'Italian Ultra'
 

It makes me wondering, we all know about Ultra intercepts, but I am wondering if there are any intercepts of Italian communications available?

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

There are intercepts of Italian Naval traffic, certainly.

I don't know anything about the period 1940–43 (I've never looked at it) but I suggest browsing the National Archives online catalogue, in the HW series of files.

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

Italian Magazine "Storia Militare" has published two articles about this subject, both written by Alberto Santoni, in the november 2006 and july 2007 issue.
Main sources for WW2 are HW.21 series of files: several exemples are given in the text.

Gianandrea

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

There are some intercepts in one of AIR51 series microfilm rolls. Brief notes on flights, types, destinations and times, I'll try to find the reference.

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

Besides those already mentioned, there is quite a lot of translated decrypted material from Italy at the National Archives, Kew on microfilm in the DEFE series. There may be a mixture of decrypts from different sources, but it should be possible to tell from the individual message which were Enigma and which came from other lower-grade transmissions.

The files are:

DEFE 3/832 to 870, TELEPRINTED TRANSLATIONS OF DECRYPTED ITALIAN NAVAL TRAFFIC. JUNE 1941-SEPTEMBER 1943 plus DEFE 3/893 1941 June-1942 Nov 19.

Although I cannot remember specific file numbers, I am pretty sure some of the ‘Cairo’ series of translations also included some from Italian sources.

Hope this helps,
Bruce

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

Thanks, so at least there is something, though it looks navy related. I am interested in RA operations in Tunisia, so does anyone know if there is anything on the subject and of what quality?

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

Franek, I am pretty sure the RA never used an Enigma type machine. If anyone knows better, I would be interested.

Bruce

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

AFAIK, I agree completely with Bruce.

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

I can only remember reading that the Navy used a less complex version of ENIGMA (no "Steckers", I think) and that breaking it enabled to Royal Navy to surprise them at Cape Matapan.

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

Well, I mean encoded w/t messages with daily reports. Perhaps there was no Enigma but I cannot believe everything went by a snail mail.

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

There was a large volume of encrypted traffic intercepted, and a team at Bletchley Park dedicated to Italian traffic. This source was of great value to the British in North Africa, especially the transport arrangements which frequently included detailed lists of supplies requested and cargoes dispatched.

The majority of the high grade Italian Army and Air Force traffic was (a) book code and (b) superencyphered one-time pads, similar to the German Offizer system. The standard encyphering equipment for naval messages was a commercially produced variant of an early Enigma produced by a firm called Hagelin, also used later in the war by the Italian SIS. It appears that German liaison officers assigned to the Italian Navy sometimes had their own Enigma machines and communicated with the Luftwaffe as well as the Kreigsmarine.

There are undoubtedly some Italian non-Enigma messages in the DEFE files, but you will have to look at the index at the beginning of each roll to see the contents.

Bruce

Re: 'Italian Ultra'
 

Thu full reference of microfilm roll with some intercepts of Italian AF R/T is AIR51/296.