Personnel

Personnel and their associates personnel

Find my introduction below this Index

In This Section

The Personnel section of the site has been the most enjoyable for me to assemble. Thanks to growing interest in the story of Dayton’s role in code-breaking, and the power of the Google Search Engine as people look for information about their family members, I’m receiving more and more information about veterans of the project.

Available in this section:

The Database

The Personnel database is an effort to make accessible a list of names of personnel gathered from many sources. The sources of information include the Rosters of personnel printed by NCR for 4th of July dinners in 1943 and 1944, the NCR News, letters and memorabilia from the 1995 and 2001 Reunions, oral histories taken during the 2001 Reunion and various archival documents. Because so many records were destroyed at the end of the war (and even 35 years later) to preserve secrecy, the list will never be complete. In addition, human error creeps in from time to time, with misspellings, fuzzy images, and incorrect dates. Despite those drawbacks, the database now includes over 500 individuals with 956 pieces of information.

Please note: because so many women know each other when they were single, I prefer to list women by their maiden name whenever possible.

If you, or a relative, neighbor or older friend, have some information or a story to share, please contact Debbie Anderson so that I can enter it into my records. Also, if you have questions, please contact me and I’ll try to find some information that might help you. There are no guarantees, however, as so many records have disappeared, been destroyed, or are available only at the National Archives.

387 NCR Identification badges from Bldg. 26, 1942 through 1945, are now online. These have been scanned, uploaded and linked to names in the database. Of those found so far, most are from the group of WAVES who arrived late April- early May 1943. Recently the sailors arriving Feb-Mar 1943 have been found. Scattered among these are visitors including Joseph Eachus and Howard Engstrom. Again, note: This growing effort is managed by Debbie Anderson, and is vulnerable to human error. Your help is appreciated. Please inform me of any broken links or other errors.

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  • Sources

    This site has material from many sources. Some are use by permission. Before using, ASK. More specific information here.

  • Inside You’ll Find…

    WHO worked during the war? Find the Personnel section. Also, Joseph R. Desch
    WHAT were their goals? By the Numbers. Also, The US Bombe
    WHY? History of the Bombe Project A contemporary account of the reasons and the plans for their project for the Director of Naval Communications, 1944.
    WHERE was the project: In Dayton, it was in Building 26. In Washington, it was housed at the Naval Communications Annex

    • Stray Thoughts in the Information Age

      Well, what does it all mean? How can the contribution of codebreaking to the Allied victory be summed up? . . .

      Where it helped, however, it helped enormously. Statement after statement of top commanders testify to this. Here’s Eisenhower to the administrative overseer of Bletchley: “The intelligence which has emanated from you before that during this campaign has been of priceless value to me. It has saved thousands of British and American lives and, in no small way, contributed to the speed with which the enemy was routed and eventually forced to surrender.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower to Menzies, 12 July 1945).

      Excerpts from David Kahn, “The Significance of Codebreaking and Intelligence in Allied Strategy and Tactics.” from remarks delivered 1976 before the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, originally in Cryptologia, 1:3.

    This page last updated Last updated: September 7, 2021 at 9:29 am

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