The Effect of Ultra on the World War II North African Campaign.
Abstract
The North African campaign was the US Army's entry into the European ground war. One of the assets the senior Allied leaders had was a British secret known as Ultra - the ability to read Germany's highest level radio transmissions. It is one thing to steal enemy information; it is another matter to make use of the information. A study of how the Allies made use of Ultra information at seven key points during the Campaign showed that, on the whole, very good use was made of the information. There were also errors. Between the good use and the poor use of Ultra, excellent lessons for future commanders in similar situations were displayed. The first lesson is that decrypts of this nature provide accurate RAW information that must be properly analyzed and compared with other sources. Second: Ultra information can give capabilities and probabilities but not intentions. Again analysis is the key. The last major lesson is that the best of intelligence is no substitute for good command strategy and tactics. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA118830
Entities
People
- Arthur T. Carey
Organizations
- United States Army War College