eclassified and approved for release by NSA on 04-29-2014 

ursuant to E. 0. 13526 

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Name: 

Rank: 

Unit: 

:FP No: 

• REF ID:A65382 •• ~ 

:FIRST DETAILED mrER.RC.1GJ~TION CF TW'O 

ITllLillN SIGS OPERATORS 

S..GtL.TTI, Franco MERLO 1 Enrico 

Pte · Pte 

CSDIC/m.~1/Y :n_. 

\Captured~ 

Secret No: 

_ 12 TP; 4 !.f.\N'l'OVA BN, 1 .'\Rr! REGT, ll>NTE ROSA~ Db 

81687/D 

31 Dec 44, nr MOLAZZANA, :F'lfth 

81687/D 

l'J!fJIY Front ~ 

ll 45/22 :M 45/23' :\l\ ' 

Interros;ate d: CSDIC, CMF, 15 Jan 45 · ~ \ 

SubJeot of Report: M ROSA Div:. Sigs Trainin~, Eqpt and Procedure, Meteor S'1ipl8.l_ 

in Code. 

1. PREAMBLE 

(a) I ' SAGUATTI 

P'.V is a 19 yr old ry employee (telegraphist) from BOU>GN!h Conscripted 

into Republican Jirr:rq. Of average intelligence and answered questions willing]zy'-. 

Function: ex-WT operator: Reliability~ :Fair ~ .. ,,, .... ~ LT operator 

(b) MERLO .. 

PW is a 19 yr old ry employee (telegraphist) from nr PJ .. VIA .. 

Conscripted into the Republican Jsrray. Answered questions, but bas little intm of 

value. 

Function: Ilr operator Reliability: :Fair 

2. HIS'IDRY AND !4CVEMENTS 

( af- SAGtL\TTI 

1 Jun 44 

10 Jul 44 

Z5 Jul 44 

15 Aug 44 

'' 

. 4- Npv i.4-

31 Dec 44 

(b) MERI£) 

2 Jun 44 

~ 

Called up to BOLOGNA Area HQ and sent to GERMANI to a Camp 

at lmUBERG where 4- Bn, 1 .iu:-ty Re gt, !Tl.LIA Div was in trig, 

Transferred to 12 Tp, 4 MAlf!OVA Bn, 1 Arty Regt, M ROSA 

.Alpi?JB D'1 v ,at MUENSINGEN (WUERiY.rEMBERG). , i\rriveci w1th unit at GENOA. Unit then msved at soort 

intervals to CHIAVARI, St'lN OOLOMBJ~, and, on or aboμt 

Arrived with unit at GR.\VEGLI!.., nr CHLWJJtr, where unit 

remained for over two months (parts of it moved to GENO!LQUARL'O in the meantime, and others to MELE, nr VOLTRI, and 

came back later). , l~rriyed at the front in the region of c:.sTELNUOVO d1 

GALFliGN!OO. 

Captured nr :MOI.u\ZZANA. 

Called up t'J TO:RrONl • .Area HQ and sent from there to 

HEUBERG Camp, 

Sub sequent movements u for SAGlJ.A11TI. 

3. :.rRAINING AND EQUIPMENT 

• _ PW were not t!:aincd as wireless operators (in GERlWff), as 1 .1\rt;r R.egt 

of M ROSa Div alreadjy had enough operators by the t lUIC they Joined it (MEmD stated 

that this was becio.uao numbers of recruits oame from· ry offices in N ITALY and were 

acqua'lnted with telegrapqy, therefore wonted little tng). They were traured as LT 

operators and maint men.. .After the Div arrived in ITJILY, SAGUATTI was given tng on 

11 b11 and "k" sets and taught to encipher and decipher messages (see para 5 below) .. 

Tng was usually oa.rried out by Italian o£fioers and NCO s. 

4- WINTOVA Bn w.as equipped with "k" WT sets, East troop bad two sets, 

one for the OP and one for the GPO' s Comd Post. However, WT ocmns were only used 

when Ia did not work, Field telephones were of the F:F 33 type. 
.J 

... 

.a ~ • REF ID:A65382 ... " * ~ 

•!.- - ~ ~ 

~ , 

CJdDIC/CJMF Jr 27 • 

.. 4. 0J\LL$IGNS 1 FRE9UENCIES J\ND CODE:tt\MES ( S..i.GUld'TI) 

Cnllsigns were MB.de up of three symbols and issued monthq to HQ Regt 

by the Div Sigs O:f'f'r. Regt se'lrt therr down to Bn HQ for the whole month and the 

NOOs i/c stns were given callsil!ns for D. period of ten days. Frequencies were 

ollotted in the snme way. Both oollsigns and frequencies were supposed to cha.n~ 

daily at midnight. Often frequencies were changed without requJ.ring sanction from 

Div S1~a Off'r, because of poor reception. 

Pf{ stated that as far o.s he knew callsigns and :f'r,que:ncics were allotted 

to units in the Div after t:omputa.tion by Italian personnel (cf CSDIC(MAIN}/f 19 

App 11 .. '.. 11 , para. B.) , 

_ Tcleph"'ne code.names (accordinC?; to both PW) were changed ever,y twenty 

days. As an example p11v quoted bOdenmne s which were used on 30 Dec lilf. ( sub-lll'lit s 

ha.v.illg so.me codename plus numbers). 

HQ 4 wmovA Bn 

OP 12 Tp, 4 MANTOV"'l Bn 

HQ 12 Tp, 4 1-tiNTOVli. Bn 

FONTi~I.. 

: ~ FONT .. 'lliA. 121 

FONTJJ'lA 122 

-PW told 'forward inteITOgators that WT (") co.llsigns were usual'.cy made 

up of three letters, but now states that both figures and letters were used. It is 

believed that PW most probably referred to RT comns when quoting the following 

example,a.e. on 30 Doc 44 co.llsign of 12 Tp was TOR, letters being spelt with the B.J.d 

of ruimes of' Italian cities, Vl.Z ,!ORINO, JlDTh1E, 'B{J'MA. 

5. CIPHER ( S.l\GU:i!l'TI) 

Cipher 111.Bed by 1 .Arty Regt, down to tr.:iop level, was of the box-square 

type. PW was only slightly o.cqUD.J.nted with it c~ared with Sources interro'!flted 

previously. lU.l he lmew wa:s the gcnera.l ·principle on which it was worked and that 

it wo.s issued to um.ts by the Cermans, some of the docs received by his Tp being 

\printed partly in the German langwge. Keys chan~d daily. 

~ METEOR SIGN~\LS IN com (B!iRB..\R/JE~Graf) (SAGUii.TTI) 

PW stated that a-t 12 Tp HQ there was a receiving set (Geman made) used 

for listening in to Meteor Signals (B.'umtJULMELDUNGEN). He could only speak of transm1ss1'J'ns. of' such signals as at Sep 44 when he was doJ.nC?; \VT work. i .. t that tl.1DB transmissipns were supposed to be mo.de from a ple.ce in the v101Jlity of MIL/i.N and they tbok 

place daily at 1215, 1815 and 0315 hrs. \Vhen the unit moved into the line he heard 

that these tranS11issions (or orders for listem.ng in") were _at two-hourly intcrvQJ.s, 

but he could not ~ whether they took place on the hour, quarter pc.st the hour, etc. 

For further detmls see ~\pp 11A11 , 

1. __...._.....__....._.. 

PERsON..'.LITIES 

' (a.) ~t-alio.ns in 1 i\rty Re$ii !.{ ROSJ .. Div (end Dec 44) 

Lt-Col GROSSI oc 

Ma.Jor PACE OC 4 W.NTOVA :Sn 

Lieut IJ • .GOBTEN.·~ Ord Offr ("i~IUTJJf.l'E MAGGIORE") in 4 Bn 

Lieut SuVINI li.t Bn HQ 

Capt SANZO oc 10 Tp 

Co.pt SC!JU.i.\TTl.i. oc 11 Tp 

Ca.pt VOLP.ARI oc 12 Tp 

Lieut MALVICINI GPO 12 Tp 

2/Lt SJUBENE OP Offr 12 Tp 

Sjt BONONI WT operator at HQ 4 Bn 

Cpl LORENZI II II II II II 

L/Cpl CANONIC! .. II II II II II 

Fte C.llRLESCO II II II II II 

... . '""' 

-
• RE_~ _ID:A65382 ..... .,, ...,.Tl"'t"01'19!9~B~EeA:iH~mJLm.'P-

.. Pte 

Cpl 

Pte 

ptc 

pte 

SJt 

Fte 

P.'JJl .. TO 

EEJ\ 

l1L.Ji1FI 

T014MASI 

TURRINI 

c.;.& .. TI 

DELiu..BORt .. 

(c) Gcrmmi 

CSM RUCK 

Sjt BtK:HNER or 

BUCKNER 

2/Lt WE:MISCH 

~ 

.;i 

CSD!C/CMF /I 27 • 

.,~ Opera.tor o.t H'1 4- .Bn 

\ 'T Opera.tor in 12 Tp 

II II II II II 

II II II II II 

II II II II II 

I/e LT det in 12 Tp 

In LT act in 12 Tp 

Germon instructor in LT (FF33) o.t 

HEUBEID Tng Ca.mp (10 Jul liJ.i.) 

Instructor in use of Cipher, with 

Lio.ison Unit to M ROS..;. Div (Be'P ltli-) 

Gcmo.n LO t'J 12 Tp, l+ MANTOV.t' .. Br.1 {Dec 44) 

(c) Additionnl Ito.lia.n non-sip-s pers'"nnel in M R05.i'.. Div (Nov liJ.i.) 

(PW' Sources in CSDIC(M.\IN)/Y 19.) 

c.s.n.r.c. 

C.J(. F. , 

22 Jan 1+5. 

Gen C.'.RLONI 

MaJOr M.\RC:.RINO 

Lieut ROCCJiRINO 

2/Lt V.;LP.~RAISO 

Lieut ZIRON 

2/Lt SliRTORO 

2/Lt -- -- r--

REITER 

2/Lt ROlt' .. Gf.lOLI 

WO (Marescio.llo) G~..'rTI 

WO (?40.r. Ca.po) PIHIR".NI 

I.1eut • .LBERi.~ 

2/Lt Mt"...SS.: .. 

~70 (~.Ut1P"gii.orc) PROFIL! \ 

rro (Mer.Co.po} RENDJNI , 

Cllpt GIGLIOTI 

Lieut SimA 

Lieut COLOSD•Kl 

2/Lt 

2/Lt 

2/Lt 

GRASSO 

SPOTCJRNt 

N.AJ;.1CJLIT.i~NO 

GOO 

GSO 2 (Cps). at Div HQ 

l'>.dJt :XXIII Reece Bn 

On staff of Reece Bn. Com.es from TlJil.TIS 

OC 2 Sqn, Reece 'Bn 

1 .. dmin Offr Reece Bn 

00 1 Sqn 

00 1 Tp 

I/c Mule Tpt Column in 2 Sqn 

In 2 Sqn 

OC 3 Sqn 

OC Eng Pl;, 3 Sqn 

ln II I~ II 

In 1 l.lp;i..ni Ra~ 

OC 1 Bn, 3 Regt 

OC BQ Coy, 1 Bn, ' Regt 

CC 5 (HY) Coy, 1 Bn, 3 Re~t 

In 

In 

In 

II 

II 

II 

II 

,. 

If 

ti II 

II II 

II II 

A.G.B • 

.... ,, _ ;r ~~'~I I\ ti 'J ~ ~ (R.P.F. EDf.AROO) 

Lt-Col. . oomat CSDIC' CMF. 
. 

..,.. .. A 4 

• 

• 

~ 

~ 

"' 

.; 

• REF ID:A65~82. ~ , . 

- .Pr II i'.. II i. !Of SHaREl'i' - CSDI0/00' /y 21 • 

HETEOR SIGNiiLS IN CODE (B.!umtJUJlELDUNGEN) 

{ref' pcra 6 of att report) 

Si'!llals of' meteor do.ta were sent in two-f'i'!\JI"e code. Aoco.rdiN! to PJV wind 

velocity (f'r:m 1 tc 12), l::nrometric pressure and cb.reotion of wind were l!iv-en. 

Mo s:Ja~e s began with a. number of tw'J di!!1 ts whioh ~ave the key to the 1 code 1 followed 

by tho date and the spotheight ("quota") of' the place whore the meteor observations 

had been made. After that followed f'i~ure-bigram.s. These were taken down on a 

spec'l.al form p:rt:vided f":>r the purpose and which was drawn up on the lines of sketoh 1. 

The figures (bii;ra.ms) in oollll!ln 1 of slcctoh were printed on the form in that o~.x:". 

So::-uroe did n')t lmow if they were -meant to indicate t1111e of f'l1ght, or height of 

apex of tra.aeotory above line o.f sight. .t\l.l he cQuid sey was that he was certain 

oollli.'ln 1 looked as tl.lustrated, and tho.t, of the three f'igure-bi13rams following the .. gr:::up already printed on tho, f'orm, the last one indicated the velocrity of the wind 

(from 1 to 12). Berometri-d pressure wo.s indicated by either the first or second 

fi'!ure-bil!I'am (NOT comting that printed on the f'oni), as was direction of wind. 

The direction ·of wind wa.s indicated by means of German Field Compass (M.mSCHKO:MP.ASSZ.'JD:J!N) 't-ea.rl.ru!s ( d"uble hundred mils) • - ' 

(NBTE1- PW GEESE ( c:", OSDIC(?.t.JN)/Y 25) when asked tc supply the order in 

which meteor data. was given in siiymls stated that it was ~ven in 

the following order o.nd contained these elements2 

' I ~ 10 

15 

~ 20 

25 

30 

1'-0 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

1 l Velocity of wind (LUFr~SOH\IINDIGKEIT) 2 Humid! ty of' air (LUFTFEUCHTIGKEIT) 

, 3 Decimal places of ballistic pt-essure (IEZDLtLEN DES BlJ..LISTISCBEN 

(for calculatin~ air density) LUFTGEWICHTES). 

It is thou~ht that PW GEE.SE' s infm is more reliable.) 

Sketch 1 

- -- - - -- 53 25 40 

•• • • • • 

• • • • • • 

•• • • • • 

•• • • 

•• 

, 

... 

' In this example 53, 25,. 40 are 

meteor __ de.t.a. :Ln code. ' 

In dz.a.er to deoode a me ssa~ a 

monthly table was used which contained aver 100 key numbers - see sketoh 

1. (P'll stated he was sure ley num~ers 

went beyond the 1 00 mark, to about 150~ 

The key number in messages l_!ave the 

stllrting place in the table for decodinr;. Thus it the example above was 

signalled in key No 35, the encoded 

messo.ge wo.s placed e.lon~ the table 

from key nUtDbers 35 - 45 inol and 

the •coding fi'!Ul"8-bigrams were dedupted from the fi'!lll'8-bigrams in 

the- si~nal. Thus 53, 25, 40 (!J,rOups 

si'!Mlled) less 49, 20, 30 (tigure- bi~s opposite key No 35) would 

give clear 04.. 05, 10 • -- ---------------- --------- --·--

1 I 

2• 

3! 

·I 

• I 

j2: 

37 

I 38 

39 

40 

I 100 

I 101 I l • 

I • . 149 

• ' . 

Sketch 2 - Degodin~ Tabla 

49 '20 30 + + Addition ~roups 

(subtracted when 

decoding) , 
- > 

' 

REF ID:A65382 

• g§QIO, c"MJJ'/Y/'!J. 

DISTRIBUTION Copy No 

~VJ of SJ G-2j I.FHQ ••••••• w•••••••• 

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G-2(PjW), J°\]'HQ •••••••••••••••••••• 

GSI(s), 15 J\rr.1¥ GrOllP••••••••··~·· 

MI 8, War Offl.ce •••••••••••••• • ••• 

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