[Milsurplus] FOLLOW-UP to Robert Watson-Watt post

[hwhall at compuserve.com]

the full story behind Churchill's agonizing decision not to warn the city of Coventry that it was about to be destroyed
"Voices of the Code Breakers" pg 96-97 mentions this with a different explanation. Germany used a "code" name for targets, even inside the Enigma messages. The first letter of the code name was the first letter of the target (e.g., Bild = Birmingham). The target that night was "Korn." The Air Ministry didn't realize until afterwards that Coventry was normally spelled with a K in Germany. Speculation led to the story about allowing the attack to cover Enigma's secret, and that had probably gained huge traction by the time (ca 1970s) that most of the UK code-breaking secrets were finally let out.  This makes some sense in view of the Chain Home system or patrol fighters or ships in the channel that could have been cited as covers for intercepting the bombers.

WayneWB4OGM

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