The Bletchley Series
An insightful series of publications about Ultra, the high-grade intelligence decrypted from the German Enigma coding machine by Bletchley Park during World War Two. It was here that German, Italian and Japanese radio signals were sent to be deciphered and then distributed to Allied leaders and field commanders. The Series represents a unique body of knowledge about the best-kept secret of the War.
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Breaking
Enigma : Official History of Hut 6 (coming soon)
Naval
Enigma : The History of Hut 8
The
Official History of British Signals Intelligence 1914-1945
TO BE PUBLISHED
SEPTEMBER
BREAKING ENIGMA
: OFFICIAL HISTORY OF HUT 6
by A P Mahon
: Edited by John Jackson
The original
History of Hut 6 was written by members of its staff starting immediately
after the end of the European war in 1945, with reproduction and binding
in 1946. Only a very limited number of copies were created at that time,
being classified as “TOP SECRET”.
VOLUME 1
The pre-war
history, - War - the first successes, the Bombe & Netz, Methods,
first breaks. Early organisation, Operational breaking, the vital importance
of Red. Rules of Keys, daily procedure in Machine Room. Liaison with
France . Arrival of the Bombe, establishment of Crib Room. Personnel,
Liaison
with Sixta, & Hut 3. Detailed Theory of Rules of Keys. Organisation
of Machine & Cribrooms/Watch & Research. Training of Hut 3 staff.
Appendices, Glossary, Index.
VOLUME 2
German Security Devices and our Counter- Measures : Reflector D, the BO mystery,
D-substitution, Greenshank and D, Red Ds : German security devices and
counter-measures : Reflector D; Summary of German use of D. The plague
of NOTS. Guernsey saga and the Qwatch. Final developments of the rules
of Keys. Bombe Control. Keys : Mediterranean Air, African Army, Italian
Army, Balkan Army Keys. Western Air and Army Keys German Air, Eastern Air
and Eastern Army Police and SS. The breaking of the Keys. Index
NAVAL ENIGMA : THE
HISTORY OF HUT 8 : 1939 - 1945
by
A P Mahon : edited by John Jackson.
German
Naval Enigma messages were the hardest to break at Bletchley Park during
World War Two, due to the complicated way
in which they were
enciphered. A P Mahon, who joined Hut 8 in 1941 and led the Naval codebreaking
team at Bletchley Park for the latter part of the war, gives a unique
insight into the methods of discovering the secrets of the Kriegsmarine.
These include the year-long battle to overcome the introduction of the
four-wheel Enigma machine by the U-boat fleet in February 1942 involving
the subsequent blackout of intelligence. The brilliant methods devised
at Bletchley Park such as Alan Turing’s Banburismus system, overcoming
the double-enciphered Officers-Only (Offizier) and the special U-Boat
Short Signals, are all explained. Churchill made clear that the U-Boat
war – the Battle of the Atlantic – was his greatest fear
during World War Two. This is a unique insight into how that battle for
vital intelligence was won, written by someone who was not only part
of the team that helped win that struggle, but also who for part of the
time, led it. There is a list of Naval keys, a Glossary, Biography and
Index.
120 pages 210x295mm. 210x190mm
ISBN
978-0-85420-442-7 Hardback Edition £32.99
ISBN
978-0-85420-443-4 Softback
Edition £22.99
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top
THE SECRET WAR OF HUT 3
edited by John Jackson.
Foreword
by Peter Calvocoressi, Head of Air Section at Bletchley
Park during
the War. At the end of World War II, those who
had actually worked in the Hut wrote a history of the activities
of Hut 3. The result was so sensitive that it was immediately
given the highest security classification: Top Secret – Ultra.
Now declassified and in the Public Record Office, this monograph
is based on this publication. Hut 3 was responsible for the
processing of the signals once the code in which they had been
transmitted had been broken. They translated and annotated
them and reported the contents to Government departments and
commanders in the field. Churchill received the most important
decrypts direct. Hut 3, at its peak of activity, had some 580
men and women working in it, which included 21 Americans. Hut
3 developed into an intelligence organisation the like of which
had never been seen before. Their index systems, the technical
expertise and research facilities were unique. The monograph
explains how Hut 3 handled the signals they received, and how
their processing enhanced the value of the signals. There are
chapters on the Military, Air and Naval Sections, also the
Duty Officers, Signals Section, the Special Liaison Units,
the German Book Room, Hitler’s Secret Weapons and the
arrival of the Americans.
210x295mm v
ISBN 978-0-85420-193-8 Hardback
Edition £29.99
ISBN 978-0-85420-114-3 Softback
Edition £19.99
ULTRA’S
ARCTIC WAR
by John Jackson.
The Arctic
convoys that took vital supplies at enormous risk to Russia
during
the Second World War did so within range of
Germany’s Luftwaffe, surface ships and U-boats. These
convoys were watched over by Bletchley Park codebreakers and
intelligence officers, through decrypts of the German Enigma
coding machine. In particular, these decrypts were closely
involved in three of the key actions of the Arctic battles – the
sinking of the battlecruiser Scharnhorst, the destruction of
the battleship Tirpitz and the disastrous PQ17 convoy. This
book examines the Ultra decodes, and for the first time lists
the key details in these events in chronological order, detailing
the role of the decrypts in a virtual minute-by-minute breakdown
of how the signals were used in these key actions.
210x295mm
ISBN 978-0-85420-224-9 Hardback
Edition £29.99
ISBN 978-0-85420-229-4 Softback
Edition £19.99
THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE 1914-1945 [Volume 1 (Part 1)]
by
Frank Birch : edited by John Jackson
This is
the first time that this Official History has appeared in
print. It was written in the period immediately after
World War II when the author was the official “Sigint” historian
in the United Kingdom. In World War I he was a member of the
Room 40 team at the Admiralty and in WW.II. and was a senior
member of staff at Bletchley Park. He gained a double first
whilst at Cambridge University, after World War I he was a
fellow of King’s College Cambridge. From 1937 he was
advising the head of the Government Code & Cypher School
(GC&CS). After World War II he was head of the historical
section of GCHQ. He was allowed full access to all records
and to ensure accuracy the original manuscript was reviewed
by officers of G.C.H.Q. The History has only recently been
declassified. It is the most authoritative account of how the
British Signals Intelligence organisation was developed to
became such a powerful instrument in defeating the Axis. The
History begins with an analysis of the rôle and effectiveness
of Signals Intelligence in World War I and the aftermath up
to the early 1930s. With the increasing threat from Japan,
Italy and Germany in the mid 1930s efforts were made to improve
the Signals Intelligence at home and overseas. With the outbreak
of war in 1939 the skeleton of what became the World War II
organisation was in place. There were considerable problems
that had to be overcome not least the competing requirements
of the Fighting Services as well as the friction between the
UK and overseas commands. What was eventually arrived at was
a unique system that involved the Fighting Services, the Foreign
Office and an array of civilians, many of whom had come from
the academic foundations. The history includes numerous tables
and diagrams that explain the development of the organisation
and how it worked, also the inter-connections and the flow
of information. For instance “The Chain of Control
of Interception in 1941” shows how the “Y Organisation” Committee,
which was headed by the Chief of the Secret Service, reported
directly to the Chiefs of Staff.
This
volume includes First World War and after, the “Preparations
for a New Emergency”- the pre WW.II organization. World
War II - the Phoney War, the Norwegian & French Campaigns,
plans in the event of invasion. The importance of “Y”.
Military & Air Sigint at Bletchley, Organisations in the
Mediterranean, Middle East & Far East. Naval Sigint in
the UK. Traffic Analysis. Footnotes and sources. There is also
an appreciation of Frank Birch.
Whilst
the G.C & C.S (Bletchley Park) activities, known
now as G.C.H.Q, have been well documented, it was only part
of the “SIGINT” operations. This history details
and explains one of World War II’s greatest secrets.
210x295mm xli
- 184 pages, includes extensive glossary and list of abbreviations,
32 pages of diagrams
ISBN 978-0-85420-273-7 Hardback
Edition £34.99
ISBN 978-0-85420-278-2 Softback
Edition £22.99
THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE 1914-1945 [Volume
1(Part2) & Volume
2]
by
Frank Birch : edited by John Jackson
This volume
covers 1941 to autumn 1943. Includes Mediterranean, Middle
East,
India and Far East. The revision of the Signit
Service, the shortage of personnel and equipment. The expansion
of Y Service, dissatisfaction of CG&CS and its reorganisation. The
organisational problems at Bletchley Park and the Service Ministries. The
Cryptanalytic and Intelligence contribution to the War in the
West - “Fish”, Army/Air Enigma, German Railways,
Schützstaffel, Police, Adwehr, German Naval Systems &c.
Also Service Idiosyncrasies, Battle of the Atlantic &c.
The renascence of ani-Japanese Sigints &c The Diagrams
include the “Y” Organization, the expansion of
the “Services” Branch of GC & CS, Staff enployed
on Enigma “Bombes” &c, numbers of “Bombes” delivered,
Allied Sigint success against German Naval telecommunications,
German reading of Allied traffic, the German diagram drawn
up to demonstrate why Enigma was impossible to break
210x295mm
ii + 282 pages, 46 pages of diagrams
ISBN 978-0-85420-270-6
Hardback Edition £ 37.99 978-0-085420-771-3
Softback Edition £26.99