Hut 6
| The Enigma cipher machine |
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| Enigma machine |
| Breaking Enigma |
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Hut 6 was a wartime section of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park tasked with the solution of German Army and Air Force Enigma machine ciphers. Hut 8, by contrast, attacked Naval Enigma. Hut 6 was established at the initiative of Gordon Welchman, and was run initially by Welchman and fellow Cambridge mathematician John Jeffreys.
Welchman's deputy, Stuart Milner-Barry, succeeded Welchman as head of Hut 6 in September 1943, at which point over 450 people were working in the section.[1]
Hut 6 was partnered with Hut 3, which handled the translation and intelligence analysis of the raw decrypts provided by Hut 6.
Location
Hut 6 was originally named for the building in which the section was located. Welchman says the hut was 60 ft (18m) long by 30 ft (9m) wide, with two large rooms at the far end - and no toilets. Staff had to go to another building.
As the number of personnel increased, the section relocated to additional buildings around Bletchley Park, but its name was retained, with each new location also being known as 'Hut 6'. The original building was then renamed 'Hut 16'.
Personnel
John Jeffreys (d. early 1941) was initially in charge of the Hut with Gordon Welchman until May 1940. Welchman became official head of section until Autumn 1943 subsequently rising to Assistant Director of Mechanisation at Bletchley Park. Hugh Alexander, was a member February 1940 - March 1941 before moving to become head of Hut 8. Stuart Milner-Barry joined early 1940 and was in charge from autumn 1943 to the end of the war.
One codebreaker concerned with Cryptanalysis of the Enigma, * John Herivel, discovered what was soon dubbed the Herivel tip or Herivelismus. For a brief but critical few months from May 1940, the "tip", in conjunction with operating shortcomings or "cillies", were the main techniques used to solve Enigma. The "tip" was an insight into the habits of the German machine operators allowing Hut 6 to easily deduce part of the daily key.
In 1942 Welchman recruited fellow Marlborough Collegers, Bob Roseveare and Nigel Forward. Roseveare started in the Watch working on Luftwaffe messages before moving to the Quatch, a small backroom group that decoded non-current messages.
Other notable individuals include:
- Alexander Aitken, Kiwi mathematician[2]
- James Macrae Aitken, Scottish chess player
- Asa Briggs, English historian
- David Rees, University of Exeter mathematics professor
- Derek Taunt, Cambridge research student
- Madge Allen
- Dennis Babbage
- Clarence Barasch, American Observer to British Intelligence
- Edna Garbutt, member of A watch
- Reginald H Parker, discoverer of "Parkerismus"
See also
References
- ^ Ralph Erskine, "Barry, Sir (Philip) Stuart Milner- (1906–1995)" in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
- ^ J. M. Whittaker, ‘Aitken, Alexander Craig (1895–1967)’, rev. Anita McConnell, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006
- Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story: Breaking the Enigma Codes (1982: London, Allen Lane & New York, McGraw-Hill) ISBN 0-7139-1294-4
- Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story: Breaking the Enigma Codes (1997: Cleobury Mortimer, Baldwin) ISBN 978-0-947712-34-1
- Stuart Milner-Barry, "Hut 6: Early days", pp. 89–99 in Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park, edited by F. H. Hinsley, and Alan Stripp, Oxford University Press, 2003
- Derek Taunt, "Hut 6: 1941-1945", pp. 100–112 in Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park, edited by F. H. Hinsley, and Alan Stripp, Oxford University Press, 2003