
NCR Bombe vs. Nazi Enigma
How NCR engineer Joe Desch, working in secret in Dayton, Ohio, designed a pioneering codebreaking machine to help win World War II. Desch suffered a nervous breakdown but won the nation's highest civilian honor for his struggle. His story would not be told until decades after his death.
By Jim DeBrosse
An 8-part series from The Dayton Daily News
Photos courtesy of the NCR Archive at Cincinnati History

NCR Bombe codebreaking machine

Joe Desch in 1942

Nazi Enigma encoder