MovieChat Forums > The Imitation Game (2014) Discussion > Can someone clarify the Heil Hitler reve...

Can someone clarify the Heil Hitler revelation?

posted 8 years ago by mikeyg24
2 replies | jump to latest

OK my understanding is that all the messages ending Heil Hitler is the constant they needed to calibrate the machine. But this bothers me for two reasons. First of all would the Germans be so stupid to do it? And second would the Bletchley team but so inept as to not notice it sooner? Unless I'm missing something!

If you dip your foot into a pool of piranhas don't cry when you lose a toe!😞🐟

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] shepherd-26 8 years ago

would the Germans be so stupid to do it?

I don't know how frequently the German authorities monitored messages to make sure that the the Enigma operators were following the correct procedures. If one operator consistently used "heil hitler", I would think that would be noticed by somebody in charge and he would have been advised to stop it. I believe I read that Enigma operators were even encouraged to occasionally misspell words as long as the correct meaning could be conveyed, which would of course thwart Allied cribs.

would the Bletchley team but so inept as to not notice it sooner?

No, the bombes always required cribs to determine the daily key. Alan Turing did not get that idea from a girl in a bar.