18 Jul 58 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF 

SUBJECT. 11German Military Ciphers from February to November 191811 

1 By letter, dtd 16 May 58, Mr William G Bryan, Edi.tor and 

Publisher of The Cryptogram, official magazine of the American 

Cryptogram Association, Green:field, Massachusetts, informed me that 

a member of' the Association bad turned in a book review of' 11Germa.n 

Military Ciphers :f'rom February to November 1918 " Mr. Bryan wished 

to receive verification that this document had been declassified 

He informed that it could be obtained in book form from University 

Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan 

2 The Chief of Staff', NSA, informed Mr. BrJS.D. by return letter 

of the provisions of the Department of Defense Directive 5200 1, 

dtd 8 Jul 57, as applied to all material related to Cryptographic 

Systems Mr Bryan was advised that no authorization for publication 

of the material could be granted 

3 Subsequently, Mr Bryan brought up the matter again. In a 

letter to V R Arnett, Captain, AGC, Assistant Adjutant General, ASA, 

Arlington Hall Station,dtd 2 Jun 58, Mr Bryan mentioned that a 

member of the American Cryptogram Association had reviewed the captioned 

document for publication This member purportedly stated that the 

material had been declassified by ASA and the Library of Congress 

Mr Bryan informed that the member bad a micro-film made of the paper 

'Which was turned over to University Microfilms who were converting 

the film into a paper-bound book to be ma.de available to the general 

public 

4 On 12 Jul 58, :lwh" Bryan wrote the Chief' of' Staff', NSA, 

informing he had learned that a microfilm copy of the document had 

been converted into a f'ull-size paper-bound book by University Microfilms. 

This book, he said, is being offered to the general public for $3 40 

per copy 

5 On 10 Jul 58, Colonel Willard, AG, NSA, requested that I 

have a check made of tl;\.e statements about this paper being reproduced 

and published as a book by University Microfilms 

6 Personnel of this Office have examined a copy of the document, 

"German Military Ciphers from February to November 19l8." It is a 

technical paper, written origina.lly in 19l9 by First Lieutenant J R Childs, 

:produced by the Signal Intelligence Section, War Plans and Training 

Division, Office of the Chief Sign.al Officer, War Department The 

.,. 

- _E\_p_p_ro_v_e_d-fo-r .... R"""'"e-le_a_s-e""""b .... y..:,• N ......... S.... A_o_n_o...,5"""'"_ .... 15 .... _ ..... 2 .... 0..,.1...,.4_p_u_r-su_a_n_t-to""""E=-""'. 0,...._....,1...,,.3-=5..,,....2a 
REF ID:A275612 

SUBJECT. "German Military Ciphers f'rom February to November 1918" (Cont'd) 

document was printed under the classification Confidential by the 

Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., in l935 • At that time 

it contained a foreward written on 25 Jun 34 by William F Friedlna.n, 

then Cryptanalyst, Chief of' Signal Intelligence On 1 Apr 46, the 

document was regraded to Restricted Under provisions of Department 

of Defense Directive 5200 1, the proper present classification is 

Confidential The NSA copy of the document contains no indication 

that it has ever been in the public domain 

7 Contact with CHEF failed to disclose any inform9.tion on the 

:publication or proposed publication of this document in book form 

The Agency does have business dealings with University Microfilms, Inc , 313 N First Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the purchase of microfilms 

CHEF personnel could find no information to indicate that University 

Microfilms ha.a published anything but microfilms 

8 On 17 Jul 58, ~Ir Robert Greene of this Office made inquiries 

at the Library of Congress relative to this matter Library records 

disclosed that one unclassified copy of the 1935 printing of the 

document was received on inter-governmental transfer on 3 Nov 55 

It is listed in the general catalogue of the library No information 

concerning the declassification could be located The document, 

itself, was found to be miss:i..ng from the shelves and-special search 

wa.s requested Library personnel informed that anyone willing to pay 

the cost could have had the document microfilmed in its entirety by 

the Library of Congress 

9 A cursory examination was ma.de of' the card catalogue at the 

Library of Congress Under the topic of Cryptography there are 

approximately 135 cards There are about 1,000 cards under the topic 

of ciphers and telegraphic cod.es These cards run the gamut of 

ciphers in fiction, history of cryptography, connnercial and telegraphic 

codes , military cod.es and ciphers and cards on the subject in foreign 

la.ngua.ges It is suggested that the NBA Library obtain copies of 

these cards for review by PROD personnel to determine if the Library 

of Congress has any other publications which should be ma.de unavailable 

for uncontrolled publication 

10 Government Printing Office records located in the Archives 

by Mr Ronald Kauf'lnan of this Office disclosed that under War Department 

Requisition No 42626, 2lo copies of the document titled, "German 

Military Ciphers, 11 were printed and delivered on 24 April. 35 under 

the classification Confidential No information revealing subsequent 

printing or declassification was obtained Efforts are continuing to 

ascertain the distribution, if any, beyond the War Department The 

Govermnent Printing Office did not retain any copies 

2 
REF ID:A275612 

SUBJECT. "German Military Ciphers :f'rom February to November 1918" (Cont'd) 

ll I plan to send Arthur Mathisen of this Office to contact 

University Microfilms, Inc at Ann Arbor, Michigan in the event you 

deem it advisable to pursue this matter fUrther The purpose of his 

trip will be to ascertain whether this document bas been published in 

book form and the source from which the material was obtained He will 

also in:f'orm University Microfilms of the current classification of the 

ma.teri.aJ. 

12 Colonel Willard advised on lB Jul 58 that as a result of further 

discussion of this subject it has been decided to present the matter to 

the Department of Defense Review Board If f'urther information is 

developed through our inquiries at the Library of Congress and the 

Government Printing Office, I shall bring it to your attention prOJJU>tly 

J.8 July 1958 

It has been decided to delay Mr. Mathisen's trip to Arbor, 

Michigan, until Colone1 Willard has discussed this matt.er w1 h the 

DeJ>a,rtment of Defense Review Board. '/ 

3