Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: krees@zaphod.axion.bt.co.uk (kearton rees) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: The Battle of Britain Message-ID: <7527@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 16 Jun 89 03:34:29 GMT References: <7458@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 40 Approved: military@att.att.com From: kearton rees >From article <7458@cbnews.ATT.COM>, by welty@lewis.crd.ge.com (richard welty): > > i'm interested in this topic as well, but what i'm after is a good > account written since the declassification of Ultra (thus taking into > account the major effect of radio intelligence on British response.) > It looks like I've been missing something. What is/was Ultra and in what forms is the information available? [mod.note: Ultra was the British code-name for their codebreaking staff; in particular, the group that worked with the captured German "Enigma" cyphering machine. By breaking the German's top secret code, the British were able to gain critical inside information. The fact that the code could be broken was carefully concealed, and it wasn't until the late 70's (?) that the actually admitted the existance of Ultra. Many of the decisions taken during the war were based on Ultra intercepts, but other stories were made up to cover the real source; thus, much of the history written previous the the Ultra disclosure simply repeats these fables. I'm sure other subscribers can flesh out the details; I've just hit the highlights to prevent a deluge of submissions 8-) - Bill ] Kearton krees@axion.bt.co.uk #--------------------------------------------------------------# krees@axion.bt.co.uk British Telecom Research Labs., Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP5 7RE United Kingdom. #--------------------------------------------------------------#