How did they get over the catch-22 that if they used the information that Nazis could guess it came from breaking the code but if they didn’t use the information there was no point in having it.
EDIT. I tagged this as mathematics because the movie suggests the use of mathematics, but does not explain how you use mathematics to do it (it’s a movie!). I am wondering for example if they made a slight tweak to random search patterns so that they still looked random but “coincidentally” found what we already knew was there. It would be extremely hard to detect the difference between a genuinely random pattern and then almost genuinely random pattern.
In: Mathematics
Churchill also had to allow his hometown to get bombed so the Nazis would not realize they had broken the code
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/04/secondworldwar.theatre
Yes I looked to CGPT to form a cogent response… feel free to pick it apart…
The equation used to determine how to conceal breaking the Enigma code is related to game theory and probability, specifically the concept of expected value. The key challenge was to continue decrypting messages without making it obvious to the Germans that the Enigma code had been broken. The British used a strategy to balance the need to act on critical information and the necessity to avoid raising suspicion.
One simplified representation of this problem is:
EV(A) = P(D) . V(A|D) + P(ND) . V(A|ND)
Where:
(EV(A) is the expected value of taking action A.
(P(D) is the probability that the Germans will discover the code has been broken if action A is taken.
(V(A|D) is the value (or cost) of action A given the code is discovered.
(P(ND) is the probability that the Germans will not discover the code has been broken if action A is taken.
(V(A|ND) is the value of action A given the code is not discovered.
The goal was to maximize the expected value, considering both the benefits of acting on decrypted information and the risks of revealing the intelligence breakthrough. This involved careful selection of actions based on the intelligence gathered, sometimes letting minor attacks happen to protect the larger secret.
I believe they let a bunch of soldiers die when they could be saved so it wasn’t revealed they knew some plans of attack.
The brits were so skilled, while listening to German Morse code communication, they could detect distinct “accents”. Slightly different ways different operators would transmit their message in pace, timing, mannerisms etc. They noticed when these operators changed locations and deduced different company movements in position and countered accordingly. SO much interesting stuff to get an edge during the war
What always makes me laugh is that a big part of the initial code break was because the Nazis often ended the encrypted messages with “Heil Hitler”
There are conflicting reports that the British knew the Nazis were planning on bombing Coventry thanks to having broken the Enigma, and chose to let the bombing happen in order not to cause suspicion. This has never been officially confirmed as far as I know.
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