Code Breaker Musicians?

[Attila the Nun]

I once either heard or read a story that the US used Navy Band (or other
service band) musicians and employed them as cryptanalists during WWII.

Musicians were found to have better skills in abstract thinking due to their
training (in the abstract symbolic language of music), and were therefore
better code breakers.

Anyone have any information on this? A reference, perhaps?

Thanks,
shw

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[Keith B. Rosenberg]

Attila the Nun wrote:
>
> I once either heard or read a story that the US used Navy Band (or other
> service band) musicians and employed them as cryptanalists during WWII.
>
> Musicians were found to have better skills in abstract thinking due to their
> training (in the abstract symbolic language of music), and were therefore
> better code breakers.
>
> Anyone have any information on this? A reference, perhaps?
>

Joseph Rochefort and Tommy Dyer believed that the musicians
abilities might be useful in their work.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor the bandmens from the USS California,
who were unemployed since their ship was in need of a great deal
of repair, were used in the "HYPO" unit at Pearl Harbor. According
Edwin Layton (It is in his book "And I Was There") the Pacific
Fleet intelligence officer, they were used to run the IBM tabulating
machines and doing the punch cards used in them.

Keith

********************************************************************
enor...@ix.netcom.com (Keith B. Rosenberg) (EN][)

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
********************************************************************

[Donald Phillipson]

Attila the Nun (Att...@Nun.com) writes:
> I once either heard or read a story that the US used Navy Band (or other
> service band) musicians and employed them as cryptanalists during WWII.

For obvious reasons, professional military musicians need other
occupations, to be useful in combat. British army musicians were
traditionally stretcher-bearers (first aid workers). British navy
bandsmen (only on big ships, cruisers and up) were assigned to work in the
tactical command centre, co-ordinating radar/eyeball/radio position
reports etc. The USN might have been similar.

--
| Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs, |
| Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734 |

[jgarland]

> [snip] heard [snip] story [snip] US used Navy Band (or other
> service band) musicians [snip] as cryptanalists during WWII.

David Kahn relates this story in _The Codebreakers_ as the band of the California.

--

John Garland
nonspammers_remove_this...jgarland@morgan.ucs.mun.ca

[David Alexander]

Attila the Nun <Att...@Nun.com> wrote in article
<5kjmss$s...@gap.cco.caltech.edu>...

>
>
> I once either heard or read a story that the US used Navy Band (or other
> service band) musicians and employed them as cryptanalists during WWII.

(snip)

> Anyone have any information on this? A reference, perhaps?
>

I believe I read the same story in War At Sea, a history of naval
operations in both theaters during WWII. I cannot recall the name of the
author. It is probably a fairly recent book -- last four years or so.

As I recall the story, desperate expansion of the Navy's cryptanalysis
efforts in Hawaii following the Pearl Harbor attack led to the recruitment
of anyone available -- meaning any personnel not snapped up for other
purposes. This meant musicians from a number of the sunken ships. Many
had no other training than music, so not much military value. But a number
turned out to very astute cryptanalysts, which some have speculated was a
result of their musical training. Recent research appears to bear this out
somewhat.

David

[Keith Lockstone]

Lambros Callimahos who worked for Friedman and went on to work
for the NSA was a flautist of international repute. See William
Bundy's section of 'Cryptology: Machines, History & Methods' (ed:
Deavours, Kahn, Kruh, Mellen and Winkel)

According to Alan Strip ('Code Breaker in the Far East'), many of
the folks at Bletchley Park were either amateur musicians or
music lovers. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC singers
were evacuated to Bedford a few miles away and rehearsals were
accessible. String quartets regularly gave recitals and at one
point the residents of BP gave a performance of Purcell's 'Dido
and Aeneas' with some external help.

Strip also comments that chess playing and crossword puzzles are
also considered to be good pointers to cryptanalytic abilities.
All the members of the British Chess team were recalled to BP (at
the commencement of hostilities) from a South American Tour.
Linguists and other scholars were called in as well - the ability
to put together pictures from very few pieces helped with
interpretation of the intelligence.

If you analyse the personnel who worked at BP, most went on to
careers as notable academics, politicians and civil servants.

Keith.