Bletchley Park: Index, Hollerith Machines, Lorenz & Colossus, Enigma & Bombe

I am creating a detailed flow chart of manpower, machines, duties, and workflow at Bletchley Park. I own dozens of books, including rare books, about BP's activities. I own a replica Enigma also. Presently I am researching the largest and still not talked about part of BP, which was its "enlarged human memory" (Peter Calvocaressi, Hut 6). It involved the use of highly modified Hollerith machines, punch cards, many removable program boards, many master punch cards, but most importantly, here was the ability to conduct a search on the MILLIONS of puch cards created from Enigma and Lorenz deciphed messages. It was the first search engine of any significance in history. I am interested in talking to anyone with knowledge about any of the following: 1) Hut 6 at BP, 2) What modifications were made to the Hollerith machines? 3) What standardized abbreviation guide was used? 4) How were searches carried out? 5) Were the Hollerith machines modified to print out information "hits" as the card decks were run? 6) How did all of this interact with Colossus? Did Hollerith machines perform the first sorting, encoding these data on Colossi tape, followed by the running of intelligence prediction algorithems on Collosi? ... I would like to hear from anyone with insight on these. Cordially, Eric L. Nelson, Ph.D.

 

Still in the news.

Unseen images of code breaking computer that helped win WW2

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Hi, am very interested in what you have found out. Bletchley Park has finally begun to exhibit this side of code breaking - I am from the US and visit BP yearly. Am very interested in what you have found.

 

Are you writing anything about this.....???

 

There may be something of interest for you within the thread here:

Bletchley and Nuremberg

For example, forum member Davidbfpo's post at #8 in said thread.

Also, from outside the forum, possibly items of interest for you within these IWM Collections interviews:

Find an object | Imperial War Museums

Beyond that, and the technical side of your questions in your post at #1, an enquiry with a staff researcher at Bletchley, or initially any of the trustees with a research interest About The Trust (if you haven't been down that route already) may help answer your specific questions.

Good luck with your interest and research going forward.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Charles,

The opening post author has not been logged on since that post in 2018.

He did publish an article in September 2018, which is available free on: https://www.researchgate.net/public...at_Bletchley_Park_during_the_Second_World_War

He was then at University California, Davis (UCD) and now elsewhere it appears see: Dr. Eric Nelson, MS, MA, PhD - California - Expert Witness Profile Checked UCD listing and he is not shown.

 

Thanks David. I found the article by searching for ELNelson. - It is very interesting. Part of BP which is just being developed... exhibit this year (summer) was more enlarged from last year and shows more, but still no discussion of the INDEXES and their use and the man y machines and storage used to track information. I live in San Francisco, and can go by Davis. I would like to meet nelson and will try to do so when I get home from UK. Or contact him if he is elsewhere. (probably still in California)

 

If you have anything to do with BP, please tell them to pursue this area of the code breaking experience of WW2. It is fascinating.

 

Your project sounds fascinating! The Hollerith machines at Bletchley were modified for more complex tasks and custom operations. For searches, they sorted and analyzed punch cards, with manual oversight. Hollerith did the preliminary sorting, while Colossus handled more advanced processing.
For deeper insights, try reaching out to Bletchley Park historians or archivists—they might have the detailed info you're after.

 

Try this thread which concerns the topics: Questions regarding Signal traffic handling in large HQs using the "finished check" method/procedure

In Post 3 I suggested the author ask David Abrutat (ex-GCHQ Historian) and professor Chris Grey who has written a book on how BP was organised.

David Abrutat appears in many threads here.

It might be worth checking all the threads in Top Secret, which appears to hold many threads about BP.

 

David, couple of things
1. you mention Top Secret above - is this a book?
2. I am curious about your opinion on why everything from BP was destroyed right after the war? What was the reason this was done?
3. I am curious about your opinion on why you think Mr. Nelson completely dropped this subject and apparently his pursuit of information on BP after 2018? Don't you feel this is very strange.
4. I am curious about any references you can give me on Russian code breaking at BP. There seems to be a paucity of information on this aspect of what was done.
5. I just visited BP and the TNMC last week. Am glad to see in hut 6 or 8 that they are beginning to present material on the "data" they captured - what in general is called "traffic analysis". but in reality is much more - 2 million Hollerith cards a week is a lot of data capture
Just started "Code Breakers - the inside story of Bletchley Park" - First Published in 1993 - There seems to be a good deal of information about the processes in Hut 6....what Nelson said he was trying to find and flow chart.? Comments?
I think that there is something missing at BP about the whole process of "code breaking"..... at the back end - understanding what the transmissions meant....... do you have an opinion on this

Thanks for your response to me.

 

Hello Charles,

Before David comes on stream, the answer to you question 1 is the "Top Secret" category of threads on WW2 Talk here:

Top Secret

You may possibly find something of interest within there.

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

Thanks Jim

 

Charles you asked several questions, as shown below and after each my attempt at an answer. So Q&A:

Q1. you mention Top Secret above - is this a book?
A1. Jim has answered

Q2. I am curious about your opinion on why everything from BP was destroyed right after the war? What was the reason this was done?
A2. Not everything was destroyed. Hinsley's Official History of British Intelligence, published 1979-1990, was based on the records retained (I have x5 volumes and will look at them later). See: Harry Hinsley - Wikipedia I expect the sheer volume of paperwork made 100% retention unlikely. Add in the secrecy of what BP had done, even if some of this was known to the USSR and nations that had been allies. Some of the earlier books relied on records - from memory - notably Winterbotham's book that "broke the silence" in 1974. For a starting point see: F. W. Winterbotham - Wikipedia

Q3. I am curious about your opinion on why you think Mr. Nelson completely dropped this subject and apparently his pursuit of information on BP after 2018? Don't you feel this is very strange.
A3. No idea why Mr Nelson stopped, only he can answer that. From memory his PhD was not on such matters and not his specialism. Maybe work demands crowded it out?

Q4. I am curious about any references you can give me on Russian code breaking at BP. There seems to be a paucity of information on this aspect of what was done.
A4. Not surprised. My recollection is that BP provided warnings of the Axis build-up on the USSR's western borders, which was sanitised for Stalin, bur was rejected. I cite that as the lack of trust was a strong factor - shown throughout WW2 - and I have a recollection that towards the war's end BP was tasked to develop intelligence on the USSR. There could be information out there.

Q5a. I just visited BP and the TNMC last week. Am glad to see in hut 6 or 8 that they are beginning to present material on the "data" they captured - what in general is called "traffic analysis". but in reality is much more - 2 million Hollerith cards a week is a lot of data capture
A5a. BP is a great place to visit, I have been twice. Yes, there are gaps and sometimes they are filled. As indicated on their website: Bletchley Park | Home BP is not supposed to be for specialists, it is for the general public and for them to admire what happened. It made me small each time visiting and thinking afterwards what they did.

Q5b. Just started "Code Breakers - the inside story of Bletchley Park" - First Published in 1993 - There seems to be a good deal of information about the processes in Hut 6....what Nelson said he was trying to find and flow chart.? Comments?
A5b. It is on my bookshelf (paperback), so read long ago.That is why I commend Chris Grey's work on organization at BP. There are others who have written on BP. Hugh Skillen published several books on how Army SIGINT worked, minus as I recall any references to BP. Caveat I have five of his books and they were read a very long time ago. See for his obituary: The Y service 1939-45

Q5c. I think that there is something missing at BP about the whole process of "code breaking"..... at the back end - understanding what the transmissions meant....... do you have an opinion on this
A5c. Yes, there is "something missing" and slowly more is known. It is very specialist area. Have you combed through back issues of the academic journal 'Intelligence and National Security' (INS). It was the premier such journal and the index I am sure is online.

 

Wow, Thanks David. I am reading and thinking.... possibly have more questions in a few days. Thank you again. BTW, I am an 80 year old retired financial person.

I can remember my dad - who was in Naval Intelligence - but in the Pacific telling me that at the end of the war, he was instructed to take the Purple machine he had on the Hancock CVA19 out and burn and then destroy it. That is all he ever told me about his war experiences. My uncle was a Lt. Commander and ended up running the South of France - there is some museum in So France about him.
My Dad spoke and wrote French, German, Spanish and English perfectly and had been educated in Europe (Switzerland and France) ..... my son says he was sent to the Pacific Theater because my mother was born in Czech.

 

There was an even bigger and more important secret at BP than the Enigma and Lorenz achievements. An aspect of Bletchley Park that has ramifications even to today’s Intelligence Organizations.


The other big secret of Bletchley Park is the development and use of INDEXES.


INDEXES are what we would today in our modern world refer to as DATABASES. And how we use these Indexes in today’s modern world would be referred to as Data Base Management (DBM). The process of searching for particular data would be called in modern terms Data Mining.


Data Mining is a process used to turn raw data into useful information. [1]


To really understand the significance and importance of the development of Indexes, you have to take a step back to 1941-1945 and realize the following:

· There were not computers

· There were no “tape” drives to store information

· There were no magnetic disks to store information (first commercial computer with random access drives. RAMAC 1956)

· Calculations were done by hand – or by slide rule or Marchant mechanical calculators

· Hollerith sorting machines were in use to keep some information and primitively sort the information. (census data 1920, and German use to keep records of Jewish people)

· Paper was the only way used to store information – index cards – See Zettlekasten or very primitively Hollerith cards – what we may know as IBM cards



“Indexes” represented an organized way to capture information, store it, be able to search for it. Even more interesting was the way the Indexes were kept up to date. (database management).


Without a doubt, the Index processes were a significant competitive advantage to USA/UK code breaking analysis.



Some facts derived from various books and other documents.

1. Block C was where Freeborn ran the Hollerith Organization –

2. Block C was known as the Freebornery

3. There were some 35 key punch machines (there would be a same number of verifiers.). Information may be from 1943 and not reflect final numbers of machines in 1945

4. There were some 500 people who worked in 3 shifts at Block C (interestingly enough this is about 5% of the BP workforce at Peak)

5. Block C consumed some 2 million Hollerith Cards per week

6. Block C was the repository for some 20 million Hollerith cards- that is 10,000 boxes of 2,000 Hollerith cards each. Picture available.

7. Documents say that Gordon Welchman joined BP in September 1939, and organized Hut 6.

8. Near the end of 1943, Gordon Welchman appointed as the Assistant Director of Mechanization - Hut6-P125

9. Documents show that there were several hand kept INDEXES by various organizations – samples on display at BP – Hut 8

10.Welchman used the term “Traffic Analysis” to mean an analysis of the full text of the intercepts - Hut 6-page 225 – There was a derivative of “Traffic Analysis” that reflects the capture of just the metadata of each intercept.

11.Welchman (Hut 6-P ) indicates that Traffic Analysis was used to determine priorities of the intercepts for work on in Hut 6.

12.Tony Sales indicated that all information from intercepts was used:

“Indexing --Every fragment of information which could be wrung out of a message was indexed for possible future reference. Sometimes just in the local indexes in the Huts, but often in the vast index in C Block, the punched card installation run by Mr Freeborn.”


13. Documents say that the Freebornery ran some standard reports, but was mainly concerned with running one off type reports – and Freeborn was the gate keeper as to the reports and priorities.

14.Eric L. Nelson’s 2018 article on Indexes concluded that there were several indexes as well as a mechanized Central Index (CI), also known as the Intelligence Index.

15.At the end of Nelson’s article he struggles with trying to explain the use of 2 million Hollerith Cards and Key Punching of such. Is it possible that some of the Hollerith cards were punched by the machines and kept the CI up to date through update activities?

16.Documents say that before Enigma was first broken in 1941, that Freeborn’s principal Hollerith efforts were focused on trying to match code pairs to provide cribs. (paper by Whalen)

17.Interestingly, there existed an exact duplicate of the Freeborn Block C installation in the USA - Hut 6 p182


Some interesting quotes from the literature:


When Freeborn was in Hut 7:--"This Section Hut 7, often under-rated in histories of the Park, provided an essential and core service to all three Ministries, in housing a Central Index with tabulated information concerning letters used in intercepted messages. It built up into an invaluable reference source for the Enigma code breaking exercises.”


When Hut 7 moved to Block C in Nov 1942: “Block C provided an essential centralized service to the whole of GC&CS, utilising [sic] Hollerith technology in a unique way on a large scale. Its role in the decryption process of Enigma messages was vital to the accuracy and speed of intelligence being disseminated from the Park.”



“Several BTM engineers joined Freeborn at Bletchley Park, and they adapted the machines. to the purposes of codebreaking (without informing BTM or IBM). The punched card system, which Block C housed from November 1942 to the end of the war, formed the Intelligence Index system that was invaluable to the work of most codebreakers working in diplomatic, commercial and service sections. “ ENGLISH HERITAGE BLETCHLEY PARK Page 376



“A punched card was then produced for every letter of every message and then

checked by another machine, the Verifier. When it was certain that they had been

accurately punched, the cards were passed through a Reproducing Punch, which

carried out the special additional punching that gave a unique number to every part of the message, thus providing a comprehensive index to the recorded information.”



In summary, although the focus today at Bletchley Park is on the breaking of the Enigma and Lorenz machines, and their impact on shortening the war by some 2 years, a third more important and I think, purposefully not recognized accomplishment of Bletchley Park is the development of indexes – (databases), to convert the raw data from the intercepts into useful information, and procedures (database management processes) to keep this information up to date.


Something to think about!


[1] investopedia

 

Charles,

In reply to two questions:

You would have to ask some of those who I have named, notably Chris Grey and BP historians. 'Knowledge is Power' and somehow the 'community' did not want to reveal too much to the public. I expect the USSR in particular knew what had gone on, but not the mechanics and scale. Whether the wider public wanted to know how BP did its work is a moot point.

 

Hi David, I restored as best I oould my questions above. You may want to re-read it... I added some things. Thanks. Appreciate any comments.

 

Hi David, you mentioned you have 22 books on Bletchley Park. Do you happen to have a list of the books? Would greatly appreciate. Thank you in advance.

 

Charles,

Standby, I am currently on holiday in the USA. Be about a week before I can check the bookshelves.