520:"permission to set up a completely new organisation for the translation, distribution and complete security of the decoded signals...". A key part of the solution was arranging for the secure delivery of Ultra to the various commanders, and making sure that they did nothing to give away the secret that Enigma was being read. Winterbotham took charge of this process. He formed "Special Liaison Units", which were attached to each field headquarters that received Enigma. An SLU consisted of a few RAF officers and enlisted men, low in rank to avoid drawing attention. They received Ultra messages by radio from Britain, carefully encrypted in Britain's strongest
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entered the war, these field commanders were often not
British. Winterbotham was responsible for recruiting and training the SLU personnel for this difficult role. They had to be very able technically, be close-mouthed, keep a low profile, and also be diplomatic enough to manage commanders who far
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on the night of 14–15 November. There was heavy damage and numerous civilian casualties. Winterbotham asserted that Enigma decrypts had provided clear advance warning of the raid but that
Churchill personally decided not to take any special countermeasures that might alert the Germans that the
334:(MI6). During the next few years, Winterbotham began the process of building up an intelligence service for the RAF. His job was to gather information on the development of military aviation in hostile or potentially hostile countries. He recruited agents, and filed and analyzed their reports.
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made a breakthrough when they succeeded in deciphering four small messages regarding
Luftwaffe personnel. This led Winterbotham to consider how the information from this would be handled once it became more plentiful, and he shared his ideas on this topic with his Chief. His chief gave him
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It seems he was also involved in an observer mission with
General Franco's fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War. A report written by a William Winterbotham, dated 16 February 1937, filed in AIR 40/224, provides highly technical analysis of events that reflected his professional military
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in 1932. Winterbotham, with the full knowledge of MI6, escorted
Rosenberg around Britain, made some appropriate introductions, and played up to him. Neither Ropp nor Rosenberg knew that Winterbotham had any intelligence connections—he was just a civilian official of the Air Staff.
570:. However, Winterbotham's book was the first extensive account of the uses to which the massive volumes of Enigma-derived intelligence were put by the Allies, on the western and eastern European fronts, in the Mediterranean, North Africa, and perhaps most crucially, in the
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The SLU was also expected to keep the recipient commander from telling anyone else about the origins of the message or acting too obviously on its contents. Naturally, this sometimes led to conflicts with field commanders who objected to being second-guessed. After the
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that translated and analysed all decrypted
Luftwaffe messages. He wrote that "Ultra never mentioned Coventry... Churchill, so far from pondering whether to save Coventry or safeguard Ultra, was under the impression that the raid was to be on London."
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derived from Enigma decrypts was absolutely authentic (as the decrypted messages were genuine German communications) and it was often of immense value. This source was so valuable it was given the special classification "Top Secret Ultra", or simply
357:, not yet in power, wanted to cultivate high-level contacts in Britain; they imagined that "imperialist" Britain would be sympathetic to their own dreams of racial conquest. Winterbotham, who was socially well connected, seemed a likely channel.
581:, had only slight understanding of the cryptologic side of the multi-faceted and strictly compartmentalized Ultra operation, and had no access to official records so was written from memory. His description of the pioneering work done by
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Winterbotham continued in this role for the next seven years. He became a regular visitor to
Germany, and an apparent Nazi sympathizer. As such, he was welcomed into the highest circles in Germany, meeting
314:, to study law. He took a law degree (1920) in the shortened course for returning servicemen, but had no liking for an office job. He pursued farming opportunities in Britain,
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with a desperate cry for assistance ("help oh help") with a letter of his own, in
February 1943. Winterbotham's letter ensured the chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal
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Winterbotham concluded that the war's outcome "was, in fact, a very narrow shave, and the reader may like to ponder whether or not we might have won had we not had Ultra".
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before the war is minimal. Winterbotham later responded that he had simply passed on the story that he had been given at the time. He erroneously suggested that
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which produced many high-scoring "aces". He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner, and "passed the time" learning German. For much of the time he was in the
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outranked them. When diplomacy failed, Winterbotham flew out to the problem HQ to resolve the quarrel. He had the ultimate authority of the
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Winterbotham's account has been criticized for inaccuracies and self-aggrandizement. Winterbotham acknowledged in the book that he was no
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British were reading Enigma. This story has been widely repeated, even though it has been refuted by other historians and memoirists.
555:, and it explained what Ultra was, and revealed Winterbotham's role, particularly with regard to the dissemination and use of Ultra.
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governments behind him, as both
Britain and the U.S. would do almost anything to avoid exposing the secret of the decryptions.
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in 1916, and became a fighter pilot. He was shot down and captured on 13 July 1917, being shot down in a dogfight in the
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Néstor Cerdá, The Road to
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900:"James Holland, Dambusters Raid lecture 'The Dams Raid -- A Reassessment' - Univ of Huddersfield"
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These activities came to an end when World War II broke out in 1939. As a top ranking member of
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experience. It was read by a member of the Air Intelligence Staff on 26 September 1937.
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was the first popular account of Ultra to be published in Britain.
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Uni Huddersfield Repository Research Videos (26 July 2013).
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Winterbotham, Frederick William at www.stroud-history.org.uk
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from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
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Frederick William Winterbotham - Mitchell Families Online.
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for the training of military pilots in violation of the
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credits Winterbotham with responding to a letter from
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37:F.W. Winterbotham in Royal Flying Corps uniform
16:British military officer and author (1897–1990)
877:. New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 85–86.
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455:. Please do not remove this message until
360:This led to a visit by Nazi "philosopher"
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799:. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978.
718:. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978.
695:. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974.
475:Learn how and when to remove this message
818:Luftwaffe: The Allied Intelligence Files
451:Relevant discussion may be found on the
208:(16 April 1897 – 28 January 1990) was a
987:Military personnel from Gloucestershire
491:(he reported directly to its head, Sir
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915:General and cited references
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402:aerial reconnaissance
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381:subordinates such as
312:Christ Church, Oxford
148:Years of service
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347:Treaty of Versailles
274:At the start of the
238:Family and education
215:officer (latterly a
151:1914–1918, 1939–1946
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797:The Nazi Connection
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686:Secret and Personal
444:of this section is
270:World War I service
252:Charterhouse School
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627:Peter Calvocoressi
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230:. His book
170:World War I
956:Categories
660:, head of
442:neutrality
412:aircraft.
288:Passendale
98:Allegiance
59:1897-04-16
43:Birth name
746:Citations
622:Luftwaffe
614:The Blitz
612:. During
453:talk page
379:Luftwaffe
276:Great War
256:Godalming
93:, England
87:Blandford
72:, England
904:Archived
873:(1981).
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608:and the
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320:Rhodesia
116:Service/
339:Germany
210:British
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318:, and
260:Surrey
244:Stroud
192:author
179:Awards
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91:Dorset
66:Stroud
591:Japan
553:Ultra
510:Ultra
416:Ultra
406:Italy
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355:Nazis
316:Kenya
254:, in
225:Ultra
927:ISBN
879:ISBN
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