CODE-BREAKERS

Many know of the exploits of the cryptographers from Bletchley Park during WW2 and in particular their breaking of the German Enigma ciphers, however few people are aware of the successes of the brilliant cryptographers operating in Australia at that time and their successes in breaking the Japanese codes.

These efforts ultimately made a significant contribution to the victories at Midway, Coral Sea and Milne Bay because they allowed the Allies to know in advance the strategy and deployment of the opposing Japanese forces. Naturally, at the time the decryption work in Australia was highly confidential; but unfortunately that secrecy persisted for much longer than was necessary. The main characters in this drama were brilliant men drawn from the universities, but with their own personal idiosyncrasies. Collie draws on new research recently been undertaken by two Sydney University mathematicians, Peter Donovan and John Mack; and also the firsthand accounts from the women employed as assistants at 'Monterey' (now in their late 80s and 90s). This will be first authoritative account of these turbulent times aimed at the general reader. This is CRAIG COLLIE’s fourth book for A&U, following on from his highly acclaimed The Path of Infinite Sorrow and Nagasaki: Living in the Shadow of the Bomb and The Reporter and the Warlord. He is a film-maker by background. He was producer/director on Four Corners for a period and supervising producer of A Big Country. He has been Production Executive at the Australian Film TV & Radio School and head of TV Production at SBS.