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Royal Navy officer who seized Enigma machine from a raided German U-Boat has died aged 95

Royal Navy officer who seized Enigma machine from a raided German U-Boat has died aged 95
From WarHistoryOnline.com
Published 30 April 2016

A Royal Navy veteran and hero has died aged 95. Lieutenant Commander David Balme led the team who stole the Nazis’ infamous Enigma machine after capturing and boarding a German U-Boat in 1941.

Lieutenant Commander Balme died earlier this month, but his memory will live on in World War Two history as it is the capture of the Enigma machine that is lauded as a turning point in the battle for the Atlantic.

When Balme and his men raided the German U-Boat in 1941 off the coast of Greenland, they had no idea what they would find. Even when they came across the Enigma machine, they didn’t know what it was, but decided to send the machine and code books that were found with it back to England for analysis and investigation.

It was this discovery that ensured British intelligence experts were able to eventually pick up secret coded messages that the Nazis were sending to instruct its submarine fleet around the world.

The British Government had set up a huge code-breaking team based at Bletchley Park in England where records show that around 6000 German coded messages were being cracked every day.

Balme’s mission was not made public until decades after World War Two ended since it was highly classified.

David was born in Kensington, west London, in October 1920. When he was 14, he joined Dartmouth Naval College and served in the Royal Navy during the Spanish Civil War. Just as World War Two began, he was assigned to HMS Ivanhoe in 1939. By the 1940s, David had been reassigned to HMS Bulldog as a navigator, and it was during this time that they raided the German U-Boat that contained the Enigma machine.

They were ordered to retrieve as much as they could from the U-110, which they got to by row boat from their ship. David recalled how he had been a prime target for any Nazi troops in the submarine as he had to climb down three shafts of ladders to reach the main control room.

The U-Boat was empty, so the Raiders spent about six hours searching the vessel and taking anything that they thought was important.

U-110 was taken in tow back toward Britain but sank en route to Scapa Flow.

Once the war had ended, David got married, had a family and became a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.

In 1999 he condemned a Hollywood attempt to re-write history after it was revealed that a major film was going to tell the story that the Enigma device was captured by an American destroyer in the Mediterranean.

He said to the Daily Mail ‘Rome and Malta make for better scenery than Greenland and Scapa Flow but Enigma was among the greatest British triumphs of the war.

‘It’s wrong to pretend the Americans were responsible. People don’t like that sort of thing.’

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  • The first hire at SIS was Annie Louise Newkirk, hired as a cryptographic clerk. Interesting note, when a phone call came in for someone working in the vault room, Ms. Newkirk would buzz the back room using a Morse code equivalent for the first initial of the individual's name. In honor of Women's History Month - click to learn about more female cryptologic pioneers!

About Us

The NCF's Vision is to strengthen trust in the digital ecosystem.

The NCF Mission: Advance the nation’s interest in cyber and cryptology as we:

Educate citizens to be cyber smart individuals, 

Develop pathways for the future cyber and cryptologic workforce, 

Engage and convene partners to address emerging cyber and cryptologic issues and, 

Commemorate our cryptologic history and those who served. 

The Foundation provides exceptional cryptologic programs, encourages young minds to learn about cryptology and to explore cyber-related career opportunities, hosts educational, cryptology-related exhibits at various community events, and honors the people— past and present—whose contributions to our national security protect and make possible our way of life.

The NCF also provides needed support to the National Cryptologic Museum (NCM), the first public museum in the U.S. Intelligence Community. Located adjacent to the National Security Agency (NSA) in Maryland, the NCM houses a unique and priceless collection of artifacts that represent our Nation's history in code making and code breaking, as well as a world class library of cryptologic media. The NCF has acquired rare and invaluable artifacts for the Museum and helps to support new educational and interactive exhibits.

The NCF is a 501(c)(3) organization.

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