[Andrew Arthy]

Hi Andreas,

I agree with Nick about the source of the material in HW 5. It is mostly from decrypts, not humint.

The official title of the HW 5 series is as follows: 'Government Code and Cypher School: German Section: Reports of Germany Army and Air Force High Grade Machine Decrypts'.

If it was humint, then that means the Allies had men working for them in every Gruppe, Geschwader, Fliegerkorps, etc. in the entire Mediterranean, and I don't think that is possible.

And would someone risk his or her life to send a signal to the British about a German document noting the lack of toothbrushes in II./Sch.G. 2 in June 1943?

In HW 5 you will occasionally come across something that is not a decrypt, for example reference to Y-Service material or agent reports, but the vast majority of HW 5 is decrypts, in my opinion.

I'll be back at the National Archives for all of September, and one thing I'm really looking forward to going through again is the HW 5. It's a great source, especially for the Mediterranean theatre.

All the best,
Andrew A.