A Complete Enigma Mystery Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The cache is not at the posted coordinates. Those coordinates are 'Ground Zero' for Berwick, Maine, the town in which the cache is hidden. The cryptogram below will provide you with the actual cache coordinates.
One of the greatest Allied achievements of World War II was the successful cryptanalysis of the German Enigma cipher machine. The intelligence obtain from this and other cryptanalytic sources (Codename: ULTRA) has been credited with shortening the European war by up to 2 years. To find this cache, you will have to duplicate (in a small way) this great achievement by deciphering the Enigma message provided below.
Cipher Text:
BPKEO ZKWGA JKWZD SWZFS CILTY
VCZWW HYHTK RXKSE TSSPL XAFID
SBMNS MBPWH JYKSB FVJVZ AOBBY
ASUSM PEHWK WVDHA KDHXZ PWCSI
WJAYQ UHFTW UBMXI KQALE KHEII
EYPMM AFELY AITTS RKUDE BPFRZ
ZLRFH ZEORS QO
Some Potentially Useful Information:
Machine Type: Wehrmacht
Umkehrwalze: C
Walzenlage: III I IV
Ringstellung: 18 10 02 (Expressed in letters, RJB)
Steckerverlendungen: PA XE TB ON UM
Message Grundstellung: ALG
The cache container itself is small (A camouflaged pill container) and contains only a log sheet. Bring your own pencil or pen.
Feel free to send me E-mails with questions concerning this cache. As with all my puzzle caches, I encourage you all to work in teams to solve it and/or to exchange hints with other cachers.
There is a knitted Tigquilt hat for the FTF. I'll send this on to the FTF cacher following the initial find.
A final thought. If you have deciphered this cache's message (probably with a little research on your part), you should have some feel for the complexity of the Enigma machine. Now consider the task faced by the Allied cryptanalysts. They routinely broke similar message traffic without any of the information I've given you. If you are not in absolute awe of this achievement, you don't undestand the magnitude of the problem they faced.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Sbe gur Ravtzn: uggc://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Ravtzn_znpuvar
Sbe gur pnpur: Uvag rapvcurerq va pelcgbtenz.