All,
I am still fascinated by Enigma and the BP efforts.
It is telling that Enigma came into play in 1920's as a commercial coding machine.
A range of things contributed to the BP successes, not least German 'sloppiness' or lack of foresight.
As I read it, even with Germany on top of the game, Enigma could still be broken but that would have been a very long process.
My good questions/WI's are then:
1) IF Germany had done everything right, would BP have made inroads before US 'mega'-bombes came into it. Raw power could have made a difference
2) IF all messages would have been secure then what?
- No Matapan?
- Battle of Atlantic? what would the sinking rate then have been especially in 1940/1
- The Med in general?
- Russia?
It can also be said that Germany might have moved to a more modern system. Logic tells me that there must have been some developments since 1920 up until 1940.
Were there alternatives to Enigma? We talk about a lot of units to be deployed, a lot of manufacturing, a lot of people to go on a new course, a lot of ... a lot of things.
A comparison may be: Let us just imagine that the entire US armed forces cancel GPS and latch on to a totally new system with new hardware and different procedures, etc.
-> not something that can be done in a day (before tea that is).
Ivan