The Lucy Ring was a secret anti-German espionage operation led by German Antinazi Rudolf Roessler during World War II. In the 1960s, Roessler made known some obscure facts in talks with journalists. According to these announcements, he had several (a small number, perhaps up to 10) anti-Nazi friends in Germany when he fled to Switzerland in the early 30s. Among them were several German soldiers who reached high military positions during World War II. Somehow - and this is one of the obscure parts of his story - they gave information to him which he passed on to the Soviets in Moscow, using major German military stations. The implication of Roessler's disclosure involves espionage which was never noted by the Germans and involved hidden messages sent in messages sent by Germans. Some people consider this technically almost impossible, although a rudimentary form of steganography has been used. Whatever the actual method, the information provided was frequent, accurate and appropriate for the Soviets.
Roessler succeeded in contacting the Soviets via Russian spy Alexander Rado in Switzerland and used his organization to provide information to Moscow. Roessler suggested and got unusual conditions to work for Rado. Thus, he was never forced to reveal his sources and did not attempt the Soviets to discover the sources. The Soviets were initially suspicious about the information, but because of the quality of the information they were based on the information.
The Swiss drew up the channels and dismantled the Lucyring before the end of World War II. Alexander Foote, author of the controversial Spyware Handbook, was one of Rado's (and Roessler) radio operators and one arrested.
An additional controversial aspect of the Lucyring story is the rumor that the Lucyring of Origin was a British secret operation to deliver the German-decoded German information to the Soviets, without recognizing British origin. Stalin had considerable suspicions about any information from the Americans or the British about German plans to enter Russia in 1941. Knowing this, the Allies tried to find a way to deliver ultra-information to the Soviets without being rejected in advance as unreliable. The fact that the Soviets, through their own espionage operations, were aware that the British had cracked the German codes, the British were not known.
Various observations also indicate that Alexander Foote was more than just a radio operator: - he was able to act as a radio operator between SIS and Roessler, and also between Roessler and Moscow; - His return to the West in the 1950s was unusual for various reasons; - His Spy Handbook makes his status as bad an intermediary controversial; - No one of the "sources" of Roessler in Germany has ever been identified.
Hence, the suspicion arose that, like for more espionage operations, the Lucyring was not what it seemed to be.
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