These exceptional films are among the most important discoveries of my career: The two original German movie film clips show the Enigma actually being used by German Soldiers. Obviously the Germans did not want people to know that they were using Enigmas for most of their secret communications so very few still photographs of Enigmas in action have been found. Finding one is a remarkable event. The discovery of these two original films is an even more remarkable and important event.
I first saw tiny pieces of these movie clips in 2011 in the wonderful DVD: “The Spies Who Lost the Battle of Britain: The Story of British Radar and how the Germans Nearly Discovered it”. It is a very well researched and produced documentary of the development and deployment of Radar in the early days of WW-2. The DVD was filmed and published by Brian Marshall of boffinstv.co.uk and it is sold by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) www.rsgb.org. Brian was kind enough to track down the brief clips from NARA in his DVD and he sent me more complete film segments. They are truly remarkable… Thanks, Brian !
They are offered here as copyrighted .wmv files. You may download them and view them but if you display or offer them to the public in any form you must mention the www.w1tp.com/enigma museum and the above information on the boffinstv.co.uk DVD.
FILM CLIP 1.
Luftwaffen Nachrichten Trupp (SdKfz82) from an Air Reconnaisance Group and their Henschel Aircraft:
This original 31 second German film clip shows an Enigma being operated in the field adjacent to a radio communications truck. It starts with a view of the vertical antenna on top of its mast (Kurbelmast) and the coaxial cable to the radio inside the communications truck. Then it shows the truck and the German soldiers operating the Enigma. Finally it shows some views of the parked Henschel aircraft. (File Name: enigop1.wmv / File Size: 1.6MB)
FILM CLIP 2.
Detailed Views of an Enigma in Action in a Wehrmacht Nachrichten Trupp:
This original 36 second German film clip shows an Enigma being operated inside a communications truck and under a tree in the field. It includes closeups of the Enigma being used, the deciphered text, and an enthusiastic running soldier delivering the message. (File Name: enigop2.wmv / File Size: 1.9MB)