page_title: Ultra
section_title: German
hierarchical_section_title: Ultra / Sources of intelligence / German
caption_attribution_description: Photo of sample of decrypt from Bletchley Park, World War 2A “Tunny” (Lorenz machine) decryption from Bletchley Park, formed from parts of two messages to the German Army Group Courland (Kurland) on Feb. 14, 1945. The basic German form has been mostly deciphered, but would have been further analyzed by language and military experts to gain maximum information. (Photo courtesy Dr. David Hamer)
context_page_description: Ultra was the designation adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. Ultra eventually became the standard designation among the western Allies for all such intelligence. The name arose because the intelligence obtained was considered more important than that designated by the highest British security classification then used and so was regarded as being Ultra secret. Several other cryptonyms had been used for such intelligence.
  The code name Boniface was used as a cover name for Ultra. In order to ensure that the successful code-breaking did not become apparent to the Germans, British intelligence created a fictional MI6 master spy, Boniface, who controlled a fictional series of agents throughout Germany. Information obtained through code-breaking was often attributed to the human intelligence from the Boniface network. The U.S. used the codename Magic for its decrypts from Japanese sources, including the "Purple" cipher.
  Much of the German cipher traffic was encrypted on the Enigma machine.
caption: A typical Bletchley intercept sheet, after decryption.
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