Fn 3 on that page of Lewin's book (actually an endnote with its text on p. 365) deals with the classification marking ULTRA. Two paragraphs down on p. 64, Lewin gives the "golden eggs" story briefly, along with other common euphemisms at the time for the source of the information -- Boniface, Uncle Henry, Fred, and Z. There is no footnote to this paragraph giving further sources for the terms.
On Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 7:51 AM, Editor/Finest Hour <[email protected]>wrote: > Does anyone have a copy of Ronald Lewin's book, "Ultra Goes to War, > the Secret Story" (London, 1978)? Can you check Lewin's footnote on > page 64, if there is one, to the famous quotation about Bletchley: > "...geese that laid the golden eggs -- but never cackled." > > A link to Milton Keynes News on our website (http:// > > www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/in-the-media/churchill-in-the-news/757-great-grandson-speaks-at-the-annual-churchill-weekend > ) > reads: "The former Prime Minister only came to the Park officially on > September 6, 1941 to thank the codebreakers, dubbing them 'the geese > that laid the golden eggs - but never cackled'". > > A Danish student has written asking us to run down the first > appearance. We cannot track it to 1941 in any published document in > our scans. The Bletchley decrypts were an official secret long after > the war and even Churchill could not allude to them in his postwar > memoirs, although he certainly might have said this privately to the > Bletchley codebreakers. The question is: when? > > Sir Martin Gilbert tracks the quotation in the official biography, > Winston S. Churchill, vol. VI, Finest Hour 1939-1941 (London: > Heinemann, 1983), page 612: > > After a short while, the code name 'Boniface' was replaced by 'CX', > the standard two letter symbol for a British-run secret agent in enemy > territory. In his own notes and telegrams, however, Churchill > continued > to refer to the Enigma messages as 'Boniface', and was later heard to > refer to the decyphering staff at Bletchley as 'the geese who laid the > golden eggs and never cackled'.* He also called them, more > colloquially, > his 'hens'.** > > Footnotes: > * Quoted in Ronald Lewin, Ultra Goes to War, The Secret Story, London, > 1978, page 64. > ** Communication from a Bletchley ‘hand’. > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "ChurchillChat" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<churchillchat%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat?hl=en. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat?hl=en.
