Crack this Code.......

tomaustin · 04-27-2013, 05:20 PM

WWII pigeon message stumps GCHQ decoders
November 23rd, 2012

Britain’s top code-breakers say they are stumped by a secret code found on the leg of a dead pigeon.

The remains of the bird were found in a chimney in Surrey with a message from World War II attached.

Experts at the intelligence agency GCHQ have been struggling to decipher the message since they were provided with it a few weeks ago.

They say it may be impossible to decode it without more information – some of which could come from the public.

The message was discovered by David Martin when he was renovating the chimney of his house in Surrey.

Among the rubbish, he found parts of a dead pigeon including a leg. Attached to the leg was a red canister. Inside the canister was a thin piece of paper with the words “Pigeon Service” at the top and 27 handwritten blocks of code.

This was given to GCHQ at the start of the month.

“We didn’t really hold out any hopes we would be able to read the message because the sort of codes that were constructed to be used during operations were designed only to be able to be read by the senders and the recipients,” said GCHQ historian Tony, who asked that only his first name be used.

He told the BBC: “Unless you get rather more idea than we have of who actually sent this message and who it was sent to we are not going to find out what the underlying code being used was.”

‘Dear Santa’

The experts believe there are two ways the message might have been coded.

One is with a so-called one-time pad where a random “key” is applied to a message. If the key is truly random and known only to sender and recipient, the code can be unbreakable.

Another option is that this code was based on a specific – and now probably destroyed – code-book put together for a particular operation so the maximum amount of information about that operation could be relayed in the shortest message (this could be done in conjunction with a one-time pad).

There had been speculation that the message might have been sent by an agent of the Special Operations Executive and that it was heading for Bletchley Park. But these theories have largely been discounted.

An undercover agent in occupied Europe would not use an official note pad in case he or she was caught with it in their possession.

And Bletchley became a station to decode German and Japanese messages rather than a place in which the British military regularly sent its communications.

“The most helpful suggestion we had through all of this was from a member of the public who suggested that, since the message was found in the chimney, the first two words were most likely to be ‘Dear Santa’,” Tony said.

The best guess is that the message was sent by a unit in the middle of an operation in Europe which was on the move and so unable to stop and set up the aerial for a traditional wireless message.

It remains possible it could have been some kind of training exercise though – even perhaps for D-Day.

Secret to grave

GCHQ is on the lookout for any help in discovering the kind of contextual information that could aid the process by identifying the sender or recipient.

Based on the abbreviation of Sjt in the message, it is thought this was most likely an Army unit, since this is where the old fashioned spelling of Sergeant was used. But so far “Sjt W Stot” and X02 have not been identified.

Another avenue is trying to identify the unit to which the pigeons referred to in the message were assigned.

Some 250,000 pigeons were used during the war by all services and each was given an identity number. There are two pigeon identification numbers in the message – NURP.40.TW.194 and NURP.37.OK.76. It is unclear which one relates to the bird in the chimney.

Help from the public is the best hope for any breakthrough.

“There are still quite a lot of people alive who worked in communications centres during the war and who might have some knowledge about this and it would be very interesting if anyone did have information if they could put it in the pot and we could see if we could get any further with it,” explains Tony.

And without fresh information this pigeon may well have taken its secret to the grave.

The message reads:

AOAKN HVPKD FNFJW YIDDC

RQXSR DJHFP GOVFN MIAPX

PABUZ WYYNP CMPNW HJRZH

NLXKG MEMKK ONOIB AKEEQ

WAOTA RBQRH DJOFM TPZEH

LKXGH RGGHT JRZCQ FNKTQ

KLDTS FQIRW AOAKN 27 1525/6

MikeP · 04-27-2013, 09:48 PM

I trained with and used one-time pads.
They were issued at various times for various specific periods and dates when they had to be used.
Random groups of five that compared with a known base produced five character encrypted groups.

Seems like I read recently they can be broken with today's equipment.

sheepherder · 04-28-2013, 10:01 AM

Interesting...But I would think (from watching Pawn Stars

) that the construction of the canister, coloring, and method of attachment, plus the type/composition of the paper, ink, and method of printing, font, size, and irregularities would provide some kind of clue as to sender or recipient...

'Homing Pigeons' don't fly around looking for their owners; they fly from the release point to their home...If that chimney isn't the home or the release point, then logically it should be on the route to the pigeons home...

Language is another problem...Even if decoded, is it in English, German, Irish, Spanish, Russian??? Or even some other language...England has had many enemies over the years...

Frederick Forsyth mentions one of his spies using homing/carrier pigeons in one of his spy novels set in England...("The Fourth Protocol")...

Vlim · 04-28-2013, 11:22 AM

According to some sources, the message read:

"Pigeon faulty. Please replace ASAP"

WG dog · 04-28-2013, 11:37 AM

The PDSA Dicken Medal (Victoria Cross for animals) was awarded to 31 pigeons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal

Not a clue about the message.

Leo Marks, about SOE and codes, Between Silk and Cyanide, very interesting and entertaining book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marks

mjanway · 04-28-2013, 04:21 PM

The numbers after the last coded group would probably be authentication and would be easier to track down than the code. The first and last groups being the same would identify which key of the one time pad to use or the set up of an automatic coder/decoder.

Probably going to be secure forevermore.

04-27-2013, 05:20 PM	#1
tomaustin Lifer X5 Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: texas Posts: 708 Thanks: 87 Thanked 522 Times in 201 Posts	Crack this Code....... WWII pigeon message stumps GCHQ decoders November 23rd, 2012 Britain’s top code-breakers say they are stumped by a secret code found on the leg of a dead pigeon. The remains of the bird were found in a chimney in Surrey with a message from World War II attached. Experts at the intelligence agency GCHQ have been struggling to decipher the message since they were provided with it a few weeks ago. They say it may be impossible to decode it without more information – some of which could come from the public. The message was discovered by David Martin when he was renovating the chimney of his house in Surrey. Among the rubbish, he found parts of a dead pigeon including a leg. Attached to the leg was a red canister. Inside the canister was a thin piece of paper with the words “Pigeon Service” at the top and 27 handwritten blocks of code. This was given to GCHQ at the start of the month. “We didn’t really hold out any hopes we would be able to read the message because the sort of codes that were constructed to be used during operations were designed only to be able to be read by the senders and the recipients,” said GCHQ historian Tony, who asked that only his first name be used. He told the BBC: “Unless you get rather more idea than we have of who actually sent this message and who it was sent to we are not going to find out what the underlying code being used was.” ‘Dear Santa’ The experts believe there are two ways the message might have been coded. One is with a so-called one-time pad where a random “key” is applied to a message. If the key is truly random and known only to sender and recipient, the code can be unbreakable. Another option is that this code was based on a specific – and now probably destroyed – code-book put together for a particular operation so the maximum amount of information about that operation could be relayed in the shortest message (this could be done in conjunction with a one-time pad). There had been speculation that the message might have been sent by an agent of the Special Operations Executive and that it was heading for Bletchley Park. But these theories have largely been discounted. An undercover agent in occupied Europe would not use an official note pad in case he or she was caught with it in their possession. And Bletchley became a station to decode German and Japanese messages rather than a place in which the British military regularly sent its communications. “The most helpful suggestion we had through all of this was from a member of the public who suggested that, since the message was found in the chimney, the first two words were most likely to be ‘Dear Santa’,” Tony said. The best guess is that the message was sent by a unit in the middle of an operation in Europe which was on the move and so unable to stop and set up the aerial for a traditional wireless message. It remains possible it could have been some kind of training exercise though – even perhaps for D-Day. Secret to grave GCHQ is on the lookout for any help in discovering the kind of contextual information that could aid the process by identifying the sender or recipient. Based on the abbreviation of Sjt in the message, it is thought this was most likely an Army unit, since this is where the old fashioned spelling of Sergeant was used. But so far “Sjt W Stot” and X02 have not been identified. Another avenue is trying to identify the unit to which the pigeons referred to in the message were assigned. Some 250,000 pigeons were used during the war by all services and each was given an identity number. There are two pigeon identification numbers in the message – NURP.40.TW.194 and NURP.37.OK.76. It is unclear which one relates to the bird in the chimney. Help from the public is the best hope for any breakthrough. “There are still quite a lot of people alive who worked in communications centres during the war and who might have some knowledge about this and it would be very interesting if anyone did have information if they could put it in the pot and we could see if we could get any further with it,” explains Tony. And without fresh information this pigeon may well have taken its secret to the grave. The message reads: AOAKN HVPKD FNFJW YIDDC RQXSR DJHFP GOVFN MIAPX PABUZ WYYNP CMPNW HJRZH NLXKG MEMKK ONOIB AKEEQ WAOTA RBQRH DJOFM TPZEH LKXGH RGGHT JRZCQ FNKTQ KLDTS FQIRW AOAKN 27 1525/6

04-28-2013, 10:01 AM	#3
sheepherder Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: ...on the 'ol Erie Canal... Posts: 8,182 Thanks: 1,398 Thanked 4,440 Times in 2,328 Posts	Interesting...But I would think (from watching Pawn Stars ) that the construction of the canister, coloring, and method of attachment, plus the type/composition of the paper, ink, and method of printing, font, size, and irregularities would provide some kind of clue as to sender or recipient... 'Homing Pigeons' don't fly around looking for their owners; they fly from the release point to their home...If that chimney isn't the home or the release point, then logically it should be on the route to the pigeons home... Language is another problem...Even if decoded, is it in English, German, Irish, Spanish, Russian??? Or even some other language...England has had many enemies over the years... Frederick Forsyth mentions one of his spies using homing/carrier pigeons in one of his spy novels set in England...("The Fourth Protocol")... __________________ I like my coffee the way I like my women... ...Cold and bitter...

04-27-2013, 09:48 PM	#2
MikeP User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: ILL Posts: 686 Thanks: 36 Thanked 452 Times in 198 Posts	I trained with and used one-time pads. They were issued at various times for various specific periods and dates when they had to be used. Random groups of five that compared with a known base produced five character encrypted groups. Seems like I read recently they can be broken with today's equipment.

04-28-2013, 11:22 AM	#4
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,035 Thanks: 1,020 Thanked 3,889 Times in 1,187 Posts	According to some sources, the message read: "Pigeon faulty. Please replace ASAP"

04-28-2013, 11:37 AM	#5
WG dog Lifer Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 142 Thanks: 1,282 Thanked 37 Times in 24 Posts	The PDSA Dicken Medal (Victoria Cross for animals) was awarded to 31 pigeons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal Not a clue about the message. Leo Marks, about SOE and codes, Between Silk and Cyanide, very interesting and entertaining book. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marks

04-28-2013, 04:21 PM	#6
mjanway User Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Topeka, Kansas Posts: 54 Thanks: 31 Thanked 8 Times in 7 Posts	The numbers after the last coded group would probably be authentication and would be easier to track down than the code. The first and last groups being the same would identify which key of the one time pad to use or the set up of an automatic coder/decoder. Probably going to be secure forevermore.