NCR News June 1944


Return to NCR News Index

ELECTRICAL RESEARCH

BY MARY MAEDER AND MICKIE McNERNEY

Correspondents

Here you are folks, the news as we’ve seen it this month.

Though this weather is much too nice to spend in a hospital, our inspector, June Scott, has taken time out for a tonsilectomy operation.

Congratulations to Joe Bruggeman, the recent father of a baby girl, Mary Patricia.

Solely by chance your correspondent happened to be out at Triangle Skating Rink the other night when four wandering wolfesses from Inspection Department appeared. Of course, the leader was our champion skater, “Corky” Corcoran, and with her were the irresistible Jane “Daisy Mae” Agnor and the lively Joanna “Superwolf” heaton, not to mention Dorothy “Catch Your Man While You Can” Ludwig. I’m glad to report that no serious spills were experienced and a good time was had by all.

Joins Marines

All his friends want to wish Jack Lantz good luck and farewell as he leaves the Company to enter the Marines.

Remember the explosion that scared the wits out of half the population of Building No. 26? Well, that was our own Frank “Booby-Trap” Bucher starting his car. They say a few gray hairs were sprouted over that well-planted noise bomb.

Janet Ilgen spent a happy week with her husband in North Carolina.

It’s easy for mama to keep an eye on Junior now that he’s working in the same room, though how Mrs. Mooney’s son, Johnny, feels about it has not been revealed. They’re both of Inspection Department now, and John is keeping himself pretty busy with all the fair ladies around here. With loud checked sports coats and sharp ties, he’s definitely the “hep man” of Building No. 26. He seems to have as many girl friends as ever, though he tells me he’s going steady now. Let’s see, is that six or seven girls who have worn that class ring this year?

They say everyone has his ups and downs and from what I’ve heard, Sarah Reffitt should know something about the downs part. Though falling down the steps at the Colonial Theater isn’t quite my idea of a perfect way to spend an evening.

A few May birthdays include Ella Scheble, Jean Taylor, Clarence Charlton, and Louis Conger. We did better in June for the natal day was celebrated by R. F. Riley, Paul Hedges, Merrill Banford, Roy Driscoll, Lena Thompson, Bea Watson, Margaret Mayer, Margaret Lipsio, La Vina Russell, Myrtle McDonald, Imogene Dickman, Almarhea Turner, Dixie Killian, Grace Wegley, Ann Hopkins, Margaret Price, Lucille Blocbaum, Helen Crowe, and Flora Weaver.

SPOTLIGHT

GRACE WILLIAMS

The fair half of our big spring romance is this sweet, quiet little miss, a friend of everyone with whom she comes in contact. She’s Grace Williams, a good stenographer and a girl to head your list of friends. Modest and kind-hearted, she gives her evenings ot help all she can as a student nurse. We remember the time she was so absorbed in a discussion of diseases that when the phone rang she answered with “Epileptic Department.” Her one fault is a lack of memory, which boy friend Frank Bucher finds quite annoying, especially when she forgets a dinner date. Electrical Research is proud of Gracie and we offer her to the public as the cutest thing out to date.

Comments are closed.

  • You Are Here

    NCR News June 1944 > The ERL in the NCR News > Personnel > Home

  • 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

    • Recent Updates

    • Stray Thoughts in the Information Age

      General George S. Patton, the legendary commander of World War II, became an astute consumer of communications intelligence (COMINT); he learned its worth in the drive across Western Europe after D-Day and used it well. For example, in mid-August 1944, while Patton’s Third Army was located near the French city of Le Mans, the general and about 40 of his officers attended daily intelligence briefings. Here they would hear regular briefings by the G-2 (Intelligence) and G-3 (Operations), situation reports, and a news report from radio broadcasts. Following each meeting, all but seven officers were dismissed, and the rest stayed for a briefing on the enemy situation as seen in COMINT. This source proved valuable for the Third Army: ULTRA (the codeword assigned to COMINT derived from decryption of high-level German ciphers) material alone predicted a drive by five German Panzer divisions against the Third Army at Avaranches. In another instance, when Third Army headquarters moved near Chalons, an ULTRA message arrived at 0100 hours showing the German order for an attack at 0300. Patton had described the U.S. troops in the attack areas as spread out as “thin as the skin on an egg.” He found means to alert the defending divisions without jeopardizing the security of ULTRA, and the German attack was repulsed.

      One member of Patton’s staff wrote about the value of ULTRA to Patton’s army stating that, “An army has never moved as fast and as far as the Third Army in its drive across France, and ULTRA was invaluable every mile of the way.”

      NSA, Center for Cryptologic History, from 50th Anniversary Brochure, p. 10. URL frequently change but currently this can be found at nsa.gov > History > Cryptologic History > Publications > NSA/CSS. /p>

    This page last updated Last updated: March 17, 2021 at 11:10 am

    © Deborah Anderson. Use of materials by permission. Materials other than those clearly marked as National Archives materials are not in the public domain. More information here. Simple Privacy Policy is here

    HIT A DEAD END?

    I ask that visitors be patient when links or pages disappear or become mangled in the vagaries of PHP and generated code. Frequent additions and updates make for human error — please report any broken links or other problems to Debbie Anderson, site manager–your help is appreciated.

    E-mails are still appreciated, and I will try to respond promptly. Your messages are what make this job worthwhile.