SIGINT: The Secret History of Signals Intelligence in the World Wars

by Peter F. Matthews

From MORSE to ENIGMA, ULTRA to PURPLE, Room 40 to Bletchley—the story of secret signals in both of the World Wars Communicating in the chaos of war is complicated, but vital. Signals intelligence makes it possible. In World War I, a vast network of signals rapidly expanded across the globe, spawning a new breed of spies and intelligence operatives to code, decode, and analyze thousands of messages. Signalers and cryptographers in the Admiralty's famous Room 40 paved the way for the code breakers of Bletchley Park during World War II. In the ensuing war years, the world battled against a web of signals intelligence that gave birth to ENIGMA and ULTRA, and saw agents from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, America, and Japan race to outwit each other through infinitely complex codes. For the first time, the secret history of global signals intelligence in the world wars is revealed.

Genres: Military History, Espionage

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[Brian Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

SIGINT: The Secret History of Signals Intelligence in the World Wars by Peter Matthews has three special qualities to particularly commend it. First, although Matthews focuses mainly on World War II, he devotes a not insignificant portion of the book to the details of SIGINT activities during World War I. As it turns out, these earlier activities lay the basis for understanding the later work. Second, Matthews covers the SIGINT organizations of all the belligerents, unlike so many other works that might lead one with a casual interest in the second world war to think that Bletchley Park was the only game worth considering. Finally, Matthews has a personal connection and special insight into the German crypto organizations. He was stationed in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of the war, speaks fluent German, and had very close contact with the former German SIGINT people. Aside from discussions, he relates how he traded cigarettes in exchange for documents describing the German intelligence operations. He was involved as the U. S. repurposed the German SIGINT organizations to continue their work against the Soviets. A brief but interesting section covers how the Americans set up General Reinhardt Gehlen as head of this new organization and financed it with almost $4 million per year.

Even having read widely on World War II history, there was much in SIGINT that was new to me. We now know, of course, that Patton’s sixth sense came from allied decrypts. It turns out that Rommel’s sixth sense also came from SIGINT. The various governments in exile established their own SIGINT groups which sometimes operated at odds with the allies. I was particularly amused by Matthews’ comment on de Gaulle’s secret service: “…de Gaulle was proud of his achievement. Unfortunately, they recruited some members of the Abwehr, some of whom were even promoted to staff level of the organization. The Abwehr knew more about the Armée than General de Gaulle did….” (p. 331)

SIGINT is an important contribution to the literature on World War II.