American 6813 Division History October 1945 Page 17

Tony Sale's Codes and Ciphers

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siderable number of difficult tasks could be delegated to them with con-
fidence in the result.


Civilian and service personnel--Army, Navy and Air force-- worked

side by side under-section heads selected from any of these groups. With-in the
office rank was disregarded and all worked together on a basis of
Christian name familiarity.


Leave was granted liberally (a nine-day leave every three months

plus weekly days off) and, except in the tense days immediately preceding
and following D-Day all personnel were expected to take leave to which they were
entitled. The result was an almost complete absence of the
apathy and stress which follow from working continuously under pressure
and tremendous reserves of strength to meet exceptional demands.


As a matter of policy the British cryptanalytic personnel were

either civilian or, if militarey, commissioned as at least first lieutenants.
It is noteworthy that the lack of equivalent rank on the part of most Ameri-
can cryptanalysts in Hut Six caused no difficulties in the relations be-
tween the two groups; nor did the slowness or absence of promotions-- parti-
cularly for enlisted grades-- diminish the real quality of their work.


An American Hut Six would doubtless have made greater use of

International Business Machinery for routine tasks and low-grade clerical
assistance for other jobs which were here performed by cryptanalysts proper.
For example, the recording en passent (E.P.'ing) of message beginnings to
uncover new cribs and keep track of the form of old ones continuously
occupied one member of both Army and Air Watches. It was not until a few months
before V-E Day that the semi-skilled and time-consuming task
of making up "menus" for the bombes was partially delegated to full-time
menu-makers. Previously every member of the Watches and research had spent
a considerable portion of his time in making up his own. This reluctance
to use machinery and to divide skilled and unskilled labour stems partly
from the absence of suitable machinery and personnel, partly from the belief
that it was desirable for the cryptanalyst to keep in constant touch with
the routine aspects of his job.
In conclusion

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