History- WWII The Codebreakers
WWII Code breakers.
At first, the topic of breaking the codes didn’t appeal to me very much, I had been hoping for another topic, but as I began to research and learn more about the process the allies went through to break these codes. As well as the importance these codes had to the outcome of the war, my interest continued to grow.
I began my research of this topic by just doing some basic reading in our history textbooks. Then I moved on and began using Gale E-books, where I read two different articles on the topic. I learned very much from doing this research, I went from knowing virtually none of the specifics of the code breaking process to knowing how it all unfolded.
The British started trying to crack the axis’ codes before the war even started at Bletchley Park in 1938. Cryptologists began trying to crack the German code, known as “Enigma”, they labeled this “Operation Ultra”. Operation Ultra had limited success in the early phases of the war, but as the war went on their success rate improved.
Americans began trying to crack their enemies codes after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. As the U.S. entered the war, intelligence began focusing on decoding the Japanese code known as “JN-25″. The task force trying to break the code was known as “Magic”, and consisted of 738 Naval personnel. Magic was led by Commodore John Rochefort.
Chief cryptanalyst of the Army Signal Intelligence Service William Friedmen soon developed the ECM Mark III, which used complex mathematical analysis, IBM punch-card tabulating machines, and a cipher machine. Using the ECM Mark III, the U.S. was able to crack the majority of JN-25 by 1942.
The cracking of both the German code, Enigma, and JN-25 played major roles in the allies victories. Knowing these codes; the allied leaders could anticipate axis moves, and prepare. An example of this would be the battle of Midway. The United State’s victory in Midway turned the tide for the war in the pacific. This crucial battle was won because we learned of the planned invasion by reading JN-25. Knowing the Japanese code also played a crucial role in preventing the Japanese from invading Australia in the battle of Coral Sea.
Had the allies not cracked the secret codes of their enemies, the war could have turned out very different. Through reading the codes, we learned very important information about the axis’ war strategy, and we used that to it’s full advantage.
