rebellion Polish partisans who had advanced trom woods
south of Modlin attacked the evaluation center or the German Ninth .Arsq
located on an eatate west or Warsaw.

After heavy fighting, during which

e&NFIBENJIAL
IIIINtJ Ill&: Nlill

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENfiAL
S111flit) Info; ibid&

MS

1J=

-213-

P-038

App. IV

five officers and many noncommissioned officers and enlisted men were
killed, some panzer troops and liaison planes loaded with bombs answered
the radio calls of the evaluation center and relieved its remaining
personnel.
c.c.

The Balkans
In this theater the partisans became such a threat to the occupying

power that, after about the autumn of 1943, when the observation of British
forces in the Near East and in eastern North Africa was no longer a source
of much interest, practically all the available communication intelligence

\ personnel were switched to dnti-partisan operations. In keeping with the

} low educational level of the partisans, their radio techniques and codes
were simple and easy to solve, indeed much easier than the Russian and
Polish systems.

On the other hand the Balkan partisans did maintain a high

degree of radio discipline and refrained from transmitting in the clear.

On

the whole, their radio communication was good.

A large variety of short-

wave sets were in use, ranging from locally-produced equipment to that

furnished by the British and .Americans.

Because of the threat of partisan

attacks and the teChnical difficulties encountered in mountain terrain,

the Germans were unable to use. direction finders.

Their employment was

unnecessary because any data referring to localities could be obtained

through message analysis.
The radio traffic of the resistance force under General Draja
Mihailovic was observed from the beginning of 1SiJ2, first from Athena,
later from Belgrade.

Radio intelligence provided information on the

-CoNFIDENTIAL EIIIN., -ill

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENJIAL
!Btbillj .liildiiilllibA

I P-o38

MS

.App. IV

organizational structure, composition, strength, and

c~ncentration

areas

of this force,; occasionally, also, its plans far future C)perations, but
more often those which had recently been completed; combat actions, the
course of the front lines, shifting of forces, temporary disbanding and
subsequent reactivation of combat units; deserters; projected and completed
British supply flights, quantities of airdropped supplies, landing fields
and their beacon lights; activities of the British and American military
missicnsJ behavior of' the Italians and Bulgarians; and finally Mihailovic's
attitude toward his various enemies, such as the Ger.mans, Nedic, Tito,
the Croats, Ustashi, Montenegrin&, Albanians, and others.
As

early as mid-1943 Mihailovic recognized Tito's threat to Serbia,

and from then on he also fought against Ti to's units whenever they devastated Serbia in their raids launched from Croatia.

He himself advanced

only occasionally into Croatia while fighting against Ger.man troops.

British and subsequently American military missions were first assigned
only to Mihailovic's staff, later on also to those of his subordinate commanders.

Radio intelligence established how these military missions organ-

ized the flow of supply to the resistance groups, first by air, and later
also by sea from Allied-held southern Italy.
tons were dropped.

In some months as much as 1,000

The military missions probably also exercised some in-

fluence on the course of operations, as was evidenced by Mihailovic's precise instruction3 to his senior commanders concerning their conduct toward
the military missions, and by complaints submitted by the latter.

Ger.man

RCI observed that, after similar military missions had been sent to Tito,

CDNPIDENTIAL
... 1.
!

REF ID:A56970

CGNfiD!NTIAL
fitdi Itt IAfai IH&liDII

l~

il= P-o38

-215-

App. IV

those with Mihailovic were recalled, at first gradually and then more and
more rapidly.

Mihailovic was not so concerned about the Americans, but

when their departure was followed by that of the British who had hitherto
been his chief military and political supporters, he was
subordinates were stunned.
~ent

disu~yed

and his

The continued support of the Yugoslav govern-

in exile in London and of King Peter offered little consolation.

After they had been abandoned by the BritiSh and Americans, some of

~-

hailovic's subordinate commanders were ready to come to some sort of armistice agreement with the Germans and to join up with them in the defense
of Serbia against Tito.
ples.

However, Mihailovic remained true to his princi-

His radio message read:

11

0ur enellliY number one is the occupying

power, Ger.many, and all our efforts should be directed against this enemy."
He continued to profess his loyalty to England, the United States, and the
democratic ideals of freedom, and until the end he exhorted his senior cammanders to remain true to the cause and to carry on the struggle against the
Germans.
In early

1943 the volume of Tito's radio traffic was still small, but

it increased rapidly and soon exceeded that of Mihailovic, which declined

together with his waning star.

Since Tito's radio technique was as simple

as that of Mihailovic, German radio intelligence was able to achieve

equally complete coverage.

Every detail about him and his activities

became known to his enemies as well as the fact that he considered the
Croatian government, the Ustashi, Mihailovic, Nedic, and others his bitter
enemies.

As in the case of Mihailovic, the struggle against the Germans

88NFIBENfiAL
5111Pitl liiloiliilll&i

REF ID:A56970

CDNPID!NnAt
&eeu:ifJ liilliiiiatlau

1'.S II= P-038

App. IV

..;216-

hnd top priority with Tito.

two factionsc

In politics, however, Tito recognized only

he and everything he stood for was "democratic," while all

those who l'lere not on his side Vlere "fascists," whether they were Germans
or Serbian royalists.

The arrival of the American military mission was

soon followed by that of the British.

Finally, when the Russians approached

the Balkans, they also sent a mission to co-ordinate the delivery of supplies by air.
In addition to providing information on the confused political situation in the Balkans, German communication intelligence also furnished
definite proof of the duplicity of Germany's allies and satellites, less
en the part of the Bulgarians than on that of the Italians.

It was charao-

teristic, for example, that the Italians accepted an offer to exchange

one of their generals, who had been captured by Mihailovic's troops, for
a field gun and ammunition.

Toward the end of

1943 the Bulgarians also

began to engage in double dealing.

Finally, the Balkan partisans played a similar and perhaps even more
important part against the weak German occupation forces than their counterparts in

V~ite

Russia.

Even though radio intelligence did provide reliable

infonnation for effective counteraction, the means to enforce any such

nea.sures were not available.
During the belated

Gen~

evacuation of the .Balkans at the end of 1944,

the partisans inflicted heavy casualties on the

under great hardships.

eBNFIBENliAL
Sitbillj liifDIIII&tiZR

Ge~ans

who were retreating

REF ID:A56970

CONFID!NTIAL
EIIIFil! tata::aalicii

1.:S {f P-038

-217-

App. IV

6. Appraisal of Allied Subversive Radio Activities

The Russian subversive radio
partisan, and
of this type.

spy-te~

acti,~ties,

consisting of agent-operated,

nets, held second rank among the Allied services

The Russian

employed in these operations were

maintained
well trained, transmitted rapidly, and always/a high degree of discipline.
pers~nnel

n.e German RCI units observed that at the beginning of these activities
the Russians attached no particular value to concealment.

However, soon

afterward they introduced complicated

traf~ic

ing them to German radio procedures.

Approximately forty or the spy

teams were apprehended..

schedules, sometimes adapt-

As a result of the arrests made in western Europe

in 1944, the Germans were able to halt Russian

radio-~gent

activity in the

territory they occupied at that time, i.e., France, Belgium, and Holland.
The Russian intelligence service in western Europe was limited to the three
stations in

Switzerl~d,

which were out of Ger.men reach.

The British agent-operated radio service, with London and Cairo as

its headquarters, had more than 50 percent of the total number of Allied

radio agents at its disposal, was the most efficient of all.

At first,

,,

as the result of too-hasty training, the British had very few good radio
operators and thus their radio discipline was inadequate.

However, they

gradually improved their radio procedures, so that toward the end of the
war it was just as complicated and difficult to intercept and evaluate as
was that of the Russians.

Attempts to

were occasionally observed.

i~itate

German operating procedure!

In 1943 the location of the British central

control station at a point about forty miles northwest of London was

BBNFIBENTIAL
Seeu; il; b:te: malien

REF ID:A56970

CGNFIBENfiAL
lle&i fl)

fil ftil Riilltiii

1iS .ff P-038

-218-

App. IV
determined by fast-flying German airplanes equipped with short-range DjF
sets and definitely identified by photographs of its antennae.
ing~

I~terest-

enough, a request for an air attack against this installation was re-

fused, because of the existing shortage of aircraft and the meager prospects of success.

On the basis of the British radio traffic with the

Jdaquis in central and southern France, the Germans vrere often able to
anticipate air drops and get hold of the supplies themselves.
1

American radio agents were of minor significance.

The radio opera-

tors used ultrashort-wave equipment and were in contact with airborne

control stations.

Their communications were easy to intercept.

twelve radio agents who operated in Northern France at the

t~e

All
of the

Allied invasion were apprehended by the Germans.

~e

Polish agent-operated radio service had good operators but simple

procedures based on those of the Polish

A~.

it was guarded by strongly armed lookouts.

Its main advantage was that

The Czech radio agent service,

like the Polish, was easy to observe.

In summing up one may state that German RCI operations were hampered
'\ by excessive division of responsibility, duplication of effort, and jurisdictional confusion, all of which fitted into Hitler's pattern of "Divide
e.nd Rule."

Needless to say that the military and political interests of

the country should have been the primary consideration.

No practical

measures were taken to simplify and streantline the organization by putting

active and passive RCI operations under a unified counterintelligence
service.

Moreover, a decisive solution to the problem and the greater

CONFID!NfiAL
jc!Z'itv liifUiiiiillbn-

REF ID:A56970

C6NFIBENJIAL
EIIBJilt IRfll'lllltiiR

liS I P-038
App. IV

-219-

effectiveness to be thus gained were

obstru~ted

by influential traitors.

It is, therefore, to the credit of German military counterintelligence

that, in spite of these sinister machinations and obstructionist tendencies, many successes were scored which constituted a tangible advantage
for the German Army.

CONFID!NTIAL
secu;su lnllrllaliiii

REF ID:A56970

MS II P-03S

-22QAppendix V
Cryptanal,ysis

Before the outbreak of the war the Cryptographic Branch of the Armed
Forces Signal Cormnunication Group at OK'.'l had obtailled a sufficient volume
of encrypted material from the observation of international official and
diplomatic radio traffic, and its personnel strength was adequate for the
workload.

On the other hand, the peacetime volume of intercepts from

foreign armies was relatively small, except for occasional brisk traffic
during maneuvers.

In the Evaluation Control Center of OKH the personnel

strength of the Cryptanalysis Section was so

available for analyzing British traffic.

l~Y

that only five men

we~e

The T/0 of the fixed intercept

stations provided for six cryptanalysts, while at that time (1939) the intercept companies had none.

At the beginning of the Vlar it v1as therefore

far from easy to bring the cryptanalytical personnel strength of the Army
up to minimum requirements.
In 1939, the mission of A:rrrry cryptanalysis was therefore limited to

the follov1ing:
a.

Analyzing and solving all enemy army radio ciphers;

b.

Expediting the dispatch of solved messages of a tactical nature

to the Army General Staff and those of a technical nature to radio intelligence;
c.

Guiding intercept operations to ease the task of cryptanalysis;

d.

Improving cryptanalytic procedures; and

e.

Training crypt analysts.

GQNFIDENJIAL
&aaurils lnf01 malia11

REF ID:A56970

- CURFID!NfiAb
!ECLiilj liifdiiiiill&ii

-221-

MS Ji= P-038

f.pp. v

Even during the French campaign,

Ge~

ar.my cryptanalysis was so

short of personnel and equipment that i i~ was unable to take advantae;e of

of the sudden increase in the volt::me of messages.

As a result, tl:e

tactical information it produced frequently failed to reach the user egencies in time.
,

The considerable expansion of

cryptanalysis during the war led

to the second plan of organization, Which continued to exist fror.

(

until the end of the

~~

,..&.. ;

1~2

Under the Cryptographic Branch of OKW was the

Cryptanalysis Section in the Evaluation Control Center.

This section

controlled the interpreters' school, the fixed intercept stations (six

cryptanalysts), the cryptenalysis section of army groups (fifteen men), and
the Cryptanalysis Section East at OKH.

The cryptanalysis section of an

intercept company had eight men, while short-range intercept platoons had
two cryptanalyst&.
Pter sufficient personnel had

under~one

intensive trainine at the

Evaluation Control Center, the communication intelligence units in the

fielc could be provided with their own cryptanalysis sections.

In selec-

ting trainees one third of the total was taken from the.ranks of qualified
mathematicians, such as statisticians, actuaries, and college instructors;
the other trto thirds were linguists.

Some specialized in the solution of

manual ciphers; others, in that of mechanical ciphers.

courses for cryptene.lysts lasted sb: to eight weeks.
first trained in

~~litary

The training
The linguists""were

terminology at the Army Signal Language School.

Only individuals who mastered a foreit,n language so carepletely that they

eBNFIBENfiAL
SetUI iiJ lnlauaatiea

REF ID:A56970

BBNRBENfiAL
WiiiiiJ idilliiiiW

were able to think and feel in it could be used as cryptanalysts.

In 1942 the cryptanalysis functions were subdivided as follows a

1.

Cryptanalysis Section at the Evaluation Control Center (Perso~nel

Strength approximately 200)

a.

.Analyzing and solving all new cryptosystenlSJ

b.

Analyzing ciphers whose solution reqllired a large number ot

personnel and the use ot mechanical equipment) and

c.
oomplexi~,

of

Transmitting solutions to cryptoaystema. according to their

either to the cryptographic sections in the evaluation center

tl:e communication intelli@:ence commanders, to the intercept companies,.

or to the fixed intercept stations, so that these agencies woulf be in a

position to solve by themselves any meuay.:e encrypted in
2.

Cryptanalysis Section in the

~~luation

tl~e

same system.

Center ot the Communication

Intellirence Commander (Personnel Strength approximately 15)

a.

Solving currently intercepted messar.ea with the assistance

ot the solutions supplied by the Wvaluation Control Center;

b.

Sol\~ng

simple field codes;

c.

Co-operating with the evaluation sections in all matters

pertaining to the volume and contents of messages)

d.

Co-operating with the cryptanalysis section of individual

intercept cer.panies and fixed intercept stations in their attempts to solTe

simple field codes and their daily changinr, encipher.ment, and to interpret
signal charts, code designations, and their encipher.ment.

- CONfiBEIRIAL Seeerrjtl IRfliZiiliU:L

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENTIAL

-setoUt) b:fu11atiaa...

MS ff P-038
App. V

-223-

3 Cryptanalysis Section of Intercept Companies and Fixed Stations

(Personnel Strength approximately 8).
a.

Solving the day-to-day encipherments to the system previously

solved by the Evaluation Control Center;

b.

Solving very simple field codes;

c.

Co-operating with the evaluation sections in matters pertain-

ing to intercepting and evaluating messages; and

d.

Interpreting call signs and code designations. and solving

their encipherment.

4.

Two Cryptanalyst& Assigned to Short-Range

~adio

Intelligence

Platoons.
a.

Assisting in intercepting

b.

Solving and evaluating call signs and code designations.

ener.~

combat message traffic; and

No cryptanalysis proper was done at platoon level. because the neoessary equipment was not supposed to be used in such proximity to the fighting.
This organizational structure was designed to centralize the perform-

ance of all complicated cryptenalytic jobs with the assistance of the

numerous personnel available at the Evaluation Control Center. leaving the
simpler tasks to the decentralized field agencies.

In this manner the

contents of analyzed messages could be forwarded to higher headquarters

in good time. thus dispensing with the former time-consuming detour via
Berlin.

eBNFIBENJIAL
!iillrity

IRflrllltiiR

REF ID:A56970

G9NABENTIAL
lltUiil) lafaii&tia

ltS

-224-

# P-<>38

App. V

Organization and Operating Procedure o! the Cryptanalysis

Section at the Evaluation Control Center
A number o! subsections ann units were responsible for solving newlyencountered cryptosystems, manual and mechanical ciphers, and for developing new cryptanalytic methods.

Each foreign language unit solved messages

encrypted in manual and mechanical ciphers with the assistance of a varying number of lineuists.

The cryptanalytic procedure unit collected the

mathematical and linguistic data acquired by all the other units and subsactions, which in turn consulted this reference material to get hints for
solving the problems on hand.

It was best to' have a choice of several

lines of at1;ack, because with only one available the analyst ran the risk
of reaching a dead end.
1

Because of the great distance between North Africa and Germany, a

cryptana~sis

section was included in the intercept company assigned to

the Africa Corps, even before the general introduction of this organizational measure.

This section was to solve field ciphers on the spot and

forward the results to higher headquarters \Vithout delay.

In 1941 the entire Russian language unit was transferred to the Eval-

Iuation

Contra~

Center East under the Chief of Army Signal Communication

located at Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia.

which the Russians handled their cryptosystems -

The peculiar manner in

the same code book and

authenticators were used along the entire front -- made it necessary to

centralize all daily intercepts in order to have sufficient material for
solving the day-by-day encipherment of the higher-echelon traffic.

- CONfiBENJIAL S'suNts h1hi1 maiiW

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBE11f1At.
3&tiill) lnliiii&li ..

:1.<3

j P-o38

-225-

App. V
The lone distance between the Russian front and Berlin precluded the

possibility of solving ciphers in time so that the contents of

could be of tactical value.

On the other hand, the Fuehrer headquarters

in East Prussia had excellent wire communication with

quarters.
'

messa~es

~~e

army

~roup

head-

Nevertheless, contact with the raathematics and t..,_e punch-card

1nachine units in Berlin was maintained, because their activities were

essential to the

functionin~

of all other units.

The prerequisite for solving a difficult cipher was to secure as much

text as possible encrypted in t..l:le same system and the same day-by-day encipher.nent.

This material was used to find

the same beginning or ending, or with

l~ext

-- the so-called cribs.

~,_e

mess~es

of the same

lengt..~,

same sequence of letters in the

These constituted the first points of attack

fro1n which the entire system could be broken.

The manual sorting of mes-

sages required too large a staff, and quicker and more accurate results
could be obtained by employing punch-card machines, despite

~le

fact that

every message had to be transferred to a punch card.

The records unit had reference material such as military dictionaries,
glossaries of trade terms, dialec-t;s, slang, and 11bbreviations, 11s well as
personnel records.
The encrypted teletype traffic unit w&s engaged in research on Bnd the

.
solution of teletype and radio teletype encipherment systsms.
'aechanioal systems are L1entioned in Appendix VII.
lyzed by the Cryptographic Branch of OKW.

88NFIBENJIAL
Sltdlilj IRIIFMitien

The other

Some of them were ana-

REF ID:A56970

CUNFIBENTIAL
.
Elllfit) h:fUI iiiilidii .. - '
liS

# P-038

App. V

Following its organization in 1942, the unit assigned the solution

of enen!Y agent cippers produced good results in. conjunction ;with radio
counterintelligenc.e.

In contrast to common cryptographic usage,

~adio

agents employed a different encipherment for each message, so that the

cryptana:cyst had to \arait for encn-ption mistakes or other clues that might

\be provided

~sis.

by

the radio operators before he could proceed with his anal-

After Army cryptanalysis had laid the foundation for this activity

~nd had derived benefit from its existence by obtaining the solution to
).

~orne

nan systems, the unit was transferred to the Cryptographic Branch of

OK\'1 in late

1943.

The mission of the

Crypt~graphic

Branch of

O~f

was to improve the

German cryptosystems, devise cryptogrAphic operating procedures and equip-

ment, and keep a constant check on the security of the cryptomaterial

used by the three services.

Security violations which offered breaks for

enemy cryptanalysis, such as encryption errors, bed to be eliminated.

In

addition to that, maximum security of the German cryptographic devices

had to be ensured.

In this connection it was pres'lllred that the enemy had

in his possession samples of German cryptographic devices, such as cipher

T11echines and grilles, as well as operatinr_; instructions and was only
ignorant of the encipherments which were changed eve17 day.

It was thero-

fore necessary to determine h0\1 many letters per day could be encrypted rlith
the same encipherment without offerinG the enemy some opportunity for compromi3ing its security.

In other words, the extent to which individual

systems could be used had to be established in each instance.

C6NFIBENJIAL

For this

REF ID:A56970

88Nfi8NfML
seeullitJ '"'"manoR

MS

if

App.

-227-

P-038

purpose the unit designated to safeguard the security

o~

German crypto-

systems subjected messages sent by German stations to routine cryptanalysis in order to find out whether German security was adequate or in need
o~

further 'tightening and also whether the field forces made any mistakes

which might compromise security.

A situation in which the enemy would

be able to comprmnise German messages, because the cryptographic securit,y

had been overestimated, had to be avoided at

cost.

If more stringent

security measures were needed, the ll&e of individual ciphers would have to
be restricted in order to provide the enemy with less subject matter.
To replace an unsatisfactory system by a better one was an e:x:tre1nely
complicated task.
process

o~

Even when a substitute system was readily

available~

the

assembling and distributing the new cryptographic material re-

qttired considerable time.

Even more

time-~onsuming

personnel in the use of the new system.

thorough, the mistakes made in the

was the training of

If the training was not sufficiently

be~inning

of its application might com-

promise the security of the new system f'rom the very start.

Since any

system is subject to compro1nise at some time, changes had to be scheduled

at certain intervals.
If there were indications that the enemy was about to change his system,
traffic observation had to be intensified in order to uncover immediately
any

mist~e

made during the transition, such as the simultaneous use

ciphers for the same traffic, the repetition of

previousl~

o~

transmitted

messages in 't!he new cipher 1 and other co1mnon errors due to inexperience
\1hich might compromise the new

syste~

from the outset.

eBNFIBENJIAb
SecarilJ lnlc:matien

two

REF ID:A56970

GfiNFIBENftat
SICDill) liiDIAQIIM

lLS II P-038
App. V

The

-228-

cryptana~sis

section of the Evaluation Control Center succeeded

in solving about 50 percent of all the messages which had resisted lowerechelon

cr,yptana~sis.

In summarizing, one may state that the security of enemy and Garman

ciphers depended on their mathematical structure, on the number of possible

modifications, on the frequency of change, and, in the final
the nethods used for their production and distribution.

ana~sis,

on

The smaller the

area in which a cipher was used, the less material there was that became
available to enemy cryptanalysis, and the less serious was the compromise
of the cipher.
The German
cryptosystems:

established the following three categories for its

for higher-echelon traffic absolute security within the

limits of feasibility; for intermediate-echelon traffic, temporary security for about three days; and, for combat messages, several hours of erfective concealment.

The effectiveness and security of enemy systems

were classified according to the same standards.

The field forces asked for systems which could be operated
without increasing the weight and complexity of the radio

equi~nt,

and the loss of which would not threaten serious consequences.

desiderata ran contrary to the security requirements.

rapid~

These

Secure systems

caused delays and. were too complicated for use by tank crews and the like.
J!oreover, cipher machines were heavy and bulky.

To meet the demands of

the field forces was all the more difficult, because one never knew W'hether
the enemy

possib~

employed better methods which permitted him to operate

CONFIDENTIIL
JBLBI ilj lala iilliiR

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENfiAl
&111~ l1f1,.1ei11

MS

# P-o38

-229-.

App. V

I at even greater speeds. Unfortunately there was no

pos~ibility

of measuring

the caliber of one's own encryption against the enemy's skill at cryptan-

alysis, since these matters are among the most closely guarded secrets of
any nation.

In any event, a belligerent who overestimates the security of his

cryptosystems,underestimates enemy cryptanalysis, and does not strive con-

stantly to perfect his own systems, while setting up the highest possible

standards, commits a grave mistake.

German cryptanalysis was always directed by highly-competent signal
officers with experience in radio cownunication and intelligence, and in
tactical and technical problems involving signal functions.

To place this

organization in the hands of cryptanalytic experts would not have been practical, because, hmvever qualified they were in their own spheres, they lacked
the necessary perspective and understanding of the techniques of the enemy's
radio communication.

Because of the special characteristics of Soviet cryptosystems and

their importance to German .conmunication intelligence in Russia, a brief
explanation of these systems is in order at this point.
)
1

The Russian

systems uniformly

did not use mechanical ciphers but amployed code

~1roughout

the entire theater of operations.

From the

regimental level on up, cryptography was the responsibility of specially

trained cryptographic officers, who used secure systems which were subject
to frequent change.

Since virtually every Russian headquarters required

eBNFIBENIIAL
5''"NIJ laramatfaii

REF ID:A56970

81iNFI8ENJIAL
MS

#z

P-Q38

App. V
~~~at a different code be used in each direction when communicating with

i subordinate units, the Germans often found it very difficult to obtain

sufficient material for solving Russian

hi~her~chelon

radio messages.

The solution of tactical messages was easier, since the systems themselves
were simpler and the operators were often too indolent to use substitute
designations for frequently recurring terms, as had been directed.
At the front the Russians often transmitted numerical-code messages
by voice and CW.

In the latter case the average speed of transmission

was so slow that the German intercept operators, regardless of their degree
of training, could easily copy them.

Such messages were often solved by

personnel of the short-range intelligence companies without assistance, and

the contents quickly made available to the combat units concerned.
The Russian code books differed technically from the German ones.
The Russians used exclusively substitution systems in which letters, syllables, words, sentences, and numbers were expressed by

nu~erical

code groups,

as described below:
Two-digit cryptograms (groups consisting of two figures:
Consisting of only 100 pairs (concepts}, these
cryptograms were intended only for technical
operation which could be solved in almost all cases.
Three-digit cryptograms (groups consisting of three figures):
This was the most frequently used field code.
Solution was possible in 80 percent of all cases.
These cryptograms became more and more complicated

GQNFIBENliAL
!eea:iiJ l::la:111tiaa

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENftAL
llaiit) lal illtiM

liS I P-D38
.App. v

during the

war~

and a body of experienced analysts

was needed to solve it.

Each radio net had its

own code. so that captured codes were never of any

use.

The time required to break a code varied

between several hours and several weeks.

However

once the basic code and the substitution table had

been determined. all intercepted messages were
solved within a ffiW minutes.

This code offered

1.000 different combinations.

Four-digit cryptograms (groups consisting of tour figures),
a

This was/rarely used field code which offered

10.000 combinations and required a fairly large
volume of text for its solution.
Five-digit cryptograms (groups consisting of five figures):
This was the most frequently used code for higherechelon

messa~es.

binations.

It consisted of loo.ooo com-

In general only the Cryptanalysis

Section at the Fuehrer headquarters waa qualified

to attempt solutions.

Even these messages were

solved in 50 percent of all cases.

The Russians tightened their security measures during the war. but
\Yithout making any basic changes in their systems.

On the whole. German

cryptanalytical procedures were able to keep up with them.

GBNABENfiAL

REF ID:A56970

68NFIBENIIAL
&111fil) llilfMitial

-232-

:.18 !/= P-038

App. v

The significance of one single error in the use or distribution of

a code is illustrated by the following example:
~rea

From the northernmost

of the Russian front. Army RI observed the Soviet Northern Fleet in

the Arctic. including its air raid warning stations and fighter units.

In

the spring of 1943 one of these air raid warning stations notified a
fighter airfield on the Kola Peninsala that a convoy was approaching from
Iceland and would reach a certain point at a certain time.
was encoded

i~

This message

the simple three-digit code and was solved at once.

Immed-

iately notified the Luftwaffe and Navy destroyed most of the ships in the
convoy.

Had the message been sent in the five-digit code. which was gener-

ally used for such important dispatches. its solution plus the time needed
for transmitting it would probably have taken several

d~s.

and the encryp-

tion would have fulfilled its purpose.

The German communication intelligence experts had expected that. in

the event of war. message evaluation would be of only slight importance.
since the enemy would protect his

,I

co~unications

with impregnable codes.

It was for this reason that so much effort had been devoted to the develop-

ment of traffic analysis.

However thanks to the work of Gern1an cryptana-

lysts and theerrors committed by the enemy. these expectations failed to

'

materialize. except in the case of those higher-echelon codes. which could

not be

bro~en.

Thus. even though the emphasis shifted to traffic analysis

in World War II. cryptanalysis continued to furnish a major part of the

over-all results produced b,y radio intelligence.

G9NR9ENJIAL
5eea: ils l::fa::::alia::

REF ID:A56970

JBN~ID!NTIIL
SiCQ;I)

i::lutiec

MS 4/= P-0~8

Appendix VI
Appraisal of Short-Range Communication Intelligence
What was the opinion of the effectiveness of communication intelligence
held by the user agencies in the field and within the

General Staff?

There is no need to emphasize that before the outbreak of hostilities the

intelligence officers of these agencies were provided

w~th

information on

Germany's potential enemies, and that some of this information was derived
from peacetime observations of the intercept aeencies.
At the beginning of the war the chance successes achieved by the shortrange intelligence platoons forming part of the division signal battalion
were of definitely secondary tmportanoe.
had changed radically.

By 1943, however, this situation

In Russia the division intelligence officer received

interesting daily reports about the enemy from the auxiliary evaluation
section of the short-range intelligence company attached to corps headquarters.
In Italy and western Europe important information obtained by communication
intelligence was also disseminated over the broadcasting system.

Moreover.

the short-range intelligence teams, which were improvised by most front-line

divisions, facilitated the conduct of operations in some sectors to such an
unexpected degree that they were found indispensable.
During position warfare the results obtained by short-range intelligence
teams were minor because the enemy used telephone lines. dispatched messengers, and observed strict radio discipline.

Such quiet periods had to be

utilized for studying enemy radio techniques, for training the personnel
of the small units, and for co-ordinating procedures in dealing with division

CONFIDENTiaL
&111ri_, IRflralian

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENf1Al
ltitdlilJ lnlan::lia

~~~~
~'-PP VI

4~

headquarters.

Once mobile warfare was resumed, enemy radio traffic reap-

peared with messages either partly or wholly in the clear, giving a wealth
of information Which could be immediately exploited in the course of the
action.

Under the pressure of combat, untrained or undisciplined radio

operators and tactical commanders were often oblivious to security regulationa, all the more so when German countermeasures increased the already
existing confusion.
The author of this appendix has in mind two situations, one during a
delaying action, the other during position defense, when the division he
commanded was excellently supported by the short-range intelligence team,
much to the detriment of the careless opponent.

The first episode occurred

in March 1943 during the withdrawal of the Ninth Army from the Rzhev Olenino area to new positions along the vyazma -Yartaevo line; the second
one, in

1944

beachhead.

during the heavy fighting against the British in the Normandy

Both actions have been described in the chapters of the main

part of this study dealing with these two theaters.

In both instances the division intelligence officer, who always stayed
in the immediate

vicini~

of the operations officer and the division command-

er, installed the short-range intelligence team consisting of several radio

operators and linguists in his own house, tent,or truck.

Important inter-

cepts were immediately reported to the operations officer and the division
commander.

During heavy fighting the intelligence officer conveyed the

latest information to the division commander while the latter was looking
through his tripod-mounted telescope.

BBNFIBENfiAL
SetUillJ lnfo;maticn

The division commander was thus in a

REF ID:A56970
eBNFIBEMtl~l
!IICU: il) IRhiiRdlll

~ # P-038
App. VI

-235-

position to supplement his own personal observations o the

ene~

and those

of his ground reconnaissance units with intercepted messages indicating

the enemy's plans, requests for artillery support and situation reports.
On the basis of this authentic information he was well placed to order

appropriate countermeasures within the limits of his resources and reserves,

be they artillery concentrations, ground reconnaissance. counterthrusts, or
troop concentrations.
special danger points.

He could also warn or withdraw troops located at

There were many instances in 1ri1ich short-range RI

operated successfully during the last years of the war against the Russians,
British,and Americans.

By

1944-45

the results obtained by communication

intelligence probably amounted to as much as 75 percent of all the tactical

information available to diVision

co~~anders.

Although. withotlt cOJmnunication intelligence units of their own, the

corps probably obtained about the
source.

sarr~

percentage of

infon.~tion

from that

The corps intelli~ence officer had to rely on whatever information

v1as passed on to him froi!l higher and lower echelons. 1'\hereas or.. the divisian level only enemy voice communications were intercepted in the above
mexmar, the corps intelligence officer also received much information from
C:W messages, which were encrypted in such very simple codes and field c1pbers that they could be solved by evaluation sections of the short-range
intcllieence company stationed

i~

the corps sector.

Another criterion for judging the

effecti,~ness

ligence was whether its results arrived in time.

of communication intel-

At division level no

special channels had to be established for this purpose.

~9NFIBENIIAL
lecmiiJ lnlar1111i

In view of the

REF ID:A56970

~Nfi8Nf1AL
.litbiilj liihliiiiilie::

]1:5 =li=

-236-

P-038

App. VI

generally limited width of the corps sector. the corps signal battalion was
usually able to set up the necessary wire facilities.
area covered by

But the extensive

and army group sectors. and the correspondingly wide

area over which the communication intelligence units had to be spread.

necessitated the employment of a highly efficient signal communication
service to ensure the speed end accuracy of operations.
certain telephone and teletype lines at army and
reserved for communication intelligence.

a~

For this reason

group level were

In addition. direct long-distance

lines leading from OKH headquarters to the various theaters of operations

were reserved for Evaluation Control Center traffic.
At least once a day the higher-echelon commands needed a complete
summary of the messages intercepted on the preceding day.

For tactical

purposes (at the intermediate level) the evaluation results had to be produced within a few hours at the most. whereas those which were to be useful
in combat areascould not be delayed more than a few minutes, it not seconds.
Operations. procedures. and communication with the

~rious

headquarters on

different levels had to be organized accordingly.

After the causes for its

initial failures in 1939 and 1940 had been eliminated. German communication
intelligence was able to comply with these requirements during the later
years of the war.
By

1943 the intelligence officer at army level. who had never been

without same communication intelligence support,

ent communication intelligence battalion.
ication intelligence at

a~

~as

assisted by an effici-

Whereas the commander of

group level was in charge of the

G8NFIBENTIAt
EliiJ

IBfllll&lial

c~un-

~attalion

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENfiAL
fiiHfil! IAfll'lllltiiA

MS

If

-237-

P-038

.App. VI

with respect to technical and administrative matters, it was the intelli-

gence officer at ar.my level who assigned the battalion its specific
r.dssions.
provided

The evaluation section of the short-range intercept company

h~

with tactical data from intercepted traffic from the area in

the_path of the army, while the long-range intercept company reported on

the higher- echelon traffic.

Since many simple keys could be solved at

this level, the radio situation reports contained comprehensive information

derived from traffic analysis and message evaluation.
At army group level the material derived from these sources was even
more comprehensive.

The infor-mation available at ar.my level was supple-

mented by the evaluation of analyzed messages whiCh, because of their importance, had been transmitted in complicated ciphers.

The commander of

communication intelligence was administratively subordinate to the ar.my

/

group signal officer but was given his missions by the intelligence officer.
officer
A liaison/permanently assigned to duty with the intelli~ence officer made
a. verbal report at least once a day on the RI picture and sublr.itted Ytithout

delay any information of special interest.

Moreover, the commander of com-

munication intelligence reported in person on matters of particularly great

significance.
At army group level, just as at

level, the productivit,y of cam-

munication intelligence had amounted to approximately 75 percent of the

total intelligence available as of

1943. This figurp remained fairly stable

until the last weeks of the war, when communication intelligence (both radio
~d

wire) provided 95 percent of the total.

88NFIBEN'FIAL

This fact was eonfir.med an

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENfiAl
lilllllit} IIIMiiiiliW

=If P-0~8
App. VI

-238-

MS

several occasions. b,y Field Marshal Kesselring when serving as OB West.

The Evaluation Control Center compiled the information obtained qy
the army groups and added material of its own obtained from traffic analysis and the solution of the more complicated cryptosystems.

Liaison

officers who were on permanent duty with the Eastern and Western Intelligence Branches (the intelligence units in the offices of the Chiefs of tha
.Army General Staff and Armed Forces Operations Staf'f') submitted comnunication intelligence information to these user agencies.
As a matter of' principle, communication intelligence never based its

operations on information from other sources, such as prisoner of war

interrogations, reports from agents, and air reconnaisaance, but at the
most used them only to confirm its own results.
War II the intelligence experts in the

In the course of' World

General Staff formed the opin-

ion that in most instances communication intelligence results could be

accepted without confirmation.

By the same token reports from other sources

were not regarded as reliable until confirmed by communication intelligence.

During the first years of the war same of the doubts as to the reliability
of communication intelligence had dire consequences for the Germans, but
this situation was subsequently corrected.

Actually communication intelli-

' genco w.. oupor1or to air and ground recannaisaance. because the latter
could furnish reliable information on only those objectives which the en&m
had not concealed from view.

It was also superior to subjective statements

of prisoners and agents, whose information was often made to fit the purpose
and could not be immediately checked, quite apart from the fact that it was

G9NFIBENf1AL
'11tDiiiJ

liiflllllltill

REF ID:A56970

CONFIBNftAL
Seauri&r IRfiiiiiRiiR

MS

:il:

P-038

App. VI

often received too late.

Communication intelligence could observe even camouflaged night movements.

Moreovor, on the basis of the most dependable datal namely the

enemy's own careless statements, it could learn of the enemy's intentions

in time to take preventive countermeasures.

No intelligence expert on the

German General Staff could afford to neglect the information obtained by

communication intelligence.

The majority of the tactical cor.unanders, from

division commander up to the Chief of the Army General Staff, attached

utmost importance to this type of intelligence in formulating their decisions.

Only Adolf Hitler, the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht and Army,

withheld his recognition in spite of the tragic blunders he had committed

bei'ore Moscow, at Stalingrad, and in North .A:f'rica, where in each instance
he Underestimated the enemy's strength in the face of' warnings from comrnunication intelligence.
intelligence

He continued to doubt the reliability of this type of

at a time when it brought him more and more unfavorable, yet

undeniable 1 inormation about the crushing superiority and strategic objecti ves of his enemies in the Viest after the Normandy invasion and in the
East long before the Baranov offensive was launched in January
1944~~5

1945.

By

his antagonistic attitude toward communication intelligence reached

the point where he forbade the Chief of the Army General Staff and the
Chief of the Eastern Intelligence Branch to report the "one-sided and distorted" information based on communication intelligence.

On another

occasion the Chief of the Eastern Intelligence Branch produced an

over-

whelming array of indisputable facts drawn chiefly from communication

e&NffBEITI~L
....,;., IHfiiMIIiiR

REF ID:A56970

eBNFIBEtftiAl
!f;GUI itJ llllfllill

MS :/1: P-038
App. VI

intelligence sources, inoludine accurate data on the enemy's strength,

order of battle, and probable moves, as well as his steadily increasing
production of tanks and guns.
was the following:

11

I refuse to acknowledge the appropriateness of this

General Staff activity.

intentions and draw

Hitler's reaction to this factual account

~te

Only men of genius can recognize the enemy's

proper military conclusions, and such men would

never stoop to perform this kind of petty routine."

Military history will pass a different judgment on this pett,y routine,"
which was based on an infinite amount of German conscientiousness, organizational ability, and neverrelenting devotion.
The allocation of responsibility for communication intelligence operations in

1945 is outlined in Chart 1.

G9NFID&NJIAL
Elllrity lalenuti

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENJIAL .
&1111 itt

lltlattaaliltt

-24o-A
MS .J/: P-038

Allocation of Responsibility for Communication Intelligence

Operations
Ene~

Signal Communication Sources

r---1- Communication
intelligence teams at
division level

Field radio communications

..
(coded and clear-text):
Infantry
Araor
Artillery
Observation Planes

Telephone coJIUilunications
nearest ~~e front

German Communication Intelligence Agencies

_j
Advance platoons of short-range

Wire intercept teams

,..-

in~elligence

Radio communications using simple

field codes forvmrd of division

Radio communications using field

codes forward of corps

Partisan radio traffic (in the East)

Diplomatic radio traffic

Radio broadcasting stations
I

Auxiliary evaluation centers at corps

Short-range intelligence companies
Lonp,-range intelli~enoe comoanies
Crnmrownication Intelligence Branch
Commanders of communication intelligence
with additional long-range intelligence
companies and fixed communication
intelligence ins~allations

~Radio communications in the

higher echelons

JRadio traffic of enemy agents

and resistana groups

companies

Special communication intelligence units

J_~

""

Clearing Center of COI!Dllunication lntelligenoa

General in charge of Communication
Intelligence
Radio counterintelli~ence units
Cryptographic Branch of Armed Forces
Signal Communication Group in OKW

Note:
No mention is made here of the distribution of technical assignments according to
frequencies and favorable reception areas for short waves. etc or of the overlapping of receiving areas as the result of observation by several stations.

G9NFIBENTIAt
Jecatilj htiiFIIIIIiU

l.

REF ID:A56970

- GDNFIBENTIA~
SILLIIIJ liilliiiliW

-241-

l':S # P-038
Appendix VII
German Intercept Equipment
(This appendix is based on a report by Colonel L. Karn,
vtho for many years held high positions in the Arm:y
Ordnance Office.)
1.

Receivers
German receivers developed after 1937 covered the follovring wavelengths:

30,000 to 4, 000 meters

Model z:
a:
b:
c:
d:
e:
f:

4, 000 to
250 to
80 to
12 to
5 to
2 to

250 meters
80 meters
12 meters
5 meters
2 meters
1 meter

Vlith the exception of category

r,

all models were available to the field

forces after 1939.

There was a 10 percent overlap between the respective

frequency

Maximum standardization of individual parts and assemblies

ranges.

for all models of receivers and direction finders was the aim of those in
charge of production.
ers were

installe~

The tuning elements of receivers and direction find-

and operated according to the same principles, in order

to make possible the highest degrae of co-ordinatiOn between intercept and

D/F

operators. Crystal filters guaranteed maximum selectivity. Ingeniously

.
.
designed tank circuits eliminated interference from nearby transmitters.
In 1938 two additional light-leight receivers were developed for shortranee interception covering the following wavelengths:
Model u:
II

v:

400 to 12 meters, and

12 to

2 meters.

They were issued to the field forces in 1943.

BBNFIBENliAL
!ltui itJ lnferatill

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENJIAL
-242-

1
''S
'"' -'1r -r-- 038

App. VII

As previously mentioned 6 models o, d, and e were captured by the

British at El Ala;nein in

191~.

ft1'1t

weeks later a British technical

journal paid professional tribute to several features incorporated into

their design 6 and mentioned the lack of such constructive thinking in
the development of English and American sets.
In the expectation of a long war the Chief of the J.rrrw Ordnance
Office issued the following instructions at the beginning of hostilities:
a.

The development of any equipment which might be ready

for issue to the field forces during the

followin~

four years

was to be continued'
b.

Any model of equipment developed by the Arrrr:f was to be

standardized with similu types introduced by the Navy and

Luftwaffe, and interservice rivalry in such matters was to be
abandoned,;
c.

Ge~nan

technical developments were to be checked against

the enemy's by comparing German with captured equipment; and

d.

All designs were to be simplified in order to facilitate

mass production.
In compliance with these instructions, the minimum standards for
receiver manufacture were larrered, and in the production of many individual
parts

su~stitute

materials were used instead of critical ones.

Subsequent-

ly 6 three receiver models -- a, b 6 and c --were combined in a standard

model y, which had a range of 4,000 to 10 meters.

This new model

~nbodied

a 50 percent reduction in weight and a considerable increase in selectivity

CfiNfiB!NfiAL
Sec"ri't lnfarali&ii

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENTIAL
SIIIJifl lnfUIMililii

-243a...'"ld sensitivity. However. this model never got into mass production before
----------- -- -~--- ----. --~- ~- .....
- --------. -~........... - ------
the end of the war. Models e and f were col!lbined in a second standard
'.

,,_

receiver with a range of five to one meter. which was issued to the three
services in 194,2.

The new model was lighter and more effective than the

older ones.
In keeping with the trend toward the use of shorter wavelengths. the
following models were developed:
Model g:
" h:
" v:

100 to 80 centimeters
70 to 50 centimeters
30 to 15 centimeters

Although these models did reach the experimental stage they were
developed too late for mass production.
2.

Antenna Amplifiers
As many as forty receivers operated around the clock in some of the

fixed intercept stations and mobile intercept companies.

mum

perfo~~ance

In theory. opti-

of a receiver was contingent upon the tuning of its antenna

to the frequency which was to be guarded.

At the fixed stations the Arrrr:f

Ordnance Office installed antennas in a pattern that permitted up to forty

different tuning adjustments in the long. medium. and short-wave bands.
The mobile intercept companies operating twenty receivers would have
required a veritable forest of antennae.

This was impractical because of

the time and materials required to set up twenty collapsible masts. the
problem of camouflage. and the likelihood of mutual interference.
,

The

Germans therefoJe developed three multicouplers. by means of which up to

forty recei vera could be connected to the antenna system.

e&NFIBENfiAL
&111rit) lllfa::llaliall

The incoming

REF ID:A56970

e&NFIBENffAL
.,.. itJ laf&lllllill

1IS ':~ P-038

-~P

VII

radio frequencies were amplified and filtered by special amplifiers whose

output was matched to the input requirements of the various receivers.

Thus, for instance, antenna amplifier A corresponded to receiver models
a to c (4,000 to 12 meters), amplifier B to models d and e (12 to 13 meters),
and amplifier C, to model f (below 3 meters).
In

1943 ground-force intercept units were issued amplifier

A and the

Luftwaffe units, type B, while the production of' the third type had to be
postponed because or the shortage or broad-band tubes.
Several

promisi~g

developments which had passed the experimental stage

..

---~

...

could not be introduced because or production bottlenecks.

Among these was

the directional antenna whose electrical length was adjustable and which
limited reception to the direction or the
tion of interference.

en~,

thus aiding in the reduc-

Another abandoned project was the anchored heli-

copter which was to hold aloft high-altitude antennae designed to increase

the range of reception by neutralizing the effects or the curvature of the
earth.

The latter equipment was intended primarily for intercepting ultrashort-wave traffic below ten meters, particularly that or enemy armored
\mi ts.

At an al ti"tt\de of 1,650 feet the effective radius or operations

was 95 miles, While at an altitude of 6,600 feet the range increased to

155 miles. The helicopter itself contained only the antenna, the radio
..........

.._....._

....

----------. --"'----------

....... -.:..,. .... ..,,......

-......

frequency circuits or the receiver, a power generator, and a remote-control

---~---

..

mechanism.

The latter was controlled through the anchor cable by means

~------------

of carrier frequencies.

Whereas the first experimental high-frequency

e&NFIBENfiAL
!lltiiilJ liifUI&&tiGii

REF ID:A56970

GBNFIBENTIAt
S"ri'l' IBfliU:CtiW

. -245-

1IS ~IJ: P-038

.o\pp. VII
sets were produced as early as 1942, the helicopters did not become available for issue during the war.

Thus, although technically feasible, the

interception of ultrashort-wave traffic from great distances could not be

carried on because of the lack of helicopters.
traffic of

en~ ~ered

The fact that the radio

units in Russia and western Europe could not be

given adequate coverage constituted a serious gap in German communication

intelligence.

3 Wave Indicators
In order to improve and simplify D/F operations, the Germans developed
.. --- ...... ..

. .

a wave. indi~ator
_____......
---... ...... which
.,

'

.....,_... -.,~..... ...

..--.. -~~-

---~-- ~

:"f

.:., .... _.

...... :. ~~- ":."'

projected
v:Ls_~ b~y fl.~.~ .?Ettecta~le, ra_<!.~R~--~~-~~~-~ ..
. . . . . . . ..
.

within a certain band of frequencies.

"-~--

., . .

and .

.:JW t.his

means the operator could

measure the field strength/wavelength of the incoming signals and then

select the signal he wished to copy on the receiver.

The first experimental

models were available as early as 1939, and the general issue to the field
forces was supposed to have begun b,y 1943.

Because of production diffi-

culties this program was not realized; the only wave indicators actually
issued were those destined for model a and b receivers. The other wave
indicators which became available in 1943 were turned over to the Navy
for ita submarines, since these devices reacted to radar impulses.

The

wave indicator, with its superior precision. would have improved the effectiveness of operations by increasing the volume and quality or radio
intercepts

and through the saving of time and effort.

- CINFIBEN'RAL _
S&CUill) lnhi,.lltiln

REF ID:A56970

GONFIDENJIAL
EIIMI'i., llllliiAiiDI

J P-038
App. VII

-246-

Lffi

4.

Recording Devices
When radio communication followed the example of wire communication

in adopting mechanical transmission and recording procedures. the highspeed traffic of foreign fixed radio stations was at first reoorded b.Y
In 1939 a further refine-

means of wax matrix and steel wire recorders.

ment was introduced in the form of the

"Magne~~~!l"
---.~..

iron-oxide-coated cellophane tape.

This device was used as a sound record-

er by intercept units before and during the war.

were issued portable sound recorders after

1944

Short-range RI platoons

1942.

For intercepting enemy messages sent over

circuits the Germans established in

which employed an

radiotele~~e

and multiplex

a special recording center which

consisted of eleven special radiotelegraph intercept devices which were

,__

tied in with sixty teletypewriters.

This installation was a synthesis of

recent technical developments in the field of radio and of experience with

high-speed telegraphy. The average daily performance varied between ten
and fifteen million characters. which could be raised to fifty million by
around-the-clock operation.

This special recording center furnished cryptanalysis with a large

volume of reliable texts and provided complete coverage of the widelydiffering types of foreign high-speed CW and multiplex traffic.

These mas-

sages were solved without actually possessing enemy tranamitting and receiving sets and in spite of the fact that the Russians. Americans. British.
~nd

French had

hi~hly-developed

teletype systems.

e&NFIBENliAL

REF ID:A56970

CGNPID!NTIAL
!Ilea: iiJ lllll'lllllill

MS -f/: P-038

App. VII

Facsimile transmission by radi9 was in extensive use by such Russian

_ _ _ _ ...,.r,.,...__...~~;...

} agencies as

~e

.......... - . - . . . ....... ._...--..-..-""'~

\.i.'lb:i.-..... - -

NKVD

and the Commissariat

~~~-.~r~~~~r:_~~-~on

-.:.

.,.,....;.

net or

I about forty to fifty facsimile stations. several of which were in Siberia -for instance, in Irkutsk. Tashkent. and Vladivostok -- transmitted handwritten communications. typewritten texts. drawings, and weather maps.
However, none of the Russian facsimile devices ever fell into the hands
'
or the Germans.

Nevertheless, the latter did succeed in intercepting

------"--

..

_____

,,

_, ___ ---.----

.,-----------------

Russi-an facsimile messages with corresponding equipment.

Up to 1941 the Russians transmitted messages via facsimile in clear
text.

Evan after the Russians had begun to use cipher machines. the Germans

still had no difficulty in finding solutions and recording almost the

entire facsimile output until the end of the war.

Direction Finders
The process or locating enemy radio stations wae subject to the phys-

ical laws governing the propagation or electromagnetic waves.

Researchers

had to study the propagation and reflection or radio waves and related
subjects in order to develop tha most effective D/F techniques.

The next

steps were to construct easily-operated D/F equipment for employment in

the field and to provide the RI units with accurate evaluation data which
would be of use to an evaluator with the educational background of a sergeo.nt.

).

The

D/F

ranges were established as follows:

a.

Within one and a quarter miles of the objective -- RCI operation&J

b.

Within twenty miles or the front -- short-range D/F operation&J

88NFIBEN'FIAL
Sitae ilJ In fGI 1111 till

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENfiAL
SitDillJ hrflliii&liau

-248-

MS 4/= P-038
App. VII

'

c.

Fram 20 to

450

miles behind the front -- long-range D/F opera-

tiona; and
d.

More than

450

miles behind the front -- very-long-range D/F

operations.
In addition to the previously-mentioned naval direction finders. the
Germans used a combination long and medium wave D/F set covering
to 80 meters and equipped with a rotating loop antenna.

4.ooo

Its receiver was

about 600 times more sensitive than an ordinary commercial set.

In order to improve the direction finder proper. the Germans introduced a goniometer using a fixed double-loop antenna. whose surface area
could be made as large as

100

square yards.

One loop was oriented north

and south and the other was at right angles to it.

thirty-foot collapsible mast.

They were mounted on a

At fixed intercept stations the entire D/F

equipment was kept in permanent barracks. whereas the mobile intercept

companies kept it in a tent or on a specially-built trailer.

In the latter

case the personnel was ready for operation within seven minutes after
arrival at a new location.

All intercept units were equipped with this type

of direction finder as of 1939.

The equipment was first tested by the German

RI unit which participated in the Spanish Civil War.

For the purpose or intercepting the sky wave component or short........,.
signals, fixed D/F equipment of the Adcock type was installed at the following stations:
Striegau -

Koenigsberg/Kranz -

Frankfurt an der Oder -

Breslau-

Vienna/Tulln - Graz - Munich/Starnberg - Stuttgart/Riesbaden-

!Uskirchen - Husum - Billerslebe~ Army Ordnance Office.

BBNFIBENfiAL
lelllil) IHfiPIIIIIill

This net was

REF ID:A56970

GINRBBffiAL
Wiij llraLAtlli

JiS # P-O,S
App. VII

-249-

centrally controlled by direct. . wire

linea.
. .

using the main ahort-.av.

base linea Koenigsberg - Gras. Graz -Husum. Gru - Euskirchan. and

Euskirchen - Koenigsberg the Ger.mans ware able to cover an area delt.ited
by

a line through central Scandinavia - Leningrad - .lloscmr - Kharkov -

Odessa - Black Sea - Worth Africa - southern Spain - western Ireland central Scandinavi

Additional mobile short-wave. lonr,-range D/F equip-

ment was installed on trailers and issued to the intercept companies during
the course of the war.
In 1942 short-range D/F sets covering 4oo to 12 meters were issued to
--

the

short-r~!'

I!"'

....

'

,.,._ ....

int.elligenoe platoons, whose mission it was to intercept

the ground-wave component of short-wave signals.

For the purpose of deter-

mining the exact location of agent-operated stations, RCJ units were equipped
with miniature direction finders vmioh were carried on a belt under tbe
operator's clothing.

l''or these sets the earphones were replaced by an in-

dicator about the size of a wrist watch.

For distances of less than sixty

~~lea

regular General Staff maps

were adequate for D/F evaluation, while for greater distances the curvature of the earth had to be taken into consideration.

For this purpose

the Army Ordnance Office issued a lrl.OOO,OOO radio navigation map before
the war which included the scale factor.

As

the need arose, the Army Ordi-

nance Office disseminated additional radio navigation maps (l~.ooo,ooo)

Ymich were produced by a photop-aphio process and covered the entire area
frmn

the northern Arctic Oceu to Lake Chad. anr'l 1'rom Iceland and Ireland

to the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and the Ural mountains.

881FIBENJIAL

They were

REF ID:A56970

G9NFIBENfiAL

iriS

fi= P-038

-250-

App. VII

suppleu.ented by four
Africa.

~ap

n~.aps

covering

l~orth

America, South .America, .Asia, and

distortions were eliminated by means of a D/F correction scale.

Within the scope of this brief survey directed at laymen the author
has mentioned only the principal pieces of equipment which German radio
intelligence introduced in order to keep pace with the progress in German
and enemy radio techniques.

Much auxiliary equipment served for training

intercept operators and for improving and

their duties.

simplif~ing

the performance of

Numerous experiments designed to bring about additional im-

provements could not be concluded successfully before the end of the war.
The propagation of ultrashort waves and oicrowaves was studied during
flif'hts of the dirigible "Graf Zeppelin" in 1938-39
An experimental station for observing radio signals and for developing

new intercept equipment was established by the Army Ordnance Office at

Hillersleben-Staats.

There, an observation platoon vras provided with the

most recent laboratory equipment and was to conduct research in order to

improve general intercept operations, antenna desi~n, other D/F equipment,
radar

operation~,

and mechanical cryptanalytic devices.

Based on the data

C.eriYed from practical experience in the field, these experiments led to

technical developments vthich enabled the Germans to keep pace with the
lat.est enemy signal rrocedures.

During the year 19W.I,, for instance, twenty-

four new techniques in enemy radio communication were observed and the
development of corresponding countermeasures was immediately undertaken.
At the experimental station the volume of recordings, which were made available

CtJNfiBNfiAL
iUUFits IINFIIIIIill

REF ID:A56970

CONFIDENTIAL
leesuil) lahua:atiw

liS

# P-038

-251-

App. VII

to the cryptanalysis and evaluation sections of the Armed Forces

Cr~~to-

graphic Branch and the Evaluation Control Center of OKH, averaged ten
:rr.illion transmissions a day.

The existence of this experimental station

made it possible to keep the Army Ordnance Office and private industry
up to date on the requirements

~f

the field forces.

As a result, the

equipment developed by the Germans incorporated the latest technical advances, corresponded to the wishes expressed by the user agencies, and
kept pace with the enemy's most recent inventions and techniques.

88NfiBENfiAL
!lcuuiiJ lu:fSPuuatiu

REF ID:A56970

89NFIBENHAL
lillll'i.,

,.,,,..,li

Appendix VIII
Transcript of an Intercept

~ade

by the RI Unit of the

252d Infantry Division in the Gzhatsk Area on

24

February 1943
(Prepared from private records in the possession of
Colonel Leo Hepp)
Explanation of code designetions:
a.

Napor:

Russian radio operator at Leskino command post

b.

Upor:

Russian artillery command post station

c.

Sorja:

Russian radio operator at the eonmand post of

supporting elements

d.

Kedr:

Intermediate link between Napor. Upor. and Sorja

e.

Skowa:

Russian radio operator at superior headquarters

!'ime

<>453

Napor to Upor via Ked.r:

I am now at Vorobyevo.

0620

Napor to Skowa via Kedr:- Move

44

Contact me under 056.

(presumably reinforcements) to this

place immediately.
0700

Napor to Upor via Kedr:

west of Vorobyevo.

Direct supporting fire immediately 100 yards

o6 012 immediate reinforcements.

0705 Repetition of message transmitted at 0700 hours.

0707

Napor to Upor via Kedr:

Klushino.

Enemy attacking.

Ammunition supply is low.

-GQNFIBENliAL
..iiiHPity liif&iiiilltdir"

Direct artillery fire on

REF ID:A56970

SBNABENJIAL
!acUI itt In fa; mali on

if P-038
App. VIli

-253-

0730 Uapor to Upor via Kedr: Enemy withdrawing from Klushino. Direct
heavier fire on Klushino immediately.

0734. Napor to Upor via Kedr: Lift fire 550 yards. Fire one more salvo.
Fire was right on target.

Enemy evacuating Klushino.

0740 Napor to Upor via Kedr: Give immediate fire support, enemy attacking.
0747 Napor to Up or via Kedr: Lift fire 1500 yards on woods at
distance from Vorobyevo.

LJ.o yards 1

Urgently require artillery support.

0753 Napor to Upor via Kedr: Lift fire 450 yards urgently need fire!
0754 Upor to Napor via Kedr: State precisely where fire should really
be directed.

To Klushino or to Kusnetshiki?

0800 Napor to Upor via Kedr:

west of Vorobyevo.

Immediately direct artillery fire 100 yards

Enemy attacking.

0810 Upor to Napor via Kedr:

Nodov has left and brings needed supply

(arnmuni tion).
0815

Napor to Up or via Kedr c We urgently need reinforcements. Enemy

attacking.

We are out of ammunition.

0820 Upor to Napor via Kedr: How strong

0821

Na.por to Upor via Kedr:

left.

is attacking enemy force?

Enemy is far superior.

Only a.

ffl'li

of us

I am alone at radio set.

0823 Napor to Upor via Kedr: We are throwing our last men into the fighting.
Up to now no artillery fire has hit designated targets.
0830 Upor to Napor via Kedrr
stances.

Signed t

Vorobyevo must be held under all circuo-

1.!4.

.. e&NFIBENfiAL
SltbiiiJ lnfs;:nalia

REF ID:A56970

C6NFIBENfiAL

MS #: P-o,a

-254-

App. VIII

0835 Bapor to Upor via Kedr:

Fire steadily on western part of Vorobyevo.

0840

Up to now I have not noticed any artillery fire.

not
Napor to Upor via Kedr: I am at present/in Vorobyevo but in Leskino.

0848

Napor to Up or via Kedr r

now be lifted

Enemy attacking from all sides.

Fire should

1.650 yards to the western edge of Leskino.

085' Upor to Napor via Kedr:

Which unit is actually in Vorobyevo and how

is the situation there?

0857 Nap or to Up or via Kedr 1 Enemy is again attacking from all sides.
0859

Napor to Up or via Kedr:

Need immediate artillery support.

Leskino

is burning. there is house-to-house fighting.

0902 Nap or to Upor via Kedr:

Direct artillery fire 900 ye.rds v;est of

Leskino.

0904

Up or to Napor via Kedr:

How greatly are you outnumbered by the enenry?

0906 Nap or to Up or via Kedr: There are only a fn men lett and we are
fighting for every house.

Urgently request reinforcements and artil-

lery support.

0910 Upor to tlapor via Kedr: Immediately take up defensive position facing
west until reinforcements arrive.

Reinforcements will lh.k up with

you at the forester's house in the woods near Vorobyevo.

0912

Nap or to 'Upor via Kedr:

We will hold out to the last man.

0915 Napor to Upor via Kedr: Shells are on target; continue fighting in
same manner.

0916

Upor to Nap or via Kedr:

Report inunediately as soon as reinforcetPents

have linked up with you.

G8NFIBENliAL
&eaurits lnfluiiiilial

REF ID:A56970

-- GINFIB!NTIA[
:If P-0,8
App. VIII

-255-

IJS

0925 Upor to Nap or via Kedr:

\'Vh'b is with Koste.r jev?

0926 Napor to Upor via Kedr:

Kostarjev is wounded.

0928

In 'What condition is Kostarjev and where is he?

Upor to Napor via Kedrs

0929 Nap or to Up or via Kedr: lle is under cover but does not leave the field
of' f'ira.

0?30 Upor to Napor via Kedr: We shall start firire; right away. Report
precisely where shells hit.

0935 J:Japor to Upor via Kedr:

now.

I have not seen any artillery .fire until

Urgently need artillery support.

0945 Nap or to Up or via Kedr:

Direct fire on Leskino iii1I!I.edie.tely.

I am

at the edge of the village.

0947 Upor to !lapor via Kedr:

I will fire ilnm.ediately; report where shells

hit.
0948

Napor to Upor via Kedr:

I understand. I shall report where shells hit.

0950 Napor to Upor via Kedr:

Shells are hitting target.

Continue firing

on the same target.

0955 Sorja to Napor via Kedr:

We are advancing toward you in direction

of' Vorobyevo.

1005 Napor to Sorja via Kedr:

Attack Vorobyevo immediately with one compnny.

The remaining forces should link up ;T.ith us

1030 Sorja to Napor via Kedr: We are fighting our l7ay throue:h Yagorna
(wooded area near Vorobyevo).
enemy fire.

Only 30 and

ho

':le have suffered hea-vy losses from

men respectively are left of the ~to

companies.

e&NFIBENJIAL
Sitiiiij In fat ::aliln

REF ID:A56970

e&NRBENJIAL
ll&llit) lilaiALW

u.s I P-038

.-256-

App. VIII

1037 Upor to f{apor via Kedr 1 Fr0r.1 v.rhich direction is the eneli\Y i'iring'l
1039 N'apor to Upor via Kedr:
tnaediately.
lo!13

Give artillery support on Vorobyevo

Kostarjev's group is

fi~1tine

..

in the woods.

l{apor to Upor via Kedr 1 I am falli~ back on Vorobyevo.

'IDn~

is

firing on us from wooded area.

1045

Upor to Napor via Kedr1

Report exactly where you are and where you

want artillery fire to be placed.

Bear in mind that our troops

are in your rear.

1100 llapor to t'por via Xedr 1

Direct fire north of wooded area near

Vorobyevo.
1135

Sorja to N'apor via Kedr1

the jump-off positions.

The rations destined for you are

We are swaiting your detail.

~ow

at

Signed1

Chochlov.
llla2

!lapor to Borja via Kedrs

Kusnetahiki.
Signeda

Urgently request artillery support on

We are out of ammunition.

Support did not arrive.

Sokolov.

1143 Hapor to Sor ja via Kedr: Yle cannot send a ration detail because
we are encircled.
1150 Upor to N"apor via Kedr 1

You can pick up a storage battaJ for your

radio.

1152 Napor to Upor via Kedr: \"ie cannot pick up the

stor~e

battery either.

1153 Hapor to t'por :tor Sorja via Kedr1 Where are the reinforcements'/
1200 Upor to Xapor via Kedra

!he re1n:toroaments are at edge of the forest

at Yagorna (near Vorobyevo).

88NFIBENftAL
'WdCr .........

REF ID:A56970

88NFIBENTIAL
&aarit!l Iuta: :::aian

l.:.S :fj: P-038

App. VIII

-257-

1210

lla.por to l!por via Kedr:

flha.t happened td artillery support?

1212

Naper to Upor via Kedr:

We are still "''tithout artillery support.

Fire immadiately on the village of Leskino.

1224

Napor to Upor via Kedr:

Artillery fire!

1226

Artillery fire1

Artillery firel

On the village of Leskino.

Napor to Upor via Kedr:

Up to now only one shell has come over

end that was a dud.

1234

Napor to Up or via Kedr:

village.

Shells lending in north ern part of the

Place fire 550 yards to the left.

Every round is a dud.

1235

Napor to Upor via Kedr:

We cannot fall back, we are surrounded.

1238

Upor to Napor via Kedr:

Hold out until dusk, then atte111pt to break out.

1240

Napor to Upor via K.edr:

We have only a few men left, but we shall

hold out.

12LJ2

Napor to Upor via. Kedr:

of Leskino.
left.

Shells landing

450 yards north of village

Shift fire 200 yards to the rear and 200 yards further

Nothing but duds.

121.1-5 Up or to liapor via Kedr: We are now firing shrapnel. Report exact
position of fire immediately.
1248

Up or to Nap or via Kedr:

Drutshenko has driven the Germans out of

their positions south of Leskino.

Your orders are to take possession

of the Kussel area.

13<>4

Napor to Upor via Kedr:

target.

Shift fire

The first and third shells were well on the

350 yards to left and increase.

strong force.

e&NFIBENfiAL
&111fli., IRflflllli

Enenw

is in

REF ID:A56970

CONRDEIIJIAL
Sltlll'iiJ h:famaliDH

MS .~~

P-038

-258-

App. VIII

1306 Up or to llapor:

From now on communicate directly.

We are starting
...

to fire.

1307 Napor to Upor:

Shift fire 350 yards to lift and 350 yards.

1310 Napor to Upor: We urgently need artillery support.

1317 Napor to Upor:

Shift fire 450 yards to left and lift 350 yards.

immediately. because shells are landing on our own men.

1327 Up or to Nap or: Report immediately l'There smaller caliber shells

are hitting.

1332 Napor to Upor:

Cease fire immediately, you are hitting our own

positions.

1337 Napor to Upor:

Can we count on support?

13l.r3 Napor to Upor:

Enemy attacking from all sides.

1~

You must hold out until dusk.

Upor to Nap or:

Nothing else is

possible.

1345 Napor to Upor'

Cease fire immediately.

14oo

Should I resume artillery support?

Up or to Nap or:

1435 Nap or to Upor:

Not at present.

144o

Direct fire on me immediately.

Nap or to Up or:

1445 Up or to Nap or: Hold out until dusk.

Then you will get some real

help.

llt48 Nap or to Upor: Request immediate

artille~ support

the right.

llt49

Nap or to Up or:

We will hold out to the last man.

GINFIBENfi~L
EIIMNI) lafe; iii& liD:;

450 yards to

St&HFiiJ lnftllmatin

MS # P-038
App. VIII

tl50

-259-

Upor to Napor:

Inform Kosterovo that he has been awarded the

Alexanderevski decoration.
the

Congratulations frcmt the

co~ander

of

lAth.

llt-57 Upor to Napor: Report exact impact area. and necessary a.djust."llent
immediately.
~58

Napor to Upor:

Lift fire

900

yards.

There are no more duds mnong

the shells.

1500 Napor to Upor:

Enemy attackine with tanks.

15o4 Up or to :Nap or: How far aVTay from you are the tanks?
1505 Nap or to Up or:

The tanks are 100 yards front us.

All our anti tank

weapons have been destroyed by the enemy.

15o6

Up or to Nap or:

With lthat ammunition should we fire on the tanks?

1507 Napor to Upor:

Fire on our positions immediately.

1,508

Ne.por to Upor:

Altogether we have only twenty men left.

1510

Napor to Upor:

The tanks are cooing closer and closer.

1524 Up or to Nap or:

1\:re the tanks advancing from the north or south?

1525

They are coming from the south.

~la.por

to Upor:

153h napor to Up or:

fron southvrest.

Fire quickly.

The tanks are attacking i'rom the south, the infantry

Fire :more rapidly.

1538 Napor to t"por: Uore fire.

1538 Upor to Nap or: The au tome. tic gun cannot shoot that far. With what
forc.es is the enemy attacking?

1539 1-rapor to l!por:

With nine tanks and one infantry battalion.

1539

From which side is the battalion attacking?

Upor to Nap or:

eeNrJI'ff".,
SmrtiJ laflunclien

IllS 1f: P-038

App. VIII
1540

-26o-

Napor to Upor:

The houses are all burned down.

Fire more rapidly.

1541 Napor to Upor:

Shells landed well.

151.12

If' you get a chance wi thdrul' to the east.

'Efpor to Nap or:

1543 Napor to Upor:

more fire

Impossible~

suppor~we

Fire more rapidly.

can repulse the attacks.

1550 Napor to Upor:

Heavier tire!

1600

'rYe are firing more rapidly.

Upor to Napor:

It you give us

1603 Upor to Napor:

Y~ere

16<>4 Nap or to Upor:

Everything is confused.

did the shells land?

They are attacking from all

sides.

1605 Up or to Nap or:

Where are Kosterov and Sokolov?

1606 Napor to Upor:

I don't know where Kosterov is, Sokolov is dead.

1608

Upor to l~apor:

Totshinko end someone else will take care of you.

1610

Napor to Upor:

Situation is very serious, the shells are exploding

ten yards in front of us .. Fire more rapidly.

16E6 Napor to Upor: 'What about help?

We are lost, all of us.

From 'Where can we expect help?

calling~

1628 1-lapor to Upor:

This is the last time that I am

1629 Upor to Napor:

Destroy all documents!

1631

We are fighting to the last round.

Napor to Upor:

Be heroes!
We still have

two or three left.

1635 llapor to Upor:

May

The only ones lett. are three radio operators.

we withdraw?

1636 Upor to Napor:

Fight to the last, we shall not forget you.

Give us

the three names.

Napor failed to
D

7 58 6

1.

,. t
1'

CONfiOiNTIAL

-----------S=!=C=tJ=ft=IT='t=l:~:I':O:ft:M:AT:I:O:N=~--~----- (/ /

REF ID:A56970

SECREl SEGfJRin' INFBRMM=ION

29 .lpz':lll953

IBCIIa !ID

81JBJD1

D ... P-0,38 a.z.u :a.d1o Iatell!pDae 1 ad the oCIIIII8Citloll

o:t .ll8.l ulil El \henitb.

1. In Jlebraal7 1952, ASA zrequestlll .IIBl to Nriew 811b3an .._.

aertpt. (IJialo.aN 1)
2. With Serial OOU7, 20 h~ 1952, D8l repl1e4 zreac
d.eltltioa o:t oartam parli:lau oou14end. to be SICltllr, ~ tld.a
ahaa]d be 'IUMICI, u propoaed, tor pa1'P.0888 at ~- JIU.
ualst :lD the :reo.-.dtd edlt:llll. (IDDloaaN 2.)

,,,.

arr..- to

3. !he art!ae ot tt. Ohlet o:t IIU1ta17' BlstC1117 ola' .._. to

baw noe1ft4 wrd ot AIU.1 a ob3eotlcmll, altbDap MA :reoord ll1lo1r that
tll8 nblltame o:t .&rSAe S..!al OOU7 ae tanurded.. !h8 NM11JI'
pzoilltllll ulil d.letzo1'11ate4 :lD aa 1111t1aa ot JSJO oapS. ol.uastW,
IICOifll)Rlm. !110 hal:ldn4 ot the oap!a . . - hither u4 :r- U'lllllll
tM r '"''II l300 oapiN wn ..- to t11a Strl c.,.
Stpal Cozpa (SCU) held :l.t oapiea, _.st1ecl.Ail, allll 26 ~
.A81 allb4 AlBA to .a-t 'Iiiia puaapa oaaldMrecl to be
(IIIoloaan 3.)

'rwtJ

a.,...

4. !he 1111till8 . .

~ pez'tOl"Md. :lD o...U.tatlca w11ih

Dr. 81Dtw, llr. x.n.oa, llr. YGIIJ'II, aDd Dr. Sbaw. All 111N14 thaN
aa 110 Mtit abon !lsmBJ~r, bat; that aennl puap wre iDd..t
UBA l"eplW on ~ OcrtobG" 1952 :lD a.r1a1 00794,

smar. to 81Dar.

n.a..-.,

301" Dnzmaa, M&, called. tid. D:l.ri.a1ca b.r

t11at tile B:l.aar.:laal Dina- ob3.W to the _ _ . .. .
A pD8Z'al
al"1"UUp4.

5. 01& 12

pm... Be etaW
~.

---'1111

(IDaloean 4.)

6. !hla

-'me ..

!118 aa hal4 at B1.tarioal DJ.rilliala

.1110111 tho pre88111i .._.

OD

16 Dreebe!o 1952

lit. Col. BeltG"a ot tb8 JIUt;OI'ioal D:l.riaiala.

u. co1..,. o:t acu

3 Dzo-en

:oz..

o:f .&SA.
httq1U o:t EA-18

SECRET

REF ID:A56970

'SEGR&T
QP

SECHftlft INf6ftMAT16N

Slfpefl iiM"A'iE81

Historical Division objected to the proposed upgrading to 1 smRBr

on three pr1Dcipal grouncllu
a. Historical Division claimed that AFSA 1 s objection to
publication as 11 CONFIDElfliJ.LII had not been received. The UD.U8Cr1pt
had been submitted to G-2 aDd Historica:L Division assuud G-2 had
attended to coordinating with all other iDtereated agemies. J'ortunatel1', Major Drezman had with h1a his tUe aho'ri.Dg tbat ASA had pasaed
on AFSA 1 a comments ot 20 Februar;y. (See above).
b. Expense s great. Ftrteen hundred copies had been
printed with classification, 1 COD'IDllffiAIP. When assured that 500
copies would be taken with 11Sl!DRBr 1 clasa:lf'ication, p81"tuba.tion
dilliniahed, but it still argued that upgradiDB needless, since
c. In Mq aDd .Tune 1952, General PraUD had published 1D an
UDClaaaitied German Arrq journal the Sllbata.Dce ot sft'era1 ot the
passages AFSA. had marked to be 11SIC.Rllr 1 It argued that u. s.
authorities had DO corrlirol over General Praun and his associates, tbat
all ot the 11SIIlllm 1 passages might be pr:lnted :lD substance in the
German press at axv time.

NSA aDd ABA refused to budge and everrliua.l.q the conferees agreed that
the c011plete edition shoald be ataaped, 11 smRB1' 1 and that a.DDther,
abridged, edition 1IOilld be prepared tor COBFIDEHriJ.LI issue.
On 6 March 1953, SO copies, Stamped 11Sli:Rm' 1 , wre received
aDd five ot them were distributed to AFSS IIC/COO. In this
coDDection, we know thr.Oqh Lt. Col. Halters that the 200 copies were
not recalled but that notices were seut requestirlg holders to upgrade
to SEREr. For an appreciable period, therefore, tb.q ware tloatq
arOUDd marked onq "COD'IDJB.l'IAL".

7.

b7 EA-18

8. lio one ot the EA otticials conaal.ted outside this DivisiaD

(see para. 4 above) recOBISDded a classification above 1 Sl!Cimr 1 Each,
however, independantq conoluded that a classitication ot SB:RJ:r
neces8&17~ At the ccmtere:ace the AS! representative backed the IS.&.
representative all the 11&1'J the SOIA representative weDli alcmg b7
aoceptiDg 11Sl!CREl' 1 , but no higher.

9. It is a question whether Historica:L Division has publ ,.....,

other its which llight proper~ aDd protitabl,y have been referred to
this .AgeDC:y for NYiew.

T.

Canamer,

Chiat, Technical Iuto

4 IDcla: a/a

REF ID:A56970

SECRET SCURm INFORMATION

12 Feb1'1Ull7 1952

Ml!XORANDUI4 FOR CHIEF, TRAINING DIVISIOlf:

StJB.Tmr:

Transmittal of 1/P-038

1. This document with attached corresponde:ace was sulaitted

to this Of'tice b,y the Operations Division, ABA, for iDtoraatioD aDd
naluation, with the request that it be returned within five dqa.
2. It is for-.rded herewith as a matter of primar,y iD.tereat
to :roar Division. It is requested that ,-au. advise us as to its
value to the AgeDC7 from the historiCal aDd traiDiDg point of view,
aDd that ;you return it to the Operations Division, ASA, as requested,
when you have completed )"'OD" reYiew.

3. Your atteuliion is inviteci to the tact that i t ,-ou should

feel. that this d00UIIl8nt ou.glrt to be retained and processed for
publication at AFSA, it will be neces88l"7 to arra.Dge tranatar of
action in the Mtter from Production Dirision, G-2, Department of the
Arlq, to AFSA through ASA.

/a/ B. PULLIIG, Col.., USAJ'

Acting Chief'.
ottioe of Operations

3 I:ac1s:

1. P-038 .
2. GAS 60 R.s. (Case Bo.2-81)
3. CJ4 from DA, OJJ;/S, Q-2 to GAS-60

c
0
p

INCLOSURB I

SE8RET

REF ID:A56970

'SEGRET SEetJRI=rt INF6RMAf16N

Serial: 00117
20 .Feb 1952

SUBJl!CTa

Return ot MS if-0.38

TO:

Chiat1 Amy Securit;:r Agenc;:r

The Pentagon
1. Subject anuscript is returned herewith.

2. The rec0llllll8:adation ot SigDal Corps Intelligeme AgeDCJ'

that the attached doc1.111erxt be reproduced as a trainiDg pu.bl1cat1on
is CODCUl"l'ed iD. In general, the dOCUIIerxt should be claasif'ied
11COJD'IDERriAL1 but certain portions ot the text would se to
require a classif'ication ot "SB:R:Il'". It is reco.eDded that the
"Sl!CREr material be deleted in order that the 8 CODIDEHriAIJI
portion 11181' be used more treeq as training terial. I:t desired,
we will assist in the editiDg.

3. Reque.t one cop;y each ot the GermaD and English te.t, :1.t
aTailable.
FOR THE DIRIDTOR:

/a/ GEO

B. CAMPBELL
Colonel, .A.GC
Adjutant General

Incl:
CCI

liS

/IP-038

11 (3)
Rl:
Train Div (COJUback cop7}
Ch, Oft Oper

Capt. D.rer/60455/l4/bhd/l8 .Feb 52

HRPeterscm/60219/AG/81P/l9 .Feb 52

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INCLOSURE II

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REF ID:A56970

SECRElt SEGURitY INF8RMAliON

HEADQUARl'ERS
ABIII SJCURrfY AGEICY
shiDgton 25, D. c.

GAS SO (3].9.1)
SlJBJJOOT:

Department

26 Sep 1952

ot

the Artq Manual liS Bo

P-038,

German Radio

IntelligeDCe.
TO:

Director
Araed Forces Securit,- Agenc7
Washington 25, D. c.
Attn: AFSA.-252
1. Re.terence is made to letter, 1'0U1" Agenc,., Serial 00117,
"Return ot liS IP-0381 , dated 20 Februa17 1952.

subject:

2. Inclosed herewith one (1) cop7 ot Department ot the Arfq

llamal liS 1/P-0)8, "German Radio Intell1gence11 This manual as
received troa the Otfioe ot the Chiet SigDal Of'ticer, Department ot
the .A.:n~Qr. That office is prepariDg to distribute the mal, aDl
prior to such distribution, baa requested that the clasaificat10Jl
ot the docuaent be reviewd.

3. In referenced letter (par 1 above), 70111" AgeDC)", in review-

ing man'18Cript ot the mam1al, stated that certain portiona ot the

text; would 888ID to require a olasaiticatiOJl ot 1 SICREr 11 a:al/or
delated. It is requested that this ml be reviewed 'b7 ,.aa:r Age-asr

and the aeotiona thereof considered 11SICRBr 11 be 1118.1'ked as such

margin ot the pages.

OJl

the

4. Because the mam1Jila have alread1' been printed 1r.r the at"1'1ce
ot Chief ot llil1ta17 Bistor,y, Department ot the Artq, and are readT
tor distribution, it is requested that the editiDg be apedited.
Fat THE CHIEI', ARII SPX:URE'Y

AGE~Y

Is/ c.

B. SOOOX

Captain AGO
Asst. Adj. Gen.

1 Incl: a/a

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DCLOSURB III

SE8RB

REF. ID:A56970

&EGR11 - SEcUMittf9RMitT16N

Serial: 00117
27 Oct 1952

S'UBJ'li.Dr:

Return of liS IP-038

TO:

Chiat, Ar!v Securit;r AgeDC7

The Pentagon

1. The historical atu.V liS Bo. P-038 entitled GIRIWt R&DIO

Ilfl'ELLIGERCB, baa been reriewad with interest. It ia the opirdon
of the .Armed Forces Seourit;r Aguo;r that certain portions of the
text call tor a classification higher than 11CODIDDl'IAL. These
portions have been marked in the attached cop;r ot the book.
2. It is suggested that the present edition be upgraded to
"Sl!DRil'", be ao atuped aDd be distributed primari.q to thoae

direotl;r or :llldireotl;r cODOerned with a:lgDal. or sipal intellipDCe

plans aDd pol.icies.

3. It ia further 81J1Psted that an abr:ldgaaent be prepar.a

wider distribution with the olaasiticaticm 11COD'IDElf.riJLII.
This 1Kil1ld mean the oaisaicm of passages marked in the attached
copy and sw:h JliDor ohaDges in wordiDg as mq be necessary to aYo:ld

tor

too abrupt transitions.

4 It is recptsted that the Armed J'orces .Securit;r AgeDC7 'be

turDisbed t:ltt;r (SO) copies ot the ca~~plete edition aDd slao titt;r
(SO) copies of

aJQ"

abridged edition.

2' Inola:
1. List of pa_uqes on sheet.

/s/GEO B. CAIIPBELL
Colonel., Am
.ldjutaut GeDeral

2. CoP.f ot MS-P-038

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IICLOSUBB IV

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