POLISH CODEBREAKING DURING THE RUSSO-POLISH WAR OF 1919-1920

Cryptologia, Jul 2004 by Bury, Jan

ABSTRACT: This article discusses the early Polish signals intelligence (SIGINT) and code breaking efforts during the Russo-Polish War of 1919-1920. It emphasizes the factors that favorably influenced the Polish signals intelligence success and its role in victory during the battle at the gates of Warsaw in August 1920. The article also briefs the measures related to signals intelligence, which improved the operational security in the Polish Army during the war.

KEYWORDS: 1919-1920 Russo-Polish war, signals intelligence, code breaking, Cipher Office.

On 11 November 1918 Poland regained its liberty after 123 years of Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian occupation. But between 1918 and 1921 it had to fight to establish its sovereignty. A dispute over borders with Russia, whose Communist government wanted to turn Europe Red, led to war.

While the history of the Russo-Polish war is well described [2, 3, 11, 12, 16, 18], the role played in it by signals intelligence is usually omitted.

This article discusses the early Polish signals intelligence and codebreaking efforts of the 1919-1920 war and emphasizes their role in Poland's victory during the crucial battle of Warsaw in August 1920. The first section gives an approach to the history of the war, the second is on creation of signals intelligence in Poland after World War, the following sections describe the work of signals intelligence particularly during the Battle of Warsaw, while the final one discusses operational security measures, which were drawn from analysis of the data collected from intercepted communications.

THE RUSSO-POLISH WAR OF 1919-1920. A BRIEF HISTORY

On 18 October 1918, Lenin gave orders to support the European revolutionary movements incited by the German communists. Since the Red revolution in Western Europe had failed, the communists in Russia hesitated. However in January 1919, the Red Army seized Byelorussia (White Russia) and Lithuania, the areas granted to Poland after the World War. The Red Army breached the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed by Russia, Germany, Austro-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria on 3 March 1918.

In February 1919, the first clashes between the Russians and the Polish Army took place. The Poles were able to gain control over Lithuania and, by the end of summer, over Byelorussia, both of which were the parts of 'historic' Poland. The peace negotiations held in Moscow from October to December 1919 between Russia and Poland failed.

Polish divisions led by Lt.-Gen. Edward Rydz-Smigly seized Latvia in January 1920 and Kiev on 7 May. However, the Red Army struck back in late May and the Polish forces withdrew from Kiev. The rapid Russian offensive was stopped only in August at the outskirts of Warsaw during a decisive battle. The Red Army was defeated and the surviving units retreated via Prussia and Ukraine to Russia.

The armistice was signed on 12 October and six days later the fighting stopped. The war formally ended on 18 March 1921 when the Riga Peace Treaty was signed, which legitimized the Polish-Russian border. Russia was also obliged to pay compensations of 30 million rubles in gold for having exploited Poland during the 123-year occupation. But no Russian government ever paid anything of this. [3, 11, 12, 16, 18].

THE CIPHER OFFICE (BS) AND THE POLISH SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE

On 8 May 1919, a small Cipher Section of the Polish Army was formed by Lt. Józef Stanslicki. Several months later, it was renamed Cipher Office (Biuro Szyfrów, better known as 'BS'), which was subordinated to the General Staff's Second Bureau (Intelligence). The Cipher Office was to secure, by means of cryptography, Polish military and government communications and to solve intercepted foreign messages. The main targets of the Cipher Office were Russian and German coded communications [14, p. 20].

The Cipher Office staff at Warsaw HQ numbered only a few officers, including Lt. Jan Kowalewski, a brilliant technology institute graduate, who possessed command of several foreign languages. He was able to quickly solve the unsophisticated codes used by the Bolshevik forces. Kowalewski was ordered to form a radio intercept and deciphering unit within the Cipher Office in August 1919 [9, 20].

The Cipher Office supported tactical signals intelligence units, which monitored enemy's wireless telegraphy traffic, and located enemy transmitters by radio direction finding (DF). During the war, signals intelligence was incorporated into the Signals Corps (Sluzba Lacznosci) because shortages of radio receivers and other communications equipment required their playing a dual role. The intelligence gathered at the strategic level was directed to the second Bureau of the General Staff for analysis and dissemination [13, p. 219].

During the Battle of Warsaw, the Cipher Office at Warsaw HQ then numbered only five employees, who were overloaded with codebreaking work [14].

EARLY SUCCESSES OF THE POLISH SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE

The Polish signals intelligence successfully targeted Russian wireless communications from the second half of 1919. Without the support of noted scholars, including Waclaw Sierpinski, who in the same year was appointed professor of mathematics at Warsaw University, massive enemy messages exploitation would probably have not been possible [10].