Get Free Newsletters
HITLER'S ENIGMA
THE STORY BEHIND
U571
| For more Stories Behind the Movies See the Story Directory |
I still wake up at night
fifty-six years later
to find myself
going down that ladder.
David Balme
|
The North Atlantic seas south of Iceland were relatively calm on May 9, 1941 as a British convoy made its way from England to Nova Scotia. Escort ships, like the corvette HMS Aubretia, were desperately needed to protect supply ships from the ever-present threat of German U-boats. On board the Bulldog, senior ship of the 3rd Escort Group, Sub-Lieutenant David Balme had no clue his impending heroism would give British intelligence what they needed to decipher the secret code of the Third Reich - Hitler's "Enigma" encryption machine. Commanding the Bulldog, A.J. (Joe) Baker-Creswell had no idea his instinctual decisions over the next several hours would turn the tide of the war against Germany. In charge of a lurking nearby U-Boat, Fritz-Julius Lemp (commanding officer of U-110) could not have known he had only a few hours to live.
|
