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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/enigma039s-secret-twin">http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/enigma039s-secret-twin</a><br>
Enigma's Secret Twin<br>
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From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Autumn 2008<br>
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Most of us know the story of Enigma, the German cipher machine
eventually broken by clever people at MI6's country house, Bletchley
Park, following brilliant early work by Polish mathematicians. The
achievement, reckoned to have shortened the war by two years,
remained secret for decades. Also secret, and less well known to
this day, was the fact that Britain had Enigma too. That's why the
Germans<span><span>—</span></span>no slouches at code-breaking<span><span>—</span></span>couldn't
read British signals.<br>
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The story began in 1928 when the Government Code and Cypher School
(GC&CS)<span><span>—</span></span>forerunner of GCHQ and then
part of MI6<span><span>—</span></span>acquired two Enigma machines
at the Admiralty's request. The Admiralty inexplicably lost interest
but in 1934 Wing Commander Lywood of Air Ministry Signals asked the
GC&CS if he might borrow one. ...<br>
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Typex was deployed by the RAF and the army at senior levels, often
with MI6 operators. MI5 and MI6 used it but the Admiralty did not,
until the readability of many of their early wartime signals became
tragically apparent. Typex remained secure throughout the war and
continued in use afterwards.<br>
....<br>
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<em><strong>Alan Judd</strong> is a novelist and former solider. His
latest novel is "Dancing with Eva"</em><br>
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