Page 334 - The Secret War in the Italian front in WWI (1915-1918)

THE SECRET WAR ON THE ITALIAN FRONT IN WWI (1915 – 1918)

groups; the inter-allied (I.A.) code with 3-letter or 6-letter groups; the divisional D code with
3-letter or 6-letter groups” and a new regimental R code with 5-digit groups .
48

new dangers
After the armistice was signed, the radio interception and cryptology activities had to be maintained
in the Italian Army, also because new actors appeared on the geopolitical scene, whose territorial
claims clashed with Italy’s aspirations. The dispute over the definition of the borders with the new
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was only resolved in November 1920 with the signing of
the Treaty of Rapallo.
It was therefore mandatory to continuously listen to the “stations of the States being formed as
a result of the latest military and political events” at the north-eastern borders with Italy, as well
as to check the radio channels used during the conflict by the enemy field stations, since some of
them could have fallen into the hands of the new Kingdom army - similarly to what happened to
a part of the Austro-Hungarian fleet - being prepared to locate them through radio-goniometers,
should they resume transmissions .
49
These measures were also justified by the events of the last days of the war, when a Penkala,
which had withdrawn quickly to escape capture by the Italians, was stopped and captured by
the Slovenian armed forces in Pörtschach near Klagenfurt, in Galicia. The Slovenes escorted to
Ljubljana, Major Sieger - the chief of the Penkala -, his Officers and all the equipment they carried
on four trucks .
50
All Sieger’s attempts before the Slovenian National Council to have his material returned were
unsuccessful, so much so that a few months later O. Marchetti reported that all the documents
related to the “Italian codes and ciphers had been handed over to the Slovenes” .
51
The huge amount of material seized and the availability of analysts of Slovenian or Croatian origin
who had served as cryptologists in the Austro-Hungarian army during the war, made the potential
of Italy’s new neighbours frightening. In fact, in March 1919, while the Intelligence Section of
the Austrian army had ceased operations, an efficient cryptographic office was already operating
on behalf of the new Kingdom under “a certain Major Andreika, who had previously directed the
Cryptology Branch of the Ministry of War in Vienna” .
52
For these reasons, O. Marchetti warmly supported in his already mentioned letter to the Ministry
of War, the need to maintain in an efficient condition the Cryptographic Unit - finally called by its
real name since 1 December 1918 - even if missing its first Chief and soul: Luigi Sacco .
53

48 Operation Office, Confidential Letter, Subject: Norme sul ciframento dei dispacci r.t., (Regulation on Radio telegraphic
dispatches coding), 10 June 1919.
49 Chief Inspector of STM, Relazione Tecnica sul Servizio Radiotelegrafico, op. cit., p. 14.
50 M. Ronge, Der Radiohorch, op. cit., p. 42.
51 O. Marchetti, Attività dei Reparti crittografici, op. cit. We do not know if Sieger’s four trucks carried on board also RT
equipment, but Marchetti himself assessed that the Slovenes had captured Udine station as well, together with Austrian
ciphers and keys.
52 ibidem.
53 Section R Logs, 17 November 1918, AUSSME, Series B1, 101S, Vol. 329 d. The new name (CR Unit) replaced the old
(RT Unit).

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