大象传媒

(Kennedy McConnell was an R.A.F. electrical engineer working on the Turing designed "Bombe" decoding machines. In 2003 he produced a professionally filmed lecture series, which has been copied on to videotape and DVD. The full series, comprising approximately seven hours of detailed historical analysis, can be viewed at Dundee Central Library. There are additional copies of the film at the Bletchley Park Trust, the Scottish National Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the National War Museums of America, Australia, and Canada. An abstract of Part 2 follows).

INVASION OF NORWAY
The 鈥榩honey war鈥� ended on 9th April 1940 when Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. Britain sent 12,000 troops to help Norway on 14th April but the campaign was a disaster and the expeditionary force had to be evacuated. The RN aircraft carrier, 鈥楪lorious鈥� was sunk during the evacuation. However, the Enigma code used by both the German army and airforce was broken from 15th April. Unfortunately, there was no organisation available to analyse the information and no secure method of transmitting it to Norway. Nevertheless, this success proved that the Enigma codes could be broken and Bletchley Park was allocated greater resources. Another bonus was that several Enigma machines were captured.

FALL OF FRANCE
Germany invaded Belgium and Holland without warning on 10th May 1940. The Allies armies were divided by a surprise thrust made by five Panzer (armoured) divisions through the Ardennes forest. They broke through the Allied defences at Sedan and reached the English Channel in ten days. About 400,000 French and British troops were trapped at Dunkirk. 338,000 were evacuated but many were captured or drowned during the Channel crossing. The Bletchley Park codebreakers failed to warn the Allies of the German plans because the method of setting the Enigma had been changed on 1st May. Consequently, Ultra was lost until 22nd May, when the main Luftwaffe key was broken again. Although Lord Gort, the British C-in-C, was then kept informed of enemy movements he was unable to stop their relentless advance. However, Ultra convinced him that the British Expeditionary Force must be evacuated urgently. The Enigma decodes also warned Churchill not to risk sending more RAF squadrons to France.

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
Ultra confirmed that Hitler鈥檚 priority was victory in France. This objective was achieved when the French surrendered on 22nd May. Churchill also knew from Ultra that Hitler would not invade Britain until the RAF was destroyed. Goering was confident that the Luftwaffe would succeed in this task before the winter. His battle plan was code named operation 鈥楢dler Tag鈥� (eagle day). Heavy bombing of RAF airfields and radar stations began on 13th August 1940. Fighter Command HQ at Stanmore was linked directly to Bletchley Park and Ultra enabled Air Marshall Dowding to anticipate Goering鈥檚 strategy. This knowledge enabled him to utilise his limited resources of fighter aircraft and trained pilots to maximum advantage. Even so, the sustained attacks on airfields and radar stations brought the RAF close to defeat. The situation changed when Hitler ordered Goering to switch his bomber raids to London and other British cities. This respite enabled the RAF to repair the damaged facilities. Hurricanes and Spitfires were being delivered in increasing numbers. Many more pilots were also being trained. The battle reached its climax in September 1940 when the Luftwaffe losses could no longer be sustained and daylight bombing had to be abandoned.

OPERATION SEA LION
This was the German code name for the invasion of Britain. Ultra revealed from 29th July that a large invasion fleet of barges, tugs and motor boats was being assembled in French and Belgian harbours. Heavy artillery batteries were also being installed. The German plan was to form a narrow corridor across the English Channel which would be flanked by mines and U-boats. Two airborne assaults would be followed by a seaborne invasion in three waves. Britain was kept in a state of high alert awaiting the pending invasion. However, Ultra confirmed to Churchill on 12th October that Hitler had abandoned his invasion plan because the Luftwaffe had failed to defeat the RAF. Churchill kept this news from the British public.

BATTLE FOR CRETE
On 25th April 1941, Ultra provided explicit details of the German plan for an airborne invasion of Crete on 20th May. First objective was to capture key airfields at Maleme, Heraklion and Retimo, A surprise attack by 8,000 paratroops dropped from 520 Junkers 52 aircraft would be followed by 14,000 airborne troops in gliders. The defending commander, General Freyberg, was blamed for not utilising Ultra to advantage. He failed to block the runways to prevent the gliders from landing. Also, he should have concentrated his available forces to defend the airfields. Crete had to be evacuated on 27th May. Thousands of troops had to be left behind as POW. During the evacuation, the Royal Navy suffered heavy losses from incessant Luftwaffe attacks. Ultra revealed later that Hitler had abandoned his plans for an airborne invasion of Malta because of the heavy losses sustained in Crete.

OPERATION BARABAROSSA
This was the German code name for their invasion of Russia. Ultra supplied evidence of preparations from end March 1941. Churchill warned Stalin via British Ambassador in Moscow but could not reveal that his source was Ultra. The Germans invaded without warning on 22nd June 1941. Ultra confirmed that Russian codes were being broken by the Germans, so intelligence was withheld. John Cairncross, a Scottish linguist at Bletchley Park, jeopardised the Ultra secret by passing Enigma decodes to a KGB agent in London.

DESERT CAMPAIGNS
Defeat of Mussolini鈥檚 armies in North Africa forced Hitler to send two Panzer divisions there in February 1941. Commander was General Rommel who became known as the 鈥淒esert Fox鈥� because of his legendary exploits. The Afrika Korps had to rely on essential supplies being shipped across the Mediterranean. Ultra enabled the RAF and Royal Navy to intercept these convoys. Over 50% of the ships were sunk. Consequently, Rommel was severely handicapped by lack of ammunition and fuel, etc. To protect Ultra, a spotter aircraft was always flown over each convoy before it was attacked.

DECISIVE BATTLE
There were two years of fluctuating desert campaigns in North Africa, during which Churchill replaced Wavell with Auchinleck in July 1941. After Auchinleck had failed to stop Rommel, he was replaced by Montgomery in August 1942. The Eighth Army then received massive reinforcement to prepare for the decisive battle which was fought at El Alamein on 23rd October 1942. Ultra supplied Montgomery with details of Rommel鈥檚 battle plan. Rommel suffered a crushing defeat but he was still able to fight a rearguard action for 1,500 miles. Ultra kept Montgomery informed of Rommel鈥檚 plight but he still failed to trap him. Churchill was incensed by this lack of initiative which prolonged the war in Africa by several months.

ALLIED VICTORY
鈥極peration Torch鈥� was the code name for a combined American and British expedition which landed at Casablanca, Oran and Algiers in November 1942, under the command of General Eisenhower. The objective was to capture Bizerta and Tunis within a few weeks, and then link up with the Eighth Army. However, determined enemy resistance and severe weather slowed the Allied advance. Rommel inflicted a heavy defeat on inexperienced American forces at Kassserine Pass in February 1943. Hitler could not send reinforcements to Tunisia by sea because of an Allied naval blockade. Ultra enabled RAF to intercept reinforcements flying in on towed gliders. Ultra advised Montgomery of Rommel鈥檚 plans for an offensive at Medinine in March. He suspected that his Enigma codes had been broken but the Italians were blamed for lax security. Eisenhower and Montgomery continued to advance from the west and the south. The Axis forces were slowly driven into a pocket around Tunis. They were desperately short of ammunition, fuel and food. The inevitable surrender came on 13 May 1943. Historians agree that Ultra had made a major contribution.

Kennedy McConnell via Dundee Central Library

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