Event Education-WWII Codebreaking

WWII Codebreaking by Mike Ellicott

Codes and ciphers have been around since the time of Caesar.  In more modern times, the successful cracking of German and Japanese WWII codes contributed significantly to the Allies’ victory.  Using the work of Polish codebreakers, British cryptographers broke the German Enigma and Lorentz Ciphers.  In the US, the Army and Navy brought 10,000 “Code Girls” to Washington, DC, to help break Japanese, German, and international commercial codes. 

Mike Ellicott, a recovering Mechanical Engineer, now spends his time on his lifelong love of history. In addition to making presentations to local groups, he and his wife Marilyn lead tours of the Gettysburg and Normandy Battlefields, the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, and Germany, where they lived for 14 years. He is the Past President of the Friends of the Morton Museum in Collierville and a Board Member of the Engineers’ Club of Memphis. He completed a twenty-six-year career in the Army Corps of Engineers, retiring as a Colonel and the Corps’ Europe District Commander in Frankfurt, Germany. Following a 16-year career in Higher Education Facilities, he retired again as the Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning and Construction for the Texas Tech University System in Lubbock, TX.

Access will be through GoToWebinar.  Instructions and Connectivity Link will be forwarded via email to all registrants upon registration, six days prior and again 1 hour prior to the event.  Making the connection is quick and easy only requiring a computer and Internet connectivity from wherever you chose to watch the event. Your questions help drive the meetings, and we will be there to help each other.