istory has been shaped in many cases by espionage, or "spying", on others. In times of war, or among those vying for power, the use of spies and their tools have been at times a major, often hidden, way of tip-ping the scales in ones favor. Likely dating back to the dawn of human ambition, the methods and tools used by spies have evolved over the ages, often spurring the development of new or improved technology. The use of cyphers or codes to convey secrets from spy to employer is but one example. The American Civil War saw extensive use of spies by both sides, often employing women to reduce suspicion. Messages were passed in letters written using cyphers, and hand carried across enemy lines.

Above:  Suitcase radio used by the OSS in the WW2 Below:  A German Enigma decoding machine used during WW2.

During World War Two the out-come of the conflict between the Axis and the Allies was deter-mined to a certain extent by the use of the Axis secret code and their decoding machine. A factor in the Allied victory was the capture of first an Axis codebook followed by the German Enigma machine used to decode messages. Kept a deep secret during the war, it allowed the Allies to decode Axis orders that were intercepted by Allied radio operators. At Bletchley Park in England very secure "one time" cyphers were developed for Allied agents operating in enemy controlled territory.  After being transmitted by radio back to England these messages, encrypted using "Worked-Out-Keys", could only be decoded by the cryptographic section at Bletchley Park. Leo Marks wrote of his part in developing these "WOKs" and having them printed on silk in his book "Between Silk and Cyanide, A Codebreaker's War, 1941-1945". This is an excellent telling of that history.

The communications systems used by spies have also evolved with the advent of modern electronics and continue to improve. From hand written messages, to suitcase CW radios, to encrypted satellite phones, there have been steady improvements in the tools used by spies. It is indeed a fascinating subject.

-W7PR

Pictures supplied by Dick Bass, W7SMR