Alfred Dillwyn 'Dilly' Knox

Alfred Dillwyn 'Dilly' Knox was born on the 23rd July 1884 and was educated at Eton College and then at King's College, Cambridge, specialising in the Classics and was appointed as a Master at Cambridge in 1909. His work on ancient Greek literary papyri was to stand him in good stead for his future career.​
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Dilly Knox was one of the original founding members of the Admiralty's Room 40. He perhaps best exemplifies the mindset of the great cryptanalysts of his time. He was the quintessential eccentric, famously even forgetting to invite his brothers to his wedding. ​
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In his days with Room 40, in the Admiralty building, he was known to work from his bath-tub, in his office! Often staying to sleep in his office overnight, he took advantage of his bath to think his way through the toughest cryptanalytical problems. In late 1917, Knox's new assistant, Olive Roddam, was assigned to work in the office where the bath tub sat. Each morning Knox had to complete his bath before she arrived at work! Knox and Roddam married soon after World War One ended. He would be promoted to Chief Assistant within the ranks of GC&CS in 1926.​
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Dilly's cryptanalytic method of 'rodding' was to yield dividends against the Enigma's being used by General Franco's forces during the Spanish Civil War. Working closely with William Bodsworth, this was to be an important cryptanalytical breakthrough for World War Two. It would also lead to the development of an important relationship with the French Services de Renseignement who, in 1939, would help facilitate liaison with the Poles to share knowledge of the German Enigma machine.​
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But he showed remarkable judgement and understanding for the use of the Bletchley product by its customers. He mentored Alan Turing when the latter came to Bletchley Park.​ Knox solved the Italian Naval K machine cipher in 1937, but arguably his greatest achievement was the solution of the German Abwehr cipher (essentially a model G Enigma with rewired rotors). The first decrypt message from this complex cipher and its daily key, ISK1 was issued on the 25 December 1941. This led to the creation of a special section at Bletchley Park, under the leadership of Knox. It was known as Intelligence Services Knox (ISK). Before the war he had come very close to deciphering the Wehrmacht Enigma traffic alongside his colleagues at GC&CS. ​
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One of his most remarkable achievements during the war was against the Italian Navy's Enigma traffic. A team of trainee female cryptanalysts he had closely mentored began to yield results against the sparse traffic from the Italians. On the 28th March 1941 intelligence from this traffic in the Mediterranean would help shape the outcome of the Battle of Cape Matapan, and the defeat of the Italian fleet. ​
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He was given the auspicious title of Chief Cryptographer in BP and went on to receive the CMG in January 1943.​
Knox died on the 27 February 1943 from cancer.