German Forces

Enigma in use.

Photo showing Germans using Enigma machine during second world war. This description commemorates the work of Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Rozycki and Henryk Zygalski, mathematicians of the Polish intelligence service, in first breaking the Enigma code. Their work greatly assisted the Bletchley Park code breakers and contributed to the Allied victory in World War II. Poles made first decipher messages from Enigma in 1932, later in 1939, 5 weeks before Nazi German invasion on Poland, they informed France and Great Britain about secrets of machine. Work was continued by Poles and Britons all time of war. Historians will, no doubt, long debate exactly what was the influence upon the course of the Second World War the Allies' ability to read German machine ciphers. Verdicts will range between a significant speeding up of the ultimate outcome, with the saving of untold thousands of lives, and what some of the highest Allied commanders termed a decisive impact on the results of many campaigns, battles and operations.