this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
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Even without the sign off, from what I remember from the movie (so take it with a grain of salt), they reported the time and weather every morning. That’s formulaic enough to make it a little easier too.
The timing of that weather report was also crucial, as the code changed daily. Getting that report in the morning allowed them to crack the code, and then use that to decode messages for the rest of the day.
Yeah, isn't the thing about the sign-off a dramatization? They sure did repeat certain words like OKW and BdU, as well as sending uniform weather reports and changing their settings too infrequently. But that bit sounds fabricated.
Exaggerated, but not fabricated. There were common sign offs, and messages like "nothing to report" that were seen often. Another example is an officer who started every message with the same long formal greeting when messaging their commander. The most common was messages starting with "to " (in German and written for transmission, so "ANX" was the actual plaintext).