Figure 1.--

Intelligence was a matter of substantial impirtance in World War II. It was of greater importance than of virtually any other major war in history. The primary reason for this was that vast amounts of intelligence were available to any country which was willing to string up radio antenna and invest in training staff to receive and decide messages. World War II was the first war in which electrinic (radio/wireless) messages were a major factor. The telegram became importznt in the 19th century, but telegram messages sent over wire lines were difficult to intercent. They were not impossible (as the British showed with the Zimmrman telegram), but they were difficult to intercept. And mobile warefare as ininitiated first by the Germanns and subsequently the Allies required vast numbers of easily intercepted (but less easilly decoded) messages. The issue of code breaking is one of the most important aspects of World War II intelligence. Here the British and Americans excelled and reaped very substantial benefits. The Germans were particularly vulnerable because they had such confidence in their Enigma machine. Very little is known about Soviet code breaking. The Germans had some successes, but generally failed at breaking Allied codes. Neither did the Japanese manage to break Zllied codes. Electronic inteligence was not the only methods. The Soviets operated the most sucessful spy networks, in both Allied ans=d Axis countries. The existence of Communist Party organizations proved a great asset. The major German spy achievement may have been before the War in encouraging Stalin's purge of the Red Amy. German intelligence during the War was nothing short of a disaster. The Soviets manage to surprise the Germans with a series of offensives beginning with offensive before Moscow. Of course the German intelligence operation was the fact that the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Canaris, was actively working against the NAZIS. The greatest Allied achievement may have been in fooling the Germans about the location of the D-Day landings. Allied opperatives also provided valuavle information about the German rocket program. The major surprise German operation of the War was the Ardennes offensicve which Allied intelligence failed to pick up on (December 1944).

Electronic Intelligence

Intelligence was a matter of substantial importance in World War II. It was of greater importance than of virtually any other major war in history. The primary reason for this was that huge advances were made in radio (wireless) comminications. And the vast expanse of World war II battelfields as the nature of modern mobile warfare required that radio bevused. Thus huge amounts of electronic communications were broadcast. This meant that vast amounts of intelligence were available to any country which was willing to string up radio antenna and invest in training staff to receive and analize the messages. Many mesages were sent in the clear. The most important were encoded. World War II was the first war in which electrinic (radio/wireless) messages were a major factor. The telegram became important in the 19th century, but telegram messages sent over wire lines were difficult to intercent. They were not impossible (as the British showed with the Zimmrman telegram), but they were difficult to intercept. And mobile warefare as initiated first by the Germans and subsequently the Allies required vast numbers of easily intercepted (but less easilly decoded) messages. Naval warfare also required large numbers of radio messages. The Germans were particularly vulnerable because they had such confidence in their Enigma machine. And they sent a huge volume of messages which increased the vulnerability of the machines. The Germans had some successes, mostly with British communications, but generally failed at breaking Allied codes. Neither did the Japanese manage to break Allied codes. Very little is known about Soviet code breaking efforts.

Code Breaking

The Allied war effort was enormous assisted by code breakers. Both German and Japanese codes were broken, providing vital inforamtion to Allied military planners. A Polish mathematician played a key in cracking the German military's suposedly unbreakable cipher machine--enigma. The Poles in cooperation with the French were able to construct an enigma machine whicg they turned over to the Britih just before the German invasion. Additional work done at Bletchly Park allowed the British by late 1940 to read large numbers of Luftwaffe messages. The Kriegsmarina code was also broken, but was more difficult because their operators were more careful to follow pricedures. Many messagesre read because operators did not follow procedures. The Kreigsmarine also added a fourth rotor. Enigma traffic played a vital role in the Allied victory against the U-boats and in the cutting off of Rommel's supplies in North Africa. American breaking of the Japanease naval code was a key element in the naval victory at Midway. It also allowed American pilots to shoot down Adnmiral Yamamoto--the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Germans also had some successes. The Germans were able to read British naval messages in early 1940 which allowed them to counter planned Anglo-French operations in Norway with their successful invasion of Denmark and Norway.

Spying and Counter-Intelligence

Electronic inteligence was not the only method of intelligence gathering. The Soviets operated the most sucessful spy networks, in both Allied ans=d Axis countries. The existence of Communist Party organizations proved a great asset. The Red Army although not highly respected by the Wehrmcht, proved very adept as desguising their major offensives. The major German spy achievement may have been before the War in encouraging Stalin's purge of the Red Amy. German intelligence during the War was nothing short of a disaster. The Soviets manage to surprise the Germans with a series of offensives beginning with offensive before Moscow. Information on almost all of the German offensives leaked out, although neith ther the Sovirts or the Allies took advantage of this. Of course the German intelligence operation was the fact that the head of the Abwehr, Admiral Canaris, was actively working against the NAZIS. The greatest Allied achievement may have been in misleading the the Germans about the location of the D-Day landings. Allied opperatives also provided valuavle information about the German rocket program. The major surprise German operation of the War was the Ardennes offensicve which Allied intelligence failed to pick up on (December 1944). The Japanese collected information on Pear Harbor before the War, but have few intellgence successes during the War. They did obtain information on Singapore defenses. And the Ivhi-Go offensive in China was based on information they acquired about the planned strategic bombing campaign. The results, however, were negated when the Americans seized the Mariana Islands in the Central Pcific.

Created: 12:37 PM 8/21/2008
Last updated: 7:16 AM 3/4/2009