John Tiltman
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Brigadier John Tiltman (1894–1982) was a British Army officer who worked in intelligence, often at or with the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) starting in the 1920s. His intelligence work was largely connected with cryptography, and he showed considerable skill at cryptanalysis. His work in association with Bill Tutte on the German teleprinter ciphers, called at Bletchley Park the FISH ciphers, led to sometimes successful attack methods. It was to exploit those methods that Colossus, the first digital programmable electronic computer, was designed and built.
He was originally from Scotland, and retired as a Brigadier General. John Tiltman joined the British Army in 1914, saw service at the front during the Great War, and was wounded in France. In the period from 1921–1929, he served with the Indian Army as a cryptanalyst.
After a decade as a War Office civilian at GC&CS, the interwar cryptographic organization, John was recalled to active duty. His experience enabled him to assist in many areas of endeavour at GC&CS. He was considered one of Bletchley Park’s finest cryptanalysts on non-machine systems.
John Tiltman was an early and persistent advocate of British cooperation with the United States in cryptology. His advocacy helped achieve smooth relations during World War II.
In 1944, he was promoted to Brigadier and appointed Deputy Director of GC&CS. He continued in 1946, as Assistant Director of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), successor to GC&CS.
John Tiltman became Senior GCHQ Liaison Officer at the Army Security Agency in 1949.
After reaching normal retirement age, he was retained by GCHQ from 1954–1964. From 1964–1980 he was a consultant and researcher at the NSA, spending in all 60 years at the cutting edge of SIGINT.
John Tiltman made the transition from the manual ciphers of the early 20th century to the sophisticated machine systems of the latter half of the century; he was one of a very few who were able to do so. “The Brig,” as he was affectionately known in both countries, compiled a lengthy record of high achievement.
Brigadier John Tiltman died in August 1982.
On 1 September, 2004, Tiltman was inducted into the NSA's "hall of honor", the first non-US citizen to be recognised in that way. The NSA commented, "His efforts at training and his attention to all the many facets that make up cryptology inspired the best in all who encountered him."
References
Ralph Erskine and Peter Freeman, "Brigadier John Tiltman: One of Britain's Finest Cryptologists", Cryptologia 27(4), October 2003. pp289–318.
- This article incorporates material derived from the NSA's recognition of Tiltman: [1] (http://www.nsa.gov/honor/honor00030.cfm)