JonS Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 Hi folks Noodling around for some references, I came across this: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/browse/C42149?v=h It's the top level directory entry of the main Ultra messages sent out to commands during WWII. Which is kinda useful. Unfortunately they aren't terribly well indexed, so finding a particular message, or even messages from a particular period, will be hit and miss. However, all the DEFE/3/xxx entries I've looked at have the messages available as free PDF downloads. For example, all the ORANGE LEONARD messages sent to Freyberg on Crete can be had on 41 PDF'd pages here: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C1910791 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseltaylor Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 What an outstanding man Freyberg was. I was just reading some of his WW1 exploits mentioned incidentally in : Ian Fleming's Commandos: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII A good read but not as excellent as "Churchills Wizard"s. PS. I am going to have to go up there one day and get the hang of the place. And justcouple spring to the eye .. WO 291/874 AFV armour distribution: comparison between panther and centurion under heavy attack WO 291/381 Firing tests for tank gunners 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted April 28, 2013 Author Share Posted April 28, 2013 DEFE-3-900 contains the daily summarys sent from Britain to Washington (so called "Sunsets", presumably because they were sent at about sunset each day) over the period from 09 May - 21 Jul 1944. The dailies appear to summarise the main points of various decrypts over the previous 24 hours, and address the three main European fronts. DEFE-3-900 is interesting in that they suggest the German response to D-Day was faster than generally believed (i.e., units were in motion long before Hitler was supposedly awoken from his nap), and also because they confirm the impact that the Fortitude deception operation was continuing to have post-D-Day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vergeltungswaffe Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 That is an excellent find. Really good reading. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 I found an index that should make looking for files relating to a particular battle a lot easier: Series Prefix : Date of Currency : DEFE 3 Serial Numbers OL : 14-3-41 to 19-11-41 : DEFE 3/686-690, 892, 894 KOT: Mar-41 to 23-4-41 : DEFE 3/891 MK : 20-11-41 to 23-07-42 : DEFE 3/745-764 MKA : 23-07-42 to 25-08-42 : DEFE 3/766-771 QT : 25-08-42 to 31-12-42 : DEFE 3/772-791 PK : 04-11-42 to 25-11-42 : DEFE 3/897 VM : 31-12-42 to 21-04-43 : DEFE 3/792-811 ML : 21-04-43 to 05-08-43 : DEFE 3/812-831 JP : 05-08-43 to 18-11-43 : DEFE 3/871-890 VL : 18-11-43 to 01-04-44 : DEFE 3/5-19, 129-152, 765 KV : 01-04-44 to 28-06-44 : DEFE 3/35-47, 153-159 XL : 29-06-44 to 13-09-44 : DEFE 3/48-65, 112-128, 220-224 HP : 13-09-44 to 21-12-44 : DEFE 3/225-244, 300-319 BT : 21-12-44 to 09-04-45 : DEFE 3/320-331, 500-520, 561-564, 599-601 KO : 09-04-45 to 15-05-45 : DEFE 3/565-573 So if, for example, you're looking for decrypts relating to Op MARKET-GARDEN (17-09-44 to 25-09-44, with buildup starting some days earlier), you'd be looking for the XL series, which are to be found in the DEFE 3 files 48-65, 112-128, 220-224 (probably 220-224?), and the HP series in 3/225-244, 300-319 (most probably 225-244?). Hopefully that'll help cut down any searches for useful material quite a bit. Jon Edit: the table is from Hinsley's British Intelligence in the Second World War, vol 3, part 2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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