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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
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Enigma - The Untold Story of the Secret Capture (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R585
Discovery Miles 5 850
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Enigma - The Untold Story of the Secret Capture (Hardcover)
Series: The British Navy at War and Peace, 3
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Loot Price R585
Discovery Miles 5 850
Expected to ship within 12 - 19 working days
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David Balme will be forever known as the 20-year-old hero who, on 9
May 1941, boarded a German U-boat in mid-Atlantic, and captured one
of the greatest secrets of the Second World War. This capture - or
'pinch' as it was known within secret, inner circles - changed the
course of the Battle of the Atlantic and shortened the war itself.
Balme was part of a team comprising officers and men of the Third
Escort Group ably led by Commander Joe Baker Cresswell, also
commander of HMS Bulldog, who shared the danger with other unsung
heroes such as Lieutenant Commander George Dodds. Balme was tasked
with taking the Bulldog's whaler and a small party to board the
U-boat U-110 which had been disabled. However he was alone when
initially boarding, entering and searching the U-boat. This put him
in a vulnerable position while descending into the vessel - he
risked being shot by any German submariner that may have remained
or blown-up by a booby-trap device. Furthermore he could have
drowned when Bulldog disappeared into the mists of the Atlantic to
hunt another U-boat, as U-110 could have plummeted into the depths
at any time.However, where others tried and failed or tragically
lost their lives, Balme and his boarding party succeeded
magnificently in capturing an entire Enigma machine, the essential
rotors and months' worth of associated cipher material. This was an
absolute gift to the code breakers at Bletchley Park who were able
to read all the secret German naval signal traffic for some months
and it enabled them to read virtually the whole of the traffic for
the rest of the war and with little delay. The capture was kept so
secret that few even on the British side knew about it - not even
the Americans were told what had been achieved after they entered
the war. Balme returned from the war and never spoke about the
secret capture which he believed would be hidden forever. The story
of the capture and ransack of U-110 is told for the first time in
the words and letters of David Balme, his captain Joe Baker
Cresswell, George Dodds and others who took part in the most
important submarine capture of the whole war.Besides the capture of
U-110, Balme enjoyed an astonishing variety of wartime experience
including the Spanish Civil War, the Palestine Patrol, the sinking
of HMS Courageous, the Battle of Convoy KJF3, the fight with the
heavy cruiser Hipper, the Battle of Cape Spartivento, the Battle of
Convoy OB318, being sunk during Operation Harpoon, the air war in
the Western Desert, the high level diplomacy of Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and pioneering work as a Fighter Direction
Officer in the war against Japan.
General
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