Animation: How Three Men You Probably Never Heard of Helped End WWII | Short Film Showcase

[Music] Dawn, 30th of October 1942. A periscope and the outline of a submarine are spotted by a Royal Air Force patrol aircraft in the Eastern [Music] Mediterranean. This sighting will be a vital turning point at Bletchley Park. For 10 devastating months, the code breakers have been working under a complete blackout of U-boat communications. The German Navy have introduced a new layer of encryption to their Enigma machine; a fourth rotor. Agus Bard and three other warships are on the scene by 10 a.m. and spend the next 10 hours hunting and depth charging the U [Music].

U-559 has fallen. When the submarine is finally forced to surface after sustaining serious damage, chaotic scenes unfold as the enemy crew start to abandon ship, knowing the U-boat could contain vital intelligence which could be utilized by the Allies. Tanny Fen, the first lieutenant on Patard, and Able Seaman Graier immediately leap into the sea and swim through a mass of fleeing U-boat men towards the U-559. They are followed by Navy canteen assistant Tommy Brown, cold and wet, fastened and greasy.

The submarine climbing down the conning tower into the blackness below. Time is running out for the men who are frantically collecting the priceless books and documents on the U-boat, whilst the U-boat is gradually filling with water. The two men hand various Enigma treasures to Brown, who, after exploring the engine and control room, has positioned himself on the U-boat's conning [Music] to abandon ship.

Brown screams and plunges into the dark waters to be rescued by the boat crew. At that moment, the ill-fated U-boat suddenly takes in an enormous amount of water and rapidly sinks, taking Tony Fen and Able Seaman Graier with it. The bodies of Fen and Graier were never recovered; almost certainly, they drowned, trapped in the sinking submarine.

The demand for intelligence was never more closely linked to individual sacrifice, but the two men did not die in vain. Just three weeks later, the documents taken from the U-559, including the U-boat short signal and weather signal code books, arrived at Bletchley Park. This pinch provided Bletchley Park code breakers with the priceless tool to help break the four rotor Enigma.

Within an hour of breaking Shark, the U-boat code, 15 new boat positions were identified, and Bletchley Park was able to read naval traffic and crack MA codes for the remainder of the war. This enabled the Allies to reroute the vital convoys to and from the USA, saving thousands of tons of shipping and countless [Music] lives. [Music] [Music]