John Tiltman Brigadier John Hessell Tiltman MC ( 25 May 1894 – 10 August 1982 ) was a British Army officer who worked in intelligence , often at or with the Government Code and Cypher School ( GC & CS ) starting in the 1920s . His intelligence work was largely connected with cryptography , and he showed exceptional skill at cryptanalysis . His work in association with Bill Tutte on the cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher , the German teleprinter cipher , called " Tunny " at Bletchley Park , led to successful attack methods . It was to exploit those methods that Colossus , the first digital programmable electronic computer , was designed and built . Biography . Tiltman ' s parents were from Scotland , though he was born in London . He joined the British Army in 1914 , and saw service at the front during World War I with the King ' s Own Scottish Borderers . He was wounded in France , and won the Military Cross for bravery . He was seconded to MI1 shortly before it merged with Room 40 . From 1921 – 1929 , he was a cryptanalyst with the Indian Army at Army Headquarters , Simla . They were reading Russian diplomatic cypher traffic from Moscow to Kabul , Afghanistan and Tashkent , Turkestan . In the small section of five or less he was involved in all aspects , directing interception and traffic analysis as well as working on cyphers ; he said he was exceptionally lucky to have this experience in other branches of Signals Intelligence . After a decade as a War Office civilian at GC & CS , the interwar cryptographic organization , Tiltman was recalled to active service . His experience enabled him to assist in many areas of endeavour at GC & CS . He was considered one of Bletchley Park ’ s finest cryptanalysts on non - machine systems . Tiltman was an early and persistent advocate of British cooperation with the United States in cryptology . His advocacy helped achieve smooth relations during World War II . In 1944 , he was promoted to Brigadier and appointed Deputy Director of GC & CS . He continued in 1946 , as Assistant Director of the Government Communications Headquarters ( GCHQ ) , successor to GC & CS . Tiltman became Senior GCHQ Liaison Officer at the Army Security Agency in 1949 . He retired as a Brigadier . In 1951 Tiltman met William Friedman , one of the leading scholars involved in the attempt to decipher the mysterious Voynich manuscript . Tiltman undertook an analysis of the ancient manuscript himself , and then in the 1970s he assigned an NSA cryptanalyst named Mary D ' Imperio to take over the Voynich cryptanalysis , when Friedman ' s health began to fail . D ' Imperio ' s work became the book " The Voynich Manuscript : An Elegant Enigma , " and is now considered one of the standard reference works on the Voynich Manuscript . Tiltman wrote the Foreword to this book . After reaching normal retirement age , Tiltman was retained by GCHQ from 1954 – 1964 . From 1964 – 1980 he was a consultant and researcher at the National Security Agency , spending in all 60 years at the cutting edge of SIGINT . Tiltman made the transition from the manual ciphers of the early 20th century to the sophisticated machine systems of the latter half of the century ; he was one of a very few who were able to do so . " The Brig " as he was affectionately known in both countries , compiled a lengthy record of high achievement . On 1 September 2004 , Tiltman was inducted into the " NSA Hall of Honor " , the first non - US citizen to be recognised in that way . The NSA commented , " His efforts at training and his attention to all the many facets that make up cryptology inspired the best in all who encountered him . "