5 ms·

The details of the technique in the article seem to be lacking. There's a bit more on the Wikipedia: > When she obtained any military intelligence, she encoded

The details of the technique in the article seem to be lacking. There's a bit more on the Wikipedia: > When she obtained any military intelligence, she encoded it for transmitting by knitting using one-time codes hidden on a piece of silk that she used to tie up her hair; she would translate them using Morse code equipment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Latour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Latour

tgv 4y ago
Wikipedia also tells us that aged 102, "she is the last living female SOE agent of the forty who worked in France during World War II." Quite the life.
- GalenErso 4y ago
  Christopher Lee (of Dracula, James Bond, Star Wars and LOTR fame) worked for the SOE, did he not? I wonder if they ever met.
  - atdrummond 4y ago
    He was attached but not part of the SOE. Much of his claimed spec ops/spy work stemmed from exaggerations others made that he made no real effort to correct. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-dares-lies/ https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-dares-lies/ Not that it makes his service any less incredible or admirable in my book.
    - helsinkiandrew 4y ago
      He also joined the volunteer forces fighting for Finland against the Soviet invasion in the winter war of 1939. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_support_of_Finland_in_the_Winter_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_support_of_Finland_in_...
      - mach1ne 4y ago
        Quite amazing when you contrast it with going to Ukraine as a volunteer today.
    - bell-cot 4y ago
      With the UK's kinda-draconian Official Secrets Act, and tendency to keep WWII stuff Secret for extremely long periods - was telling the truth a good option for him?
hgsgm 4y ago
I think that's misworded. The actual quote from Phyllis was " I always carried knitting because my codes were on a piece of silk". There's no need for knitting to be involved in the encoding. She had a message (unclear if it was a message she received or her own personal knowledge; likely her own knowledge from observing Nazi/German soldiers), and she had a silk with the code keys, and she had a transmission station.
- corbulo 4y ago
  Just let me believe she was knitting key patterns doing the encryption in her head
bazzargh 4y ago
oddly I was reading this story yesterday because someone linked to an item of clothes from a shop which also contained a silk code scarf: https://adversarialfashion.com/products/wwii-code-cipher-scarf https://adversarialfashion.com/products/wwii-code-cipher-sca... it's unclear from the images in the shop but the code isn't the circuit diagram-ish things but a table in the middle, which reproduces this, an actual SOE silk code: http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/silkcode_chart_b.jpg http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/silkcode_chart_b.jpg This is apparently a 'Worked Out Key' cipher, not a OTP as mentioned in the article, but both were in use due to Leo Marks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marks#:~:text=Developments%20of%20cryptographic%20practice,-One%20of%20Marks's&text=Cryptographic%20security%20was%20enhanced%20by,already%20in%20use%20at%20Bletchley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marks#:~:text=Developments.... (in fact, here's a photo of Leo with one of these code tables https://www.historynet.com/was-this-the-uks-worst-spy-failure-of-world-war-ii/leo-marks/ https://www.historynet.com/was-this-the-uks-worst-spy-failur... )
- StrangeATractor 4y ago
  "Between Silk and Cyanide" was a great book with some very interesting and funny stories from SOE. I recommend it.
- alana314 4y ago
  I'd love to see photos of the original pattern. But I just bought that scarf because it's pretty anyway.
  - fsckboy 4y ago
    opsec slip-up my dear, now the gpt4 driven facial recognition cameras are looking for your scarf! but, you will look great so you have that going for you, important for getting your mugshot to go viral, like Jeanne d'Arc I liked this: "The patterns on the goods in this shop are designed to trigger Automated License Plate Readers, injecting junk data in to the systems used by the State and its contractors to monitor and track civilians and their locations."
- _a_a_a_ 4y ago
bblpeter 4y ago
The whole story is fake
moremetadata 3y ago
[dead]

tgv 4y ago

Wikipedia also tells us that aged 102, "she is the last living female SOE agent of the forty who worked in France during World War II." Quite the life.

GalenErso 4y ago
Christopher Lee (of Dracula, James Bond, Star Wars and LOTR fame) worked for the SOE, did he not? I wonder if they ever met.
- atdrummond 4y ago
  He was attached but not part of the SOE. Much of his claimed spec ops/spy work stemmed from exaggerations others made that he made no real effort to correct. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-dares-lies/ https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-dares-lies/ Not that it makes his service any less incredible or admirable in my book.
  - helsinkiandrew 4y ago
    He also joined the volunteer forces fighting for Finland against the Soviet invasion in the winter war of 1939. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_support_of_Finland_in_the_Winter_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_support_of_Finland_in_...
    - mach1ne 4y ago
      Quite amazing when you contrast it with going to Ukraine as a volunteer today.
  - bell-cot 4y ago
    With the UK's kinda-draconian Official Secrets Act, and tendency to keep WWII stuff Secret for extremely long periods - was telling the truth a good option for him?

hgsgm 4y ago

I think that's misworded. The actual quote from Phyllis was " I always carried knitting because my codes were on a piece of silk". There's no need for knitting to be involved in the encoding. She had a message (unclear if it was a message she received or her own personal knowledge; likely her own knowledge from observing Nazi/German soldiers), and she had a silk with the code keys, and she had a transmission station.

corbulo 4y ago
Just let me believe she was knitting key patterns doing the encryption in her head

bazzargh 4y ago

oddly I was reading this story yesterday because someone linked to an item of clothes from a shop which also contained a silk code scarf: https://adversarialfashion.com/products/wwii-code-cipher-scarf https://adversarialfashion.com/products/wwii-code-cipher-sca... it's unclear from the images in the shop but the code isn't the circuit diagram-ish things but a table in the middle, which reproduces this, an actual SOE silk code: http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/silkcode_chart_b.jpg http://www.jproc.ca/crypto/silkcode_chart_b.jpg This is apparently a 'Worked Out Key' cipher, not a OTP as mentioned in the article, but both were in use due to Leo Marks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marks#:~:text=Developments%20of%20cryptographic%20practice,-One%20of%20Marks's&text=Cryptographic%20security%20was%20enhanced%20by,already%20in%20use%20at%20Bletchley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marks#:~:text=Developments.... (in fact, here's a photo of Leo with one of these code tables https://www.historynet.com/was-this-the-uks-worst-spy-failure-of-world-war-ii/leo-marks/ https://www.historynet.com/was-this-the-uks-worst-spy-failur... )

StrangeATractor 4y ago
"Between Silk and Cyanide" was a great book with some very interesting and funny stories from SOE. I recommend it.
alana314 4y ago
I'd love to see photos of the original pattern. But I just bought that scarf because it's pretty anyway.
- fsckboy 4y ago
  opsec slip-up my dear, now the gpt4 driven facial recognition cameras are looking for your scarf! but, you will look great so you have that going for you, important for getting your mugshot to go viral, like Jeanne d'Arc I liked this: "The patterns on the goods in this shop are designed to trigger Automated License Plate Readers, injecting junk data in to the systems used by the State and its contractors to monitor and track civilians and their locations."
_a_a_a_ 4y ago

bblpeter 4y ago

The whole story is fake

moremetadata 3y ago

[dead]