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Rolf Noskwith

Discussion in 'WWII Obituaries' started by GRW, Jan 13, 2017.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

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    "WHEN the Second World War broke out maths genius Rolf Noskwith volunteered for intelligence work but was turned down because he had been born in Germany.

    Eventually the rules were changed and in 1941 he was recruited to join the codebreakers at Bletchley Park where Alan Turing and his team were working in Hut 8, the Enigma section, attempting to crack the German ciphers.

    Noskwith played a key role in breaking the code, which allowed the Navy and the RAF to destroy the U-boat “wolf packs” during the Battle of the Atlantic.

    Historians calculate that breaking the U-boat ciphers cut two years off the end of the war. Noskwith was born in the German city of Chemnitz where his Jewish father owned a textile factory.

    The family moved to Derbyshire in 1932 when it became uneconomic to produce the textiles in Germany and Rolf studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. His knowledge of German made him an invaluable asset at Bletchley and after the Enigma code was broken he worked on breaking the Nazis’ new Shark code.

    He was recruited to join the code breakers at Bletchley Park where Alan Turing was working
    For almost a year little progress was made and Allied shipping losses mounted. In October 1942 code books were obtained from a captured U-boat off the Egyptian coast and Bletchley had the breakthrough it needed. "
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/obituaries/753800/codebreaker-rolf-noskwith-genius-helped-crack-nazi-code
     

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