Page 195 - The Secret War in the Italian front in WWI (1915-1918)

CHAPTER NINE

The Austrian General admitted that, on that occasion, not only the radio listening and decryption
activities had failed but the entire Austrian Intelligence Service had too. However, with rereference
to the Penkalas, he thought it would be wrong to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” . From
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this sentence it could be inferred that in the aftermath of the Battle of Gorizia, the Headquarters of
the Austro-Hungarian 5 Army might have even suggested to abolish the radio interception and
th
decryption service, considering the poor or non-existent practical results due to the lack of Italian
radio dispatches with interesting operational contents.
Franz Conrad Von Hötzendorf, Chief of Staff, responded to these pungent remarks, in mid-
September, endorsing the need to continue interception and decryption, in consideration of “the
invaluable service rendered to the Imperial and Royal army” .
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The Headquarters of the Isonzo armies, in the person of General Svetozar Boroevic, reiterated
the negative judgement on the usefulness of Penkalas the following year, justifying his negative
opinion with the poor effectiveness shown at least in that important sector of the front. Boroevic’s
disappointment also depended on the increasingly skilful use of the radio on the part of the Italians,
who transmitted confidential information only in the case of extreme necessity and when other
means of communication were not available. Certainly, the colder climate and more abundant
snowfall in some areas of Trentino compared to the Isonzo front caused frequent breakdown of
physical lines and considerable difficulty to have them restored in a short time, forcing resort to
radio employment, for transmitting commands or relevant news.
Concerning the decrypting of Austrian radio dispatches, a contribution to the knowledge of the
work and of the first successes gained by Sacco is provided in the following section written by the
General’s grandchild Professor Paolo Banavoglia, who describes the early results he obtained in
the challenging interpretation of a notebook handwritten by his grandfather.

FIRST-HAND DOCUMENTS: LUIGI SACCO’S NOTEBOOK, 1916
Contribution of Paolo bonavoglia

In his house along the Tiber embankment, Luigi Sacco held a large quantity of papers, documents,
photographs of his long life devoted for the most part to the radio technology but also, especially
during WWI, to cryptology.
In his study room, many documents were discovered after his death regarding the activities he had
performed during that war . The following paragraphs focus on his 1916 notebook.
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The noTebook
The small-sized notebook (13x17cm) provides an interesting contribution for clarifying the history
concerning WWI’s Italian Cryptography. It comprises 160 pages; the first one with the wording
Cap. Luigi Sacco – Esercizi di Cryptografia - 18 luglio 1916 - dal Kerchoff e dal Valerio (Captain
Luigi Sacco - Cryptography Exercises - 18 July 1916 - from Kerchoff and from Valerio).
Sacco would use this notebook to write day-to-day notes regarding ciphers and various issues as
they emerged, which explain the difficulty to find one’s way through it. The indication of the date on

44 ibidem. The sentence literally reads: “Man durfte daher das Kind nicht mit der Bade ausgießen” The same page mentions the
Penkala located at Adelsberg (the German name for Postonjna) being out of order and in need to be completely reorganized.
45 ibidem, p.10.
46 See also the paper A 1916 notebook of Luigi Sacco during World War I, forthcoming in “Cryptologia”. This article concerns
the notebook and includes pictures and tables that are also shown here.

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