ABSTRACT
Much has been written about the intelligence services of the main powers involved in the Second World War. Professor Hinsley’s three-volume work on British Intelligence in the Second World War 1 reveals how important a source the Luftwaffe radio traffic was for the British. This prompts the question: how much did the Luftwaffe know about Britain, the Royal Air Force and the other main opponents? As far as Luftwaffe radio intelligence is concerned, this can hardly be ascertained in view of the fact that at the end of the war, the Luftwaffe itself destroyed about 97 per cent of its records, among them apparently all intercepts. This is particularly regrettable since about 70 to 80 per cent of all intelligence information was provided by radio intelligence. Only through the postwar study by Gottschling 2 do we know about some tactical successes of Luftwaffe radio intelligence (Funkaufklärung). No details are known as to when and how far enemy codes were broken and what was learnt from these intercepts. Before the Luftwaffe intelligence service, about which hardly anything has as yet been published, is described, it is necessary to survey the German intelligence community, 3 of which Luftwaffe intelligence was just a part.
