Friedrich Boetzel (1897 – 23 June 1969, in Bad Neuenahr) was a Brigadier general of the army of the Bundeswehr.[1] During World War II Boetzel was an intelligence officer who was Director of Operations of the Cipher Department of the High Command of the Wehrmacht from 1939 to 1943. His cover name there was Bernhard
Career
editFrom 1934 to 1939, Oberst Fritz Boetzel, was the officer responsible for the German Defense Ministry's signals intelligence agency, during the important interwar period, when the service was being enlarged and professionalised,[2]
In 1939, he was posted to Army Group Southeast (German: Heeresgruppe Südost) to take up the office position of Chief of Intelligence Evaluation in Athens, Greece.[3] In 1944, following the reorganisation of the Wehrmacht signals intelligence capability, Fritz Boetzel, now General Fritz Boetzel, who was promoted by Albert Praun, created 12 Communications Reconnaissance Battalions (KONA regiment) in eight regiments, with each regiment assigned to a particular Army Group.[4] From October 1944 he was posted to direct the office of the General der Nachrichtenaufklärung.
Fritz Boetzel was considered to be one of the sources for the Lucy spy ring.[2] Boetzel knew Hans Oster and Wilhelm Canaris and had fit the anti-nazi personality of Rudolf Roessler contacts, the man who had run the spy ring.[2][5]
Post War
editAfter the war, Boetzel was subordinated to the Bundeswehr. In May 1956 he was given the leadership of the newly founded "Service for Telecommunications Reconnaissance and Key Affairs" in Ahrweiler. This was later renamed "Telecommunications Service of the Bundeswehr" in 1958, then in 1964 to the "Office for Telecommunications of the Bundeswehr", later again in 1979 to the "Office for Intelligence of the Federal Armed Forces". Bundeswehr" and most recently in 2002 in the "Centre for Intelligence of the Bundeswehr"). It dissolved at the end of 2007.[6]
References
edit- ^ Volker, Jost (28 June 2007). "Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen der Bundeswehr schließt". Bonner Zeitungsdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt H. Neusser GmbH. General-Anzeiger. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- ^ a b c Nigel West (12 November 2007). Historical Dictionary of World War II Intelligence. Scarecrow Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-8108-6421-4. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ Jeffery T. Richelson (17 July 1997). A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-19-511390-7. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ Nigel West (31 August 2012). Historical Dictionary of Signals Intelligence. Scarecrow Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8108-7187-8. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ "Volume 4 – Signal Intelligence Service of the Army High Command" (PDF). NSA. 1 May 1946. p. 217. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Von Volker, Jost (28 June 2007). "Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen der Bundeswehr schließt". Bonn: General-Anzeiger Bonn GmbH. General-Anzeiger. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
Further reading
edit- Koller, Christian (2017). Wellenkrieg : Agentenfunk und Funkaufklärung des Bundesnachrichtendienstes 1945-1968 (Academic theses) [Wave War : Agent Radio and Radio Reconnaissance of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945-1968]. Veröffentlichungen der Unabhängigen Historikerkommission zur Erforschung der Geschichte des Bundesnachrichtendienstes 1945-1968, BD. 5 (in German). Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag. ISBN 9783861539476. OCLC 1005669813.
- Pahl, Magnus; Hammond, Derik (2016). Hitler's Fremde Heere Ost : German military intelligence on the Eastern Front 1942-45. Solihull, West Midlands: Helion & Company. ISBN 9781910777084. OCLC 1027517285.
- Schmidt-Eenboom, Erich (March 2001). "The Bundesnachrichtendienst, the Bundeswehr and Sigint in the Cold War and After". Intelligence and National Security (in German). 16 (1): 129–176. doi:10.1080/714002841. S2CID 154330639.
- Pickering, F. P. "Notes on Field Interrogation of various German Army and Air Force Sigint Personnel 18-20/5". Google Drive. TICOM. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
See also
edit- Cipher Department of the High Command of the Wehrmacht Boetzel was director of this unit during part of the interwar period.