We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode WW2: How Britain Ignored the Mother of All Secrets

WW2: How Britain Ignored the Mother of All Secrets

2024/5/10
logo of podcast Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
旁
旁白
知名游戏《文明VII》的开场动画预告片旁白。
Topics
旁白：本文讲述了二战初期，德国科学家汉斯-费迪南德·梅耶尔向英国泄露了关于德国先进雷达技术的情报，但英国由于种种原因忽视了这一情报，导致在战争初期蒙受了重大损失。梅耶尔冒着生命危险，在奥斯陆通过匿名信的方式向英国传递了关于德国轰炸机生产、航空母舰建造、遥控滑翔机以及先进雷达系统等关键情报，这些情报准确地描述了德国的军事技术水平，特别是关于雷达技术的细节，足以证明其真实性和重要性。然而，英国情报部门却对这一情报置之不理，这主要是因为英国当时对自身雷达技术的优越性过于自信，存在严重的骄傲和一厢情愿的心理，他们难以相信德国在雷达技术方面已经取得了与他们相当甚至超越的进展。此外，英国情报部门也存在信息整合的失败，大量的情报碎片未能有效地整合和分析，导致关键情报被淹没在信息噪音中。即使在威廉港空袭惨败、格拉夫·斯佩号战列舰事件中发现了德国雷达系统之后，英国仍然没有意识到问题的严重性，直到1941年2月，R.V.琼斯才通过多方证据最终说服了英国皇家空军，承认德国拥有雷达技术。这一延误给英国带来了巨大的损失，也凸显了信息整合和客观分析的重要性。梅耶尔在战后被R.V.琼斯找到，他解释说自己泄露情报的动机是反纳粹和对一位英国朋友的承诺。

Deep Dive

Chapters
Hans Ferdinand Mayer, a German executive, risked his life to leak sensitive military operations of Nazi Germany to the British during World War II, but his efforts were initially ignored.

Shownotes Transcript

Neatly dressed in his suit, Hans Ferdinand Mayer was every inch the unassuming corporate executive. So, when he asked to borrow a typewriter from his hotel in Oslo, nobody could have guessed he would use it for one of the most extraordinary intelligence leaks in history.

Mayer's gloved fingers punched out the details of Nazi Germany's most sensitive military operations and, when he had finished, he immediately dispatched his documents to the British  —  who did nothing.

Why did the British ignore Mayer? Did they fail to pick out a crucial signal amid the noise of detail — or was something else going on?

This episode of Cautionary Tales is based, with permission, on Tom Whipple’s book The Battle of the Beams, which is available from all good booksellers.

For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com).

See omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.