ENIGMA/ULTRA - Allied-Assigned Code Words

[RodM]

Hello One & All,

while going through the DEFE3 ULTRA material for 1945 I've been slowly decyphering various Allied-Assigned code words used as covernames for the original Luftwaffe operational code names (the original Luftwaffe code name is usually stated in the first discovered ULTRA message on the subject).

However, there are a couple of code words where the original Luftwaffe codeword and meaning is buried within late 1944 decrypts (I only have access to 1945). Therefore, I would like to ask if anyone can tell me the original Luftwaffe Codeword and operational intention for the following:

'BACON' - Nachtjagd related; ground attack missions in support of the Heer during the Ardennes offensive. Original Luftwaffe codeword unknown.

PATER - Nachtjagd related; used during Dec 44/Jan 45, but original Luftwaffe codeword and operational intention unknown.

For those interested, other codewords during this late war period were

JEREMY - Allied Codeword for 'Bodenplatt'
ROPER - Allied codeword for 'Gisela'
BARKER - Allied codeword for 'Adelheid' (Nachtjagd intruding over England post-Gisela)
MACKIE - Allied codeword for general Luftwaffe plans for defence against Allies crossing Rhine (or Nachtjagd ground attack operations upon Allies crossing the Rhine).
RONALD - Allied codeword for 'Fuersee' - Schnaufer's plan for Nachtjagd mass intruding over English Channel.

Cheers

RodM

[Nick Beale]

I know the problem of finding the original use of the code word!

I never found the first use of INKSTAIN but it seems to refer to midget submarines employed off Anzio («Neger» I think).

Sonderstaffel Einhorn was known as SALTER in Ultra for a while but they seemed to drop it.

CONWAY was substituted for the German Zeisig (Siskin), mining of the Scheldt Estuary by LG 1.

SWINBURNE was the Kommando Elbe ramming mission in April 1945.

LAYTON seems to be Eisenhammer, the planned Mistel operation against Soviet power stations.

And don't worry Rod, if your rate of progress is anything like mine, the 1945 signals should keep you going for quite a while!

[RodM]

Hi Nick,

thank you for the reply. As you know, working backwards is the best way to proceed but, darn it, I get to the last 1945 roll (late Dec 44/early Jan 45) and new ops and codewords come up! The problem with biting the bullet and ordering a duplicate of the Dec 44 rolls is where will it end? I could see it turning into a case of being compelled to work further and further back!

By the way, have you looked in any of the HW 5 material (supposedly the non-condensed decrypts). Sadly, it is not on microfilm (neccessitating a trip to the TNA, only about 12000 miles away for me) but outside of some secret stockpile of original docs in the former Soviet Union, I figure the HW series might be the last great untapped resource of Luftwaffe material...

Cheers

Rod

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by RodM

By the way, have you looked in any of the HW 5 material (supposedly the non-condensed decrypts). Sadly, it is not on microfilm (neccessitating a trip to the TNA, only about 12000 miles away for me) but outside of some secret stockpile of original docs in the former Soviet Union, I figure the HW series might be the last great untapped resource of Luftwaffe material...

I started on it last November (thanks to reading the footnotes in the Arthy/Jessen Fw 190 book!). This stuff is brilliant but there really is an awful lot of it.

Some of the fruits of my so far very limited inroads into HW5 are on my website
http://www.ghostbombers.com in the I./JG 2 and "SG 4: last battles in Italy" articles.

HW5 files were the source of the attachment I posted recently in the thread about "Bf 109 G or K?" for example.

[RodM]

Hi Nick,

thanks for the "heads up" and the examples. I know that there are an awful lot of ULTRA ops reports in DEFE3 that are condensed, where I expect the full text is in HW 5....

Cheers

Rod

[Andreas Brekken]

Hi, guys.

I think the only feasible way to get through the HW 5 material is to make a joint effort and share our finds.

My proposed method would be (as there are no limitations to the use of digital cameras in the archive) to make an overview of what parts have been photographed and by whom, and share among the interested parties.

I think I have about 5000 pages from HW 5, and some of the information contained in it are absolutely priceless... and a lot of the pages are absolute rubbish (by my measure that is).

Other ideas welcome.

Regards,
Andreas

[RodM]

Hi Andreas,

your suggestion sounds like a very good idea. Unfortunately, I would be able to contribute nothing at this point in time as the files have to be viewed at TNA ('shame that the series isn't microfilmed) and I live 12,000 miles away from Kew! It would be 'nice' if TNA could eventually index the HW5 stuff as has been done with HW1.

It is interesting that the National Archives summary of HW5 includes the following statement, "As the war progressed more material covering a shorter time-span was included in each book; also, because of time pressures, it was not possible to include all intercepted messages in the summary reports; many such messages where attached to the reports and bound in the same book." I take it that this means that there is potentially very good operational info that wasn't fully reported in the signals to Allied commands...

However, I do have ALL of the DEFE3 ULTRA microfilms from the 31st Dec '44 to the end of the series in May '45. Theoretically it would be possible to produce an index and at this stage I have produced transcripts for all of the Nachtjagd related messages (with the early Jan stuff still to write up, along with late April/May).

If anyone has found any Nachtjagd operations reports for 1945 in, say, HW5, I would be willing to share/trade both DEFE3 stuff and AIR22 Air Ministry "Y" service daily Wireless intercept reports (I have all of 1945).

Anyone interested could PM me....

Cheers

Rod