Ralph Tester
Encyclopedia
Ralph P. Tester was an administrator at Bletchley Park
, the British codebreaking station during World War II
. He founded and supervised a section named the Testery
for breaking TUNNY
(a Fish
cipher).
machine had twelve wheels, and was resultantly most advanced, complex, faster and far more secure than the three wheeled Enigma
. Lorenz was used to encipher top-secret messages between German Army H.Q. in Berlin, and the top generals and field-marshals on all fronts, including Adolf Hitler
himself.
who had worked extensively in Germany and as a result was very familiar with the German language and culture. He held a senior position in the accountancy division of Unilever
.
On the outbreak of war, he worked for the BBC Monitoring Service which listened in to German public radio broadcasts.
used by German military police. Testery set up in July 1942 under Major Ralph Tester and the three other original founding members, cryptographers and linguists were: Capt. Jerry Roberts
, Peter Ericasson and Maj. Denis Oswald
, all four had fluent German. The Testery
used hand methods working on a German hand cipher to break messages enciphered on TUNNY
Fish (cryptography)
traffic. Messages broken by hand reached 1.5 million places within one year of its foundation. To War’s end by May 1945, the Testery eventually had grown to nine cryptographers, total staff 118 organised in three shifts.
A former Testery senior codebreaker and shift leader Jerry Roberts
, recalls that, "The imperturbable, pipe-smoking Tester spoke fluent German, but did not pretend to be a codebreaker. The atmosphere in his unit was always positive and friendly, and the personnel were well selected—Tester seemed to find the right niche for everybody. Thanks to Tester's influence the work of the Testery was very well organised."
Towards the end of the European war, Tester was part of a TICOM
team, a mission sent to Germany to discover information about their communications technology, including TUNNY
machines.
After the war, Tester returned to Unilever.
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
, the British codebreaking station during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He founded and supervised a section named the Testery
Testery
The Testery was a section at Bletchley Park, the British codebreaking station during World War II. It was set up in July 1942 under Major Ralph Tester to achieve Cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher. The three original founding members, cryptographers, and linguists were Captain Jerry Roberts,...
for breaking TUNNY
Lorenz cipher
The Lorenz SZ40, SZ42A and SZ42B were German rotor cipher machines used by the German Army during World War II. They were developed by C. Lorenz AG in Berlin. They implemented a Vernam stream cipher...
(a Fish
Fish (cryptography)
Fish was the Allied codename for any of several German teleprinter stream ciphers used during World War II. Enciphered teleprinter traffic was used between German High Command and Army Group commanders in the field, so its intelligence value was of the highest strategic value to the Allies...
cipher).
Background
The Lorenz cipherLorenz cipher
The Lorenz SZ40, SZ42A and SZ42B were German rotor cipher machines used by the German Army during World War II. They were developed by C. Lorenz AG in Berlin. They implemented a Vernam stream cipher...
machine had twelve wheels, and was resultantly most advanced, complex, faster and far more secure than the three wheeled Enigma
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
. Lorenz was used to encipher top-secret messages between German Army H.Q. in Berlin, and the top generals and field-marshals on all fronts, including Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
himself.
Career
Before World War II, Tester was an accountantAccountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
who had worked extensively in Germany and as a result was very familiar with the German language and culture. He held a senior position in the accountancy division of Unilever
Unilever
Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
.
On the outbreak of war, he worked for the BBC Monitoring Service which listened in to German public radio broadcasts.
Bletchley Park
Recruited to Bletchley Park, and during early 1942 was the head of a small group working on a double Playfair cipherPlayfair cipher
The Playfair cipher or Playfair square is a manual symmetric encryption technique and was the first literal digraph substitution cipher. The scheme was invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone, but bears the name of Lord Playfair who promoted the use of the cipher.The technique encrypts pairs of...
used by German military police. Testery set up in July 1942 under Major Ralph Tester and the three other original founding members, cryptographers and linguists were: Capt. Jerry Roberts
Jerry Roberts
Captain Jerry Roberts was born at Wembley, London in November 1920. His father was a pharmacist and his mother an organist who played in the local chapel....
, Peter Ericasson and Maj. Denis Oswald
Denis Oswald
Denis Oswald is a Swiss rower and sports official. He competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics, in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and in the 1976 Summer Olympics....
, all four had fluent German. The Testery
Testery
The Testery was a section at Bletchley Park, the British codebreaking station during World War II. It was set up in July 1942 under Major Ralph Tester to achieve Cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher. The three original founding members, cryptographers, and linguists were Captain Jerry Roberts,...
used hand methods working on a German hand cipher to break messages enciphered on TUNNY
Tunny
-Fish:* an alternative name for the tuna fish* Common tunny another name for the Northern bluefin tuna* Little tunny, the common name for Euthynnus alletteratus, a species of tuna-Fiction:* a character in the musical American Idiot...
Fish (cryptography)
Fish (cryptography)
Fish was the Allied codename for any of several German teleprinter stream ciphers used during World War II. Enciphered teleprinter traffic was used between German High Command and Army Group commanders in the field, so its intelligence value was of the highest strategic value to the Allies...
traffic. Messages broken by hand reached 1.5 million places within one year of its foundation. To War’s end by May 1945, the Testery eventually had grown to nine cryptographers, total staff 118 organised in three shifts.
A former Testery senior codebreaker and shift leader Jerry Roberts
Jerry Roberts
Captain Jerry Roberts was born at Wembley, London in November 1920. His father was a pharmacist and his mother an organist who played in the local chapel....
, recalls that, "The imperturbable, pipe-smoking Tester spoke fluent German, but did not pretend to be a codebreaker. The atmosphere in his unit was always positive and friendly, and the personnel were well selected—Tester seemed to find the right niche for everybody. Thanks to Tester's influence the work of the Testery was very well organised."
Towards the end of the European war, Tester was part of a TICOM
TICOM
TICOM was a project formed in World War II by the United States to find and seize German intelligence assets, particularly cryptographic ones. The project was stimulated chiefly by the US military cryptography organizations, and had support from the highest levels.Several teams were sent into the...
team, a mission sent to Germany to discover information about their communications technology, including TUNNY
Tunny
-Fish:* an alternative name for the tuna fish* Common tunny another name for the Northern bluefin tuna* Little tunny, the common name for Euthynnus alletteratus, a species of tuna-Fiction:* a character in the musical American Idiot...
machines.
After the war, Tester returned to Unilever.