Edward Travis

From left: British cryptanalysts Harry Hinsley , Sir Edward Travis, John Tiltman , Washington 1945

Sir Edward Wilfred Harry "Jumbo" Travis (born  September 24, 1888 in Plumstead , Kent , †  April 18, 1956 in Pirbright , Surrey ) was a British cryptanalyst and secret service employee. During the Second World War he took over the management of the Government Code and Cypher School (abbreviation: GC&CS ; German for example: "Staatliche Code- und Chiffrenschule"), the military service that successfully deciphered German communications during the Second World War . After the war he became the head of the successor organization, the Government Communications Headquarters ( GCHQ ).

The mansion (Engl. The mansion ) of Bletchley Park was the headquarters of the British code breaker and is now a museum

Travis joined the Royal Navy in 1906 and served on the battleship HMS Iron Duke . From 1912 to 1918 he worked as a cryptologist on marine keys. From 1925 he was responsible for security within the Government Code and Cypher School and rose to deputy head of the GC&CS , Alastair Denniston , whose successor he took over in February 1942. Edward Travis was thus responsible for the successful deciphering of all German military communications in Bletchley Park . After the war, Travis kept his leadership position as head of the successor organization Government Communications Headquarters ( GCHQ ) until April 15, 1952. His successor was Eric Malcolm Jones.

For his services, Travis was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1936 and the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1944 .

literature

• Friedrich L. Bauer : Deciphered Secrets. Methods and maxims of cryptology. 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Springer, Berlin et al. 2000, ISBN 3-540-67931-6 .
• Francis Harry Hinsley , Alan Stripp: Codebreakers - The inside story of Bletchley Park . Oxford University Press, Reading, Berkshire 1993. ISBN 0-19-280132-5
• Władysław Kozaczuk : Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War II , edited and translated (in English) by Christopher Kasparek, Frederick, MD, University Publications of America, 1984, ISBN 0 -89093-547-5 , pp. 59-60.
• Gordon Welchman : The Hut Six Story - Breaking the Enigma Codes . Allen Lane, London 1982; Cleobury Mortimer M&M, Baldwin Shropshire 2000. ISBN 0-947712-34-8

Web links

• Edward Travis in the honor roll (Roll of Honor) of Bletchley Park

supporting documents

1. ↑ Michael Smith: ENIGMA decrypted - The "Codebreakers" from Bletchley Park . Heyne, 2000, pp. 144ff (picture part). ISBN 3-453-17285-X