Were the German codes broken by the Enigma machine coherent German?

Factual Questions
1

Once the Allies started breaking the codes sent by the Germans, did they find that the communications made perfect sense (to a German speaker)? Or were the words themselves further coded, the way the Navajo words and phrases the US Codetalkers were real Navajo words, but they didn’t make any sense to someone who didn’t know how they were being used?

I remember reading about a Navajo who was captured by the Japanese, and they tortured him until he agreed to translate the Navajo code. And when he told them that it was real Navajo words they were using, but they didn’t make any sense and he couldn’t understand, they tortured him even more brutally.

2

The messages were in standard German military language and usual kept as brief as possible to make code breaking harder yet.

Some examples:

During D-Day

  • Decoded message: “There are indications that the invasion has begun”.
3

It was technical and used a lot of abbreviation (and no spaces) but it was easily deciphered. Here is and example:

KRKRALLEXXFOLGENDESISTSOFORTBEKANNTZUGEBENXXICHHABEFOLGELNBEBEFEHLERH ALTENXXJANSTERLEDESBISHERIGXNREICHSMARSCHALLSJGOERINGJSETZTDERFUEHRER SIEYHVRRGRZSSADMIRALYALSSEINENNACHFOLGEREINXSCHRIFTLSCHEVOLLMACHTUNTE RWEGSXABSOFORTSOLLENSIESAEMTLICHEMASSNAHMENVERFUEGENYDIESICHAUSDERGEG ENWAERTIGENLAGEERGEBENXGEZXREICHSLEITEIKKTULPEKKJBORMANNJXXOBXDXMMMDU RNHFKSTXKOMXADMXUUUBOOIEXKP

KRKR ALLE XX FOLGENDES IST SOFORT BEKANNTZUGEBEN XX ICH HABE FOLGELNBE BEFEHL ERHALTEN XX J ANSTERLE DES BISHERIGXN REICHSMARSCHALLS J GOERING J SETZT DER FUEHRER SIE Y HVRR GRZSSADMIRAL Y ALS SEINEN NACHFOLGER EIN X SCHRIFTLSCHE VOLLMACHT UNTERWEGS X ABSOFORT SOLLEN SIE SAEMTLICHE MASSNAHMEN VERFUEGEN Y DIE SICH AUS DER GEGENWAERTIGEN LAGE ERGEBEN X GEZ X REICHSLEITEI KK TULPE KK J BORMANN J OB.D.MMM DURNH FKST.KOM.ADM.UUU BOOIE.KP

KRIEGSNOTMELDUNG [An] Alle: Folgendes ist sofort bekanntzugeben: Ich habe folgende Befehl erhalten: 'Anstelle des bisherigen Reichsmarschalls ‘Göring’ setzt der Führer Sie, Herr Großadmiral, als seinen Nachfolger ein. Schriftlische Vollmacht unterwegs. Ab sofort sollen Sie sämtliche Maßnahmen verfügen, die sich aus die gegenwärtigen Lage ergeben. Gez. Reichsleiter (Tulpe) ‘Bormann’ [Von] Oberbefehlshaber der Marine, durch Funkstelle der Kommandierender Admiral der Unterseeboote.

As a general point relying on jargon, slang, etc as a level of security is not a good move. You should assume the person trying to decipher your message is just as well versed in those as you (that was certainly the case at Bletchly park)

4

I’m pretty skeptical about this story. I’ve never heard of anything like this. Could be wrong though.

5

It was a soldier who was captured in Bataan early in the war. He wasn’t a code talker; just someone you spoke Navaho.

6

I don’t know much about the coding, but I remember from a documentary about the code breaking of the Enigma that recurring words like “Wetter” (“weather”) were crucial for deciphering the code.

7

Also the Enigma machine had no keys for numbers, so numbers in things like weather reports had to be spelled out. That helped also.

8

I didn’t know that, and I think that’s a blatant flaw of the machine. Was it too complex to add number keys?

9

The military Enigma had 29 keys. Adding another 10 keys would have substantially increased the size, complexity and cost of the machine. The designers probably figured it wasn’t worth it since numbers are redundant. It’s the same reason there aren’t punctuation keys.