How I came to write The Hut Six Story

Abstract

Gordon Welchman was a Cambridge mathematician and one of the key figures working at Bletchley Park (BP) during World War Two. In 1974, he decided to write his own memoir following the publication of other books on the subject. His book ‘The Hut Six Story’ was published in both the US and UK in early 1982 and was the first to include technical details about the BP operation. Pressure on his publishers from the NSA and GCHQ ultimately resulted in the book being withdrawn from their lists. On 14 May 1982, he wrote this previously unpublished paper, explaining his motives.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Joel Greenberg is a writer whose current research focuses on the evolution of signals intelligence from its beginnings in the early days of World War One through to the end of World War Two. He is the author of a biography of Gordon Welchman, one of Bletchley Park’s key figures throughout World War Two. His book is the basis of a joint BBC/Smithsonian Network 2015 documentary about Welchman – The Forgotten Genius of Bletchley Park. He has just completed the authorized biography of Alastair Denniston, the first Head of GCHQ which will be out in July 2017.

Notes

1. Greenberg, Gordon Welchman.

2. Welchman, Ultra Revisited.

3. North American Air Defense Command.

4. North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

5. Welchman, The Hut Six Story, 197.

6. Hooper, Official Secrets; West, The Secret Intelligence War 1900–86. West’s book was republished several years later with the new title: The Sigint Secrets.

7. Cave Brown, Bodyguard of Lies; Lewin, Ultra Goes to War.

8. Welchman, The Hut Six Story, 163.

9. Greenberg, Gordon Welchman, 138.

10. In October 1939, Welchman drew up a comprehensive plan calling for the close coordination of radio interception, analysis of the intercepted traffic, breaking Enigma keys, decrypting messages on the broken keys and extracting intelligence from the decrypts. He presented the plan to Commander Edward Travis, the Deputy Head of GC&CS who immediately saw the urgent need to act on it. On 18 November, the instructions were sent in a memo to Commander Alastair Denniston, the Head of GC&CS to set up a new Production Section as described in Welchman’s plan. TNA, HW 14/2, HW14/22. The Production Section became known as Hut 6 and Welchman was asked to be its head. Welchman would say later in life that his proposal to Travis was probably his greatest contribution to the war effort and many historians would agree with him.

11. After World War Two, Hanscom became the US Air Force’s centre for the development and acquisition of electronic systems. It worked closely with MIT to develop a new air defence system for the US, something Welchman was involved in through his work for MITRE.

12. Winterbotham’s book was previewed along with lengthy extracts in the Sunday Telegraph on 21 and 28 July 1974.

13. The daily setting of the Enigma machine was known as the ‘daily key’ at BP.

14. The bombe was an electromechanical machine, designed by Alan Turing and Welchman. It worked out part of the daily key. The machines were built by the British Tabulating Machine Company at their factory in the town of Letchworth, about 30 miles from BP. By the end of the war, some 211 machines had been built.

15. Welchman met with his former BP colleague, Sir Leonard (Joe) Hooper.

16. See References section.

17. Ultra was the name given to intelligence which was produced at BP and sent to the various Service Ministries.

18. JTIDS is a fully operational command and control system, providing information, distribution, position, location and identification capabilities for the US Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and British, French and NATO forces. Its elegant system design allows for future expansion and adaption and has proved to stand the test of time.

19. Welchman was not the only person alive with insider knowledge of the Hut 6 operation in 1980 when he wrote this paper. However, none would have had his breadth of knowledge of so many aspects of the BP operation.

20. Regrettably, the publication of ‘The Hut Six Story’ led to Welchman’s security clearance at MITRE being withdrawn and the end of his career in matters of national security.