Dedicated to Keeping the Secret

Because the U.S. Navy, like the British, went to great lengths to disguise the source of their information, very few ever knew of the cryptologic contribution. The dedicated men and women working in OP-20-G played an important role in maintaining one of the best-kept secrets of World War II. Threatened with death if they spoke of their activities, and reminded of their oath when they were discharged from the service, these Americans did not reveal their war work to anyone.

In 1974 F. W. Winterbotham, a former group captain in the Royal Air Force, wrote about the work done at Bletchley Park. This was well before the United States planned to declassify the Enigma secret, but the story was out. Slowly, the United States began to reveal its information and role in the Allies' cryptanalytic successes. However, notifying the thousands of men and women involved in the project more than thirty years later was impossible.

Nearly fifty years after the war, during a vacation to Washington, D.C., former Wave Sue Eskey learned the Bombe had been declassified. As many tourists do, she walked into the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Upon finding an exhibit that included an actual Bombe and picture of a Wave, she blurted out, 'My God! That's me! I'm on the wall of the Smithsonian Institution!' (48) Later that day she called one of her Wave friends with whom she'd remained in contact. Feeling almost guilty for speaking of it over the phone, she told her friend what she'd seen.

Unfortunately, many of those involved passed away before they were able to tell their stories. Joseph Desch never explained to his family what a major role he played in winning the war against the Germans by designing the American Bombe. Alan Turing, designer