Gwido Langer

Poland's prewar achievements paved the way for Britain's World War II Ultra secret.

Langer was born in Zsolna, Upper Hungary (today Žilina in Slovakia) but spent his childhood in Cieszyn in Silesia, where his family came from.

Langer remained at the head of the Cipher Bureau and its successor field agency until the latter was effectively disbanded in November 1942 upon the German occupation of southern France's Vichy "Free Zone."

[3] In March 1943, as Lt. Col. Langer, his deputy, Major Maksymilian Ciężki, head of the prewar B.S.-4 (the Bureau's German section), Lt. Antoni Palluth and civilians Edward Fokczyński and Kazimierz Gaca were attempting to cross from German-occupied France into Spain, they were betrayed by their French guide and captured by the Germans.

On 10 December Langer's remains received a funeral with full military honors and were interred at the communal cemetery in Cieszyn, Poland.