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Ultra Goes To War
Ultra - the most effective system for reading the enemy's mind ever used in the war - was one of the world's best-kept secrets for thirty years.
The Germans believed the high-level signals transmitted on their complex Enigma machine were invulnerable. But they were broken by Station X at Bletchley Park. Ronald Lewin's classic account tells the full story behind this crucial operation by the Allies during the Second World War. Basing his research on countless interviews with many of the people directly involved, including the wartime codebreakers themselves, the author gives a fascinating and comprehensive account of the work carried out by Station X. This was the source of Ultra, the 'special intelligence organization' whose top secret information was sent to Special Liaison Units in the field. In the Battle of Britain, in North Africa and Italy, in the Battle of the Atlantic, and before and after D-Day, Ultra was invaluable; small wonder that Churchill called his staff at Bletchley 'the geese who laid the golden eggs but never cackled'.
The Germans believed the high-level signals transmitted on their complex Enigma machine were invulnerable. But they were broken by Station X at Bletchley Park. Ronald Lewin's classic account tells the full story behind this crucial operation by the Allies during the Second World War. Basing his research on countless interviews with many of the people directly involved, including the wartime codebreakers themselves, the author gives a fascinating and comprehensive account of the work carried out by Station X. This was the source of Ultra, the 'special intelligence organization' whose top secret information was sent to Special Liaison Units in the field. In the Battle of Britain, in North Africa and Italy, in the Battle of the Atlantic, and before and after D-Day, Ultra was invaluable; small wonder that Churchill called his staff at Bletchley 'the geese who laid the golden eggs but never cackled'.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Ronald Lewin
17 books7 followersRonald Lewin was a British military historian, radio producer and publishing editor who has wrote several books on World War II and several of the WWII commanders like Lieut-General Vyvyan Pope, Montgomery and Rommel.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 7, 2012
Read how the disaster at Arnhem could have been averted. Ultra decrypts gave warnings.
"One dominant theme runs through the planning of Operation Market Garden, the attempt to drive a narrow corridor from Belgium across a succession of rivers and link up with the British airborne troops dropped into Arnhem ... The theme is over-confidence. (page 346)
"...no error was so grave as the failure to identify in advance the presence of a Panzer Corps in the area of Arnhem ... This was a failure of intelligence, whose roots are to be found in the prevailing attitude of complacency. Nobody wanted to know." (page 347)
BATTLE OF THE BULGE "... there was one small signal supplies by Ultra to which alert intelligence officers ought to have responded. It came ... from a Flivo or Air Liason Officer attached to the main assault force, the 6th SS Panzer Army...it referred to something like 'the coming big operation'. " (page 358)
"One dominant theme runs through the planning of Operation Market Garden, the attempt to drive a narrow corridor from Belgium across a succession of rivers and link up with the British airborne troops dropped into Arnhem ... The theme is over-confidence. (page 346)
"...no error was so grave as the failure to identify in advance the presence of a Panzer Corps in the area of Arnhem ... This was a failure of intelligence, whose roots are to be found in the prevailing attitude of complacency. Nobody wanted to know." (page 347)
BATTLE OF THE BULGE "... there was one small signal supplies by Ultra to which alert intelligence officers ought to have responded. It came ... from a Flivo or Air Liason Officer attached to the main assault force, the 6th SS Panzer Army...it referred to something like 'the coming big operation'. " (page 358)
August 24, 2023
With the passage of time, the world has come to understand the importance of the successful decrypting of the German, Italian and Japanese codes to the favorable conclusion of the war against tyranny. When this book came out, the account was the first attempt to demonstrate how such an amazing outcome came about. Lewin did a masterful job of separating the chaff from the wheat to tell this important story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews