Acquisitions Archives
Significant Acquisitions: The Kahn Collection
Dr. David Kahn is an esteemed author who’s book The Codebreakers is widely acknowledged as the most comprehensive book ever written on the history, art and science of codebreaking. In addition to being an author of renown, he also had one of the world’s rarest collections of books, papers and artifacts related to the art and science of cryptology. We are extremely gratified to say that much of that collection is now the prized possession of the NCM and Library.
Since 2004 Dr. Kahn has made three large donations to the Foundation comprising well over 150 boxes of personal papers, manuscripts and rare memorabilia. Among the more significant items from his earlier donations were the first book ever published on codes and ciphers; the entire set of Dr. Kahn’s original manuscripts for The Codebreakers; rare advertising posters from old movies with intelligence and espionage themes; and, an old German-made hand-held cipher substitution wheel. We also received dozens of rare first edition books on cryptology, many personally inscribed by the authors to Dr. Kahn.
The centerpiece of his latest donation was an original carbon copy of Herbert Yardley’s editor’s manuscript for The American Black Chamber. Written in 1931 this book provided details of America’s first peacetime cryptanalytic organization, MI-8, the forerunner of today’s National Security Agency. Other significant items included uncorrected proof copies of Dr. Kahn’s books Kahn on Codes and Hitler’s Spies; numerous English and foreign language pamphlets on cryptology from the late 1800s and early 1900s; and, many commercial books and pamphlets on cryptology and secret writing written immediately before and during World War II.
A number of Dr. Kahn’s donated items are already on display at the NCM or available for review in the Museum Library. The picture below shows Dr. Kahn bequeathing his latest donation to Dave D’Auria, the Chairman of the Foundation’s Acquisition Committe. The house in the framed picture in the background was Dr. Kahn’s boyhood home. The room on the extreme left is where the Codebreakers was written.
Significant Acquisitions: Five-Rotor Hebern Cipher Machines
The National Cryptologic Museum recently added two very rare five-rotor Hebern cipher machines to its collection (pictured below). The Hebern Electric Company built what is acknowledged to be the first five-rotor cipher machine in the 1920's (a number of others were designed independently about the same time). Although this machine was never widely manufactured or used, it is cryptologically significant as part of the overall evolution in U.S. manufactured rotor devices. We believe these two five-rotor machines are the only two that have survived. Financial assistance to acquire the Heberns came from an anonymous donor.
Significant Acquisitions: World War I Trench Code Material
Trench codes were used for secrecy by field armies in World War I (WW I). The French pioneered the initial development of trench codes in 1916 followed closely by the Germans. U.S. Army Captain Howard R. Barnes was a pioneer in the rapid production and distribution of trench codes used by U.S. field armies.
Through the generous donation of a former U.S. Navy cryptologist, Terry Valois, the Foundation recently acquired a large scrapbook of personal papers, books and artifacts of Captain Barnes.
The scrapbook included: a "Front Line Code Book" marked SECRET #11902 with a list of two letter digraph codes to be used for communications to and from the trenches; a "MOHAWK Code" code book marked SECRET with a list of four number dinomic codes to be issued to all combatant troops down to Battalion; an Emergency Digraph Code list marked SECRET to be used with the "HURON CODE" for inter-division level communications; and, a pamphlet governing the regulation, distribution care and use of trench code books.
Other significant items included a 28x40 WW I Reconnaissance map of allied-occupied Coblenz Germany listing and plotting the location of all U.S., British and French troops and units, and an 8x11 hardbound book: THE FIRST BATTALION (the Story of the 406th Telegraph Battalion, Signal Corp, USA) Copyright 1921. The First Battalion was recruited entirely from Bell Telephone telegraph workers in Pennsylvania. This book tells their entire story. Pictures of select items from Captain Barnes collection are included below.
 WW I Mohawk Trench Code |
 WW I Emergency Code List |
 WW 1 First Telegraph BN History |
Significant Acquisitions: The Safford Documents
Navy Captain Laurance Safford is often referred to as the “father of U.S. naval cryptology”. His contributions during WW II were numerous and significant. Through the quick thinking and generosity of Mr. Robert Frey the Foundation received two file boxes of personal papers and documents that belonged to Capt. Safford. Mr. Frey acquired the documents from the Riggs Bank while doing research on the last flight of Amelia Earhart. Capt. Safford had written an unpublished manuscript on Earhart’s last flight. The manuscript was part of his estate and Riggs Bank was the executor (Capt. Safford apparently had no remaining heirs at the time of his death). Mr. Frey literally rescued the documents from a trash barrel at the Rigg’s storage facility where for some unexplained reason they were about to be trashed.
The donated papers included a number of personal letters written by Capt. Safford regarding events surrounding the congressional investigation into the attack on Pearl Harbor. One letter refers specifically to the “Winds Message” reportedly intercepted by the U.S. days before the 7 December surprise attack. This infamous message reportedly gave clear indications of the planned Japanese surprise attack. Unfortunately the actual intercept mysteriously disappeared shortly after the surprise attack and the Winds Message very existence is only supported by the testimony of Safford and perhaps one or two others who reportedly also were aware of the intercept.
The papers also included a four page letter from Capt. Safford to Vice Admiral C.E. Rosendahl responding to two pages of questions from Rosendahl about the number, distribution, disposition and construction of PURPLE machines prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Other documents included a petition to the Congress and supporting testimony to award Capt. Safford remuneration for his many secret cryptologic inventions, some of which were cited as among the most important and secure communication systems used by the U.S. during WW II. There were also numerous documents related to the life and subsequent disappearance of Amelia Earhart with whom Capt. Safford apparently maintained a fascination with up to the time of his death. In the below photo, Mr. Frey (on the left) is receiving a thank you letter from former Foundation President MG John Morrison (ret).
Mr. Robert Frey & MG John Morrison at the NCM
German History of Espionage
A local Maryland family recently contacted the Foundation to donate the book Die Weltkriegs Spionage. This oversized hardback 690-page book was published in 1931 and appears to be a comprehensive history of spy techniques. The NCM Library already has this book so the Foundation will auction the book at the October General Membership Meeting. This book lists for about $250, and one recently sold on eBay for $150. Pictures of the cover and facing page are included below.
German Espionage Book, Die Weltkriegs Spionage
World War II Super Pro-Receiver
Retired ASA’er Bill Roscher recently donated a working condition Super-Pro receiver from WW II. The Super-Pro was made by the Hammarlund Company and carried the military designators of BC-1004, BC-794, and BC-779. It was the workhorse radio of the Army Signal Corps during WW II and saw extensive use in every military theater. They were manufactured through at least 1945, and possibly as late as the early 1950s. Thousands were delivered. The Super-Pro was eventually replaced by the venerable R-390 URR receiver used by, inter alia, the AC Chairman during his SCE and early Agency career. The NCM curator has accepted the Super-Pro for possible use as a period piece in a future WW II display. A commercial ad for the Super-Pro is included below.
USA Security Agency Battalion Flag
Another former ASA’er Bob Clay recently donated the battalion flag of the USA Security Agency unit at Rothwestern, Germany. The US Army-Air Force took over the base at Rothwestern in 1945, and it remained a U.S. run installation until it was returned to the German Bundeswehr in 1975. During the Cold War the 319th USASA Battalion was responsible for an area that stretched from the Baltic Sea to Southern Germany and from near the Dutch border to the East-West German border. The 319th Battalion had Company level units at various locations throughout Germany. The ASA unit at Rothwestern was a main intercept and MARBURG- equipped special identification techniques (SIT) site during the Cold War. It was also a mainstay of the European direction finding (DF) network. A picture of the 319th battalion flag is included below.
Acquisitions: An Eclectic Mix
Our acquisition interests are not just limited to rare cipher machines and books on cryptology. In the recent past we have acquired many artifacts of unusual interest. They include a rare WW I Army Signal Corps poster; a rare Jedburg Silk used by Special Operations Element units to communicate with London HQ during WW II; 80 photographs of a WW II era Code Room in Washington D.C.; four first day stamp covers issued by the UK to memorialize Bletchley Park; two rare bronze and copper Chinese cipher locks that use combinations of Chinese words to open the devices; and a U.S. first day cover stamp of the German Enigma machine issued to commemorate the work of U.S. and allied cryptologists during WW II. Some of the unusual items acquired since 2007 are depicted below.
Four Bletchely Park reports on Enigma and codebreaking donated by David Hamer
Six books requested by the NCM Librarian and donated by our London benefactor Tim Robarts.
WWII Liberty Bond Poster WWII Nazi Flag Czech Poster
Donated by Tim Robarts German History of Espionage
 WW II Security Poster |
 Commercial Speech Scrambler |
 WW II German Printer/Fax |
 Underwater Encrypted Radio |
 Racal Data Encryptor |
 Polaris Missile Permissive Action Lock |
 WW II German Krypto-Fon |
 WW I Comms Poster |
 WW II Japanese Field Phone |
 BEDROCK Polaris Missile Radio |
 Clandestine Suit-Case System |
 Long Dwell Collection Recorder |
 Clandestine Spread Spectrum Transmitter |
 VHF Bugging Receiver |
(Type used on Air Force One) |
 WW II Security Poster |
 WW II Minerva Tropics Radio |
 WW I U.S. Army Field Phone |
 1950s Crayola Cipher Board Game |
 Soviet Flag From Votinsk Facility |
 Manual Morse Training Course |
 Civil War Torch Fuel Canteen |
 WW II Nazi Banner |
 1960s Minox Spy Camera |
Navajo Code Talker’s Radio Set
Military storage trunk with Garod TBX-8 radio and accessories built for wartime use by native American Indian code talkers
TBX-8 Navajo Code Talkers Radio
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Western Union Technical Manuals
Carlos Van Orden, a career Western Union employee, recently contacted the AC to donate his library of Western Union Technical Journals to the Museum Library. The collection covers the period from 1947 through 1964, and comprises a fascinating time capsule on the march of telecommunications technology during the period. Some of the more pertinent journals include articles on ocean cables, teleprinter codes, global telegraphy, telex in the USA, cable laying ships, AUTODIN, the modernization of military communication systems, and the 100th anniversary of the Atlantic undersea cable. The donation also included a packet of information on ASR-28 teletype machines. This model teletype is similar to at least one we have in our Museum inventory
U.S. Service Issue Pocket Signal Disk
The AC recently purchased a U.S. Service Issue Pocket Signal Disk at a Georgia antique mall for $4. The two-sided pocket size primer has the International Morse Code one one side, and the Semaphore International Flag Code System on the reverse. The original price for the primer was .30 cents. This item will be donated to the NCM. Pictures of the Signal Disk are included below.
U.S Service Issue Pocket Signal Disk for International Morse and Semaphore Flag Codes
WW-II Era Western Union KSR-15 Teletype Machine
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English WW-II Security and Morale Poster
DIG FOR VICTORY (increase food production); HITLER WILL SEND NO WARNING (carry your gas masks); BRITAIN SHALL NOT BURN (fire bomb defense); and KEEP MUM, SHE’S NOT SO DUMB (beware of spies).
Miscellaneous Items
 Clandestine Burst Encoder |
 Soviet Bloc Burst Encoder |
 WW II Omaha Beach Landing Map Marked Secret |
 Civil War Era Telegraph Key |
