Luftwaffe data from ULTRA

[RodM]

Hello One & All,

I recently bit the bullet and have started to go through the ULTRA decrypts in the DEFE 3 series from the PRO.

For the record, being in New Zealand, this has meant ordering duplicates of the relevent microfilms. As a sampler, I obtained DEFE 3/517-518, which covers 15th-20th March 1945 (6 days) at a cost of GBP55 plus postage. It took just under a month from payment to receive the duplicate and the British National Archives website and ordering system is first class. Obviously, obtaining duplicates for a wider time frame will be very expensive (but, still cheaper than hiring a researcher to combe through the material).

Allied with further material at the PRO on Luftwaffe W/T radio traffic, it has been possible to build up a good picture of operations (specifically, Nachtjagd operations Jan-Apr 1945).

Anyway, for those with vastly more experience of this material, I do have a couple of questions:

1. A straight abbreviation of "ARC" is often used. Does anyone know what it means?

2. Keywords are often repeated (i.e. "Rheine & Rheine"). Does any know the reason for this other than to add clarity.

3. From what I have seen, it appears that the decrypts are not reproduced verbatim (in decoded form). Therefore, I get the impression that some information may have been left out at the discretion of the intelligence staff. Is this a fair assumption and, out of interest, do the original (full) decrypts still exist?

Cheers

RodM