page_title: German Radio Intelligence Operations during World War II
section_title: Great distances
hierarchical_section_title: German Radio Intelligence Operations during World War II / Intercept operations during World War II / Soviet Front 1941–1945 / Great distances
caption_attribution_description: Axis Invasion of the Soviet Union, 22 June to 25 August 1941.
context_page_description: German Radio Intelligence Operation were signals intelligence operations that were undertaken by German Axis forces in Europe during World War II. In keeping with German signals practice since 1942, the term communication intelligence had been used when intercept units were assigned to observe both enemy radio and wire communication. When the observation of only enemy radio communication was undertaken, the term was radio intelligence. The term intercept service was also used up until 1942.
context_section_description: The intercept equipment then available to the Germans was no match for the great distances involved. Lack of information about the Soviet border defense forces stemmed not only from the reduced volume of Russian radio traffic, made possible by extensive land lines, but to an even  larger extent from the lack of short range radio intelligence. Moreover, the German intercept units stationed near the western borders of the USSR from the Baltic to the Black Sea could not reach far into the interior of the Soviet Union. Long-range direction-finding operations with shortwave equipment were not effective until 1942.
  The picture of the enemy situation on radio intelligence differed substantially from information gathered from other sources. This was especially true of intelligence pertaining to the Soviet Air Force.  Lack of information on the Soviet Army did not, however, lead German communication intelligence to make the dangerous mistake of underestimating the Soviet strength.
  The following narrative refers exclusively to radio intelligence operations carried out in the area of Army Group South, commanded by Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt from June 1941 to November 1942. Because of the lack of records. it is impossible to set down an exhaustive survey of this period. However, an estimate of Soviet Army radio traffic will be attempted by describing a few special missions undertaken by German radio intelligence on this front. In this connection it will be necessary to refer to the operations of the three intercept companies employed in this area. (See Chart 9)
  When the German invasion began, the following intercept units were operating in the area of Army Group South:
  7th Intercept Company. Located on the Pruth, facing east, operating on a base line from Galați to Iași. Its mission was radio intelligence in the path of the Eleventh Army.
  3rd Intercept Company. Located on the eastern border of occupied Poland, facing southeast between Rzeszów and Vlodavka on the Bug. It was responsible for intelligence ahead of the Seventeenth and Sixth Armies.
  57th Intercept Company was en route from the Balkans. It arrived in Rzeszów on 28 June after the start of hostilities and first had to be reorganised and to become oriented to the intercepting of Russian radio traffic. Thus, it was not completely ready to go into operation until July. It was then ordered to carry·out radio intelligence missions in the path of the Sixth Army, thus releasing the 3rd Intercept Company to the Seventeenth army.
  These companies had insufficient personnel and equipment for the task of covering the large areas assigned to those armies. The command responsible for these allocations had been informed of this discrepancy before the missions were assigned.
  On 2 June 1941, therefore, Army Group South ordered intercept operations to be restricted to a zone of action bounded in the north by the Pinsk Marshes and extending as far east as the Dnieper River. This would include only that traffic emanating from the Odessa and Kiev military districts. For the time being OKH refrained from assigning any radio intercept missions which were more far-reaching than this.
caption: German advances from June to August 1941
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