TheCodeBreakers
In World War II,
cryptanalysis helped make possible at least four critical events—Midway,
Yamamoto, the rapid cutting of Japan's lifeline, the defeat of the U-boats.
Cryptanalysis was not
just a tangential and merely helpful factor; it was a vital one.
•Indeed, the higher in the politico-military realm are the events, the
more important becomes cryptanalysis. At the front, it probably stands
equal with prisoner-of-war intelligence or aerial reconnaisance. But
neither of these can match it for providing insight into the strategic plans
of top generals or the basic diplomatic policy of a whole country. A spy
may occasionally pluck forth a richer nugget, but he cannot refine the
quantity of ore that a cryptanalyst can, nor can he command the
credibility. The ungrudging tributes of the two German spymasters attest
to this superiority: Walter Schellenberg's acknowledgment that the
assistance rendered him by the communications-intelligence chiefs
annaabi.ee 
