us b7 name as we stepped aground, and when 

we expressed our astonishment at his unoenn7 powers of recognition, he explained 

that he hac1 been forewarned of our arrival 

by "mu'k-luk telegraph", an Eskimo method 

of spreading news. It was at Shishmaref, 

also, that we first witnessed an Eskimo 

funeral. Our most impressive memory of 

this ceremony is the gay colors of the 

"special-event" parkas worn. 

Our nut trip took us to the Class C 

station at Point Hope, which has one 

schedule a day. Again, I used weather 

bureau facilities during the station's 

idle periods. Here, too, I assisted in 

an inventory to complete the National 

Guard form 32 for Eskimos of the platoon. 

Membership in the National Guard is considered a "must" in small Eskimo villages 

for several reasons. Membership entitles 

the native to pay, free clothing and 

weapons. In addition, he enjoys a certain 

amount of local prestige. 

With our testing at Nome completed on 20 

April, we departed for,Fairbanks, and in 

due time received instructions to report 

to Fort Lewis, Washington. While awaiting 

orders, Major Vinson and Sgt Lowery of M37 

joined Sgt Ryan and I for a day of fishing 

for greylings in Shaw Creek. We fished 

from a huge cake of ice, using single salmon eggs as bait. After about three hours, 

we had caught 56 greylings ranging in 

length from 15 to 21 inches. Four others, 

p ....... ~ ':'~:= .. - -~ ..... -- -

-· 

REF ID:A59243 .. 

~~ ~~~ - . ' 

--- ' ---

- Typical dwelling in Gem.bell. Small 

opening is the door, not a window. 

including two of our TRRS team, had previously caught 77 greylings of approximately the same size in the ea.me waters. 

Now, months later, I enjoy reminiscing 

of the trip. I am certain that it will be 

long remembered by each of us who served 

as members of the survey team. And it is 

gratifying to know that, because of our 

work, an $8,000,000 installation is now 

under construction at Kenai, and a Comm 

Recon Co has been sent to various locations 

in Western Alaska. 

,., 

Frozen lake serves as landing field. Here a dog team meets a mail plane. 

M~1~2 " 

Declassified and approved for release by NSA on 01-30-2014 pursuantto E.O. 1352a 
,. 

ASA REVIEW - May 1952, pp. ~~ ID: A592 43 

The War • 1n the Ether: 

POLYPS AND PEN KALAS 

(euu:f':td:en t:tat) 

By a Polyp we understand in zoology a 

marine animal which catches its victim in 

its outstretched tentacles in order to eat 

it. What a "Penkala" is, that probably 

few people know today. Therefore, it may 

be mentioned that this was the name of a 

firm which before and during the First 

World War was producing the first mechanical lead pencils. In its advertising this 

firm used a head with an enormous ear behind which was stuck such a mechanical 

pencil. Beneath was simply the word "Penkala." Thie big ear of the Penkala poster 

and the tentacles of the Polyp served the 

Austrian and the German intercept services 

respectively from early 1916 on as the 

s;ymbolic designation for a new branch of 

this serv:loe which will be described below. 

In the summer of 1915 German engineers 

near Verdun had captured instruments by 

the aid of which the French had been intercepting German telephone lines. These ~netrumente had been improved in Germany 

by the then Postal Councilor Arendt, and 

they had been used in the war of position 

first by the German and then by the Austrian Army to intercept telephone conversations of the enemy. These devices were 

installed in a dug-out in the front line, 

and from here insulated wires radiated out 

which ended in the so-called "search 

grounds"; these search grounds consisted 

of metal stakes which were driven into the 

ground as close as possible to the enemy's 

system of trenches. Where a single telephone wire was used the currents passing 

through the soil would encounter one or 

more of these search grounds, and after 

being amplified by the attached apparatus 

were rendered audible. Thus, as if with a 

magnet, conversations carried over the 

telephone net of the enemy were attracted, 

and, by using a switchboard, any number of 

search grounds could be thrown in selectively to eavesdrop on a definite sector of 

the front. In the German Army these lie36 

tening poets, which by the beginning of 

1916, were installed everywhere along the 

front, were called "Arendt Stations" or 

"Polyps"; the Austrians called them "Penkalas" (big ears~). 

Since at that time the Russians at the 

front used almost exclusively so-called 

single wires, and even in the west single 

wires were still used to a great extent, 

the German and Austrian listening stations 

generally had very good results. While 

the radio listening service gave the connections, orders, and reports of the higher staffs, the Arendt service supplemented 

the picture with respect to small units 

and the front line. The results during 

1916 -- especially in the east -- were so 

abundant that one Arendt station was 

supplying on the averaee 15 to 20 pages a 

day of significant information regarding 

the enemy. Excellent results were achieved 

by the Austrians with their Penkalae on 

the Italian front, where they were always 

very exactly informed of the situation on 

the Italian side. 

When several such stations fell into the 

enemy's hands during the summer of 1916, 

and the listening in on telephone conversations became known, people began to use 

two wire connections everywhere. It was 

much more difficult (often impossible) to 

intercept these. Nevertheless, it took a 

very long time to make the change and to 

safeguard telephone traffic on the front - particularly for the Russians - to such an 

extent that listening in became virtually 

impossible. In any case, the German and 

Austrian Arendt services were able from 

early 1916 till about the middle of 1917 

_to hear most of the telephaie conversations 

of the Russians up to five kilometers behind the front, and to utilize their content for shaping their own measures. The 

Russian telephone operators were very loASA Review 
REF ID:A59243 

quacious when seated at their instruments. 

When a Russian telephone operator took 

over either by day or by night, he began 

by "testing" all his connections by calling up the correspondent stations. Generally he knew the men at the other end of 

the wire, and a conversation ensued in the 

course of which the two exchanged experiences, impressions, and observations. 

Very often they spoke also of official 

matters. They discussed impending or 

accomplished reliefs, the question of supply, the spirit of the 

Since the telephone lines of the staffs 

further to the rear were attached to the 

same switchboards in which lines from the 

front terminated, induction often made it 

possible to listen to these wires as well, 

over which extremely informative conversations were carried. 

The introduction of the "Polyps and 

Penkalas" in the armies of the Central 

Powers signified from the military point 

of view an unparalleled factor. Since 

troops, extension of positions, losses suffered, 

changes in command,reenforcements received, and 

the like. 

Translated from orlglnal 

German materlals by 

from the summer of 1916 

on these stations were 

located at intervals of 

about 10 kilometers along the entire front, 

it was possible to monitor the entire enemy 

DR. RAY W. PETTENGll.L 

Aside from these bits 

of private information, very good information, could sometimes be obtained from the 

conversations of the officers, particularly when patrol undertakings were impending, attacks were planned, etc. Precise information was obtained regarding the 

locations of staffs, batteries, depots, 

and the like. Artillery observers could 

generally be heard well because they were 

stationed well forward with their telephones. They gave firing directions; by 

observing where missiles struck and comparing the figures transmitted, one could 

soon get the exact location of the hostile 

battery. From now on it was impossible to 

prepare for any major military action 

without its being noted by the Arendt service, since, if an order was given to stop 

all telephone traffic and this was done, 

this very measure was enough to attract 

attention and to indicate that the enemy 

was making preparations. 

telephone traffic at the 

front almost without a break. In the east 

this one-sided superiority continued down 

to the end of the war; in the west it was 

equalized since the French and English 

used similar apparatus to intercept German conversations. 

In the eastern theater the practical result of this superiority was that a large 

part of the troops of the Central Powers 

could be withdrawn without a risk since 

there was now no danger of a surprise 

movement by the enemy. It would never 

have been possible for the armies of the 

Central Powers to keep the eastern front 

stabilized if they had not had such e.xtensi ve insight into the enemy situation, 

due to the results of the radio intercept 

and the Arendt services,since the strength 

ratio on the eastern front was in many 

sectors ten to one against the Central 

Powers. 

USE OF THE BOEHME 5-C AB A DOUBLE FREQUENCY SHIFT MIDULATOR 

(Continued from Page 12) 

NEL II of the m'S signal will now appear 

in the output of the Boehme. 

8. To change to CHANNEL I, leave the 

setting of the first receiver where it is, 

watching the scope pattern of the first 

receiver, rotate the Boehme tuning control 

further to the right until the next pattern appears in the vertical (fig 5). 

9 • Change the 

second receiver. 

M1y 1952 

scope pattern to the 

There will be no pattern 

in the vertical (fig 6a). Tune the receiver back toward the high frequency aide 

of the signal until the first pattern appears in the vertical (fig 6b). There 

will now be a complete pattern on the 

scope, and CHANNEL I of the m'S signal 

will appear in the output of the Boehme. 

10. In the demodulation of either of 

the channels, it may be necessary to adjust the "signal .balance" control for best 

results. The "output reverse" switch is 

used to correct an inverted signal. 

37 
C8NPIBEN'l':IAl4 

fUll"L.f EZ ,, 

•• 

LEMME OUTA 

HEllET 

I'• 1••1 • younw•ter, •ut I Ilk• to wet •rou•tl 

And I don•t like to be locked up in file-cabinets except when necessary. 

I•m not supposed to stay in the file-cabinets. 

During working hours I•m supposed to be left 

around on tables and desks so that people can 

spend their coffee breaks and their other odd 

moments with me. 

I won't take up much of anybody's time -- just 

an hour or so in two months. Besides, J•m 

SUJ?POSed to be read while you're working. 

So please •••••• 

LET ME GET AROUNDI 

CONFIBBN'l'IMA 

• 

'