OVERVIEW

The following two letters relate to the article, "Why Was Safford Pessimistic About Breaking the German Enigma Cipher Machine in 1942," by Louis Kruh which appeared in Cryptologia, (1990) 14(3): 253 257.

From Colin Burke, 6319 Red Haven Rd, Columbia MD 21045 USA.

October 1990

Dear Editors

I enclose some general comments re the Safford memo, p. 254, and my conclusions.

1. The political setting: When Safford wrote this memo he was well on the way to being permanently shoved out of any significant role in OP20 but was not yet put totally aside. And, he may have been continuing his attempt to return to a role in "G". The Redman group was on its way in and was beginning to forge its new policies.

   I think Safford was giving policy advice to the new group. The memo has to be placed in a political as well as a technical context to appreciate it:

   1. he is advising the new group to stand against political pressures and to keep Magic to as few people as possible that might have been one of his responsibilities as 'Q'

   2. he is warning the new group, which included Wenger, who had always been an advocate for the use high speed equipment, not to count on a quick way into Enigma, a system he had been tackling since early 1941

   3. he is perhaps warning the new men not to give Britain too much about or from Magic

2. Conclusions: I agree with your final conjecture, p. 257. Placed...