Operation Ruthless

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Operation Ruthless was the name of an intrepid deception operation devised by the British Admiralty during World War II in a desperate attempt to gain access to an Enigma encryption machine.

Contents

[edit] The Ian Fleming connection

The plan was developed by Operational Intelligence Centre (OIC) which was a leading user of Ultra decrypts. Commander Ian Fleming, personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence (Admiral Godfrey) at the OIC, showed his talent for fantastical plots when he suggested the plan.

[edit] The plan

This was a plan to obtain a German codebook by crashing a captured German aeroplane into the English Channel, where the British crew could be rescued by a German minesweeper. The 'survivors' would then kill the German crew, and hijack the ship thus obtaining the Enigma equipment.

[edit] Outcome

It never actually happened, as on the day it was planned, there were no German ships in the Channel. Other sources say it developed glitches and so was never implemented. An alternative account given by his niece Lucy Fleming in The Bond Correspondence on BBC Radio Four on 24th May, 2008, stated that the operation was never actually executed.The reason given was that an official at the RAF pointed out that if they were to drop a downed Heinkel bomber in the English Channel then it would sink rather than float.

[edit] Additional reading

Languages