• REF ID:A70094. 

\ 

HEADQUARTERS, ARMY SERVICE FORCES 

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL. OFFICER 

WASHINGTON 25, O. C. 

llr. J. RiYes Childs, 

American Legation. Tangiers. North ~ica. 

Dear Childs: 

10 Ma7 1944. 

SPSIS-3 

In accordance vith Ill promise. I am sending berevitb 

tbree·1t .. a aa tollova: {l) Your paper entitled •aerman 

K111t&?'f Ciphers troa Februa.17 to November i21a• 1 Register No. 8• (2) "What Poe ltnev about Crn>tograpb7 b7 W. !t. 

Wimsatt, Jr., (3) bticles R•Pl'inted trom the Signal Corps Bulletin. 

You vill not need to send a receipt tor the last tvo 

items. but a receipt toi- the t1rst one is 1nclosed with 

the book and I Yill request that J'OU sign it and return it 

to me pi-oaptl7 via this same channel. 

It vaa good to aee 7ou and I am only sorr-r that ve did 

not get a chance to apend several more hours together. No 

doubt, ve would have turned up a lot aore interesting items 

like the one 7ou told ae about 1n connection v1th the books, 

etc., Which our British tr1enda picked up in 70Ul9 cit7. 

Inc14entall7, I have started the 1nqu1r-r to see vbat happened 

ao tar aa ve vere concerned but thus tar nothing baa turned 

up. 

With corcllal greetings to Mrs. Childs and to J'Oursel.1', 

I aa 

3 Incloaurea: 

Above-11ated books. 

v1111am F. Priedman6 

Director ot Communications 

Research. 

pproved for Release by NSA on 03-25-2014 pursuant to E.O. 

13526 
. -- ... 

• 

• REF ID:A7009 .. 

SPSIS-3 

14 Januar7 1944 

Dear Childs: 

Yov lettaz- oi- 22 December has not reached me in its 

or1gill&l form but the co1>7 vb1ch 7ou sent through the State 

Department vaa put 1n mf' hands a couple of' da7s ago. 

It vaa a pleasure to hear rrom 7ou although I knov 7011 

understand that I do see things ot an of'f'1c1al n&tUl'e f'rom 

7our quarters occasionall7. The musical cipher a7stem which 

ia described 1n the little booklet 7ou sent ae 1a. as 7ou sa7. 

so simple rmtdaaentall7 that things of' this sort are encountered onl7 1n movies depicting activities or secret 

agents as concocted b7 h1gh17 imaginative authors. SorrJ 

to sa7 that I know of' no authentic 1natance 1n vhich·a cipher 

ot this sort has been used in modern times tor purposes other 

than books and movies. You probabl7 knov that the ver7 

earliest books on cl'J'PtographJ' ehov examples or this type or 

cipher. I am therefore returning the booklet with thanks tor 

the opportun1t7 to see it. 

I recall that Jira. Friedman told me that 7ou had phoned just before leaving 'Washington tor 1our present assignment. I was in W&1ter Reed at the time but I am f'ul.17 recovered 

nov. The Surgeon General. however. deemed it vise tor me 

to be retired, ao I am ~ 1n mutt1 but am atill on the aaae 

job. 

'l'h1nga JIUSt be ve!'J' 1Dtereat1ng·out 7our va7 and I knov 

that 7011 are enjo71ng 7our aas1gmnent. I was aor17 that I 

did not get a chance to come to North Africa on JJrf visit to 

England l&at spring. I bad hoped to get dovn to Algiers and C&iro but things were preaa1ng here ao I bad to come back. 

I enj0794 rq v1a1t to England vel"I' much. 

Reciprocating 7our cordial greetings and with best v1shea ~or the Bev Year to 7011 and •s. Childs. I am. 

Sincerel7 7oura. 

William P. Friedman 

Ill'. J. R1vea Chil.48 

Legation of' the United Sta.tea or America 

Tangier• Morocco 
.. . • REF ID:A7.uap94 

.. , 

LEGATION OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

Tangier, Morocco, December 2Z, 1943 

Dear l'rieclman: 

I have been handed the enclosed suggested system tor a 

musical cipher which has interested me sutticiently to ~ass it 

on to you. The system is so simple, :fundamentally, that I presume it may have already been considered but I thoUght it might 

be worthwhile to let you have a look at it. Ot course, it 

would by its very nature be very limited in the scope of its 

usefulness but nonetheless it seems to me that there might be 

occasions when it might prove both practicable and usef'ul.. 't'he 

man who offers it is a Hungarian musician, leader ot one of the 

local orchestras. I would be much interested in having your 

opinion ot it and, it it can be put to any use, whether there 

is any possibility ot obtaining some compensation :f'or the author. 

1be last time I heard o:f' you I phoned your wi:f'e just before leaving Washington and learned to 1113' great regret that 

you were ill. I do hope things have gone better with you. I 

can imagine the work with which you must have been burdened 

Uith every good wish and kind regards to you and your wife, 

believe me, 

Enclosure 

Booklet 

Colonel w. F. l!'riedman 

sincerely yours, 

'-

;r. Rives Childs 

Signal Corps, United States Army, 

war Department, 

Washington, D· o.