‘Closing down forever’: German messages from end of World War II revealed

London – Britain’s spy agency has revealed the last messages from a German military communications network that were intercepted during World War II at Bletchley Park, the mansion house where Nazi codes were cracked.

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The secret messages, sent on May 7, 1945, were made public for the first time on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe.

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“British troops entered Cuxhaven at 1400 on 6 May – from now on all radio traffic will cease – wishing you all the best. Lt Kunkel,” said the first recorded note.

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“Closing down forever – all the best – goodbye,” said the second that immediately followed.

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They were sent as the Allies were closing in on Cuxhaven, a town on the northern coast of Germany, where the once-vast “German Brown” communications network had retreated to.

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Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) released the messages, saying they showed how the Bletchley Park codebreakers had carried on working in the dying days of the conflict.

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The codebreakers at Bletchley Park in central England are famous for having helped break the Germans’ Enigma code during World War II – as portrayed in the Oscar-winning 2014 film “The Imitation Game”, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

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