The challenge Working with the Enigma cipher machine is not that hard. At least, if you have the secret machine settings! What if you were a codebreaker at Bletchley Park? What if the lives of many people depended on your skills? Do you have it in you, to break the code? Well, this is your moment of glory... The Enigma cipher challenge gives you the chance to show your code breaking skills. Anyone who is interested in the Enigma machine can join the challenge. You don't need to be a professional cryptologist or math geek! There are ten messages or stages, each one a bit more difficult to solve than the previous. You can use the Enigma simulator (see image) or any other correct working Enigma software to decipher the messages. You'll need a bit of logical thinking,
some patience and a bit of luck. Of course, you will have
translate the German language message, or did you believe
the Germans wrote their messages in English? Don't panic!
You don't need to know German or be a polyglot. You can read these translation
tips and find all you need to
translate the messages, and/or use an on-line translator.
For more info on how to use the Enigma machine, please
read the procedures
page.
Your task It's your task as codebreaker to decipher and translate the messages. We don't ask for a perfect English translation, but the content must be clear and usable to our SIGINT officer (see translation tips). Make sure to first separate the words in the German text correctly, before translating into English, as this is crucial to enable correct translation. We obviously cannot accept errors on important parts such as grid numbers, names of places, dates, etc. We captured important moments of the war in the ten messages. You might find clues in WW2 history books or on the internet. Googling on names of operations, people, units or boats that appear in the messages will bring you some amazing wartime stories! Important note: to simplify the key identification, the challenge procedure does not use Kenngruppen in the message. How to participate If you correctly decrypted a message, you submit the solution by e-mail. For each message, you provide the decrypted version in German and its translation in English. Any message is only accepted when all previous messages are solved correctly. You can send multiple messages together to reduces the workload, as we already checked and registered a few thousand solutions. Your position in the table of honor depends on the number of deciphered messages. Important Note: It is not allowed to publish or distribute the copyrighted enciphered challenge messages or their deciphered version on the Internet or anywhere else, electronically, in print or in any other form, in order to preserve the value of current and future challenge table results. Finally, what can you win? The respect of your fellow codebreakers, the gratitude of our boys in the frontline, and a place in the Table Of Honor! ACTION NOW !
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I hope the captured papers can help you, Sir. Good luck!
June 20, 1941
We have good news from the SOE team in Norway. They managed to infiltrate in the German Mountaineer Corps. Apparently, they are preparing for something big. The SOE team has located an Enigma machine over there. We have received a message through the Norwegian resistance. We now have the plugboard settings and the wheels used. Unfortunately, all wheels were extracted from the machine. We have one big clue: Three of them are not zeroized, so these might be the used wheels for today. If we can find out the wheel order, we may have a chance on the intercepted message.
The message from our SOE agent:
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The message, in two parts, picked up in Kirkenes, Norway:
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With the correct wheel order we should be able to break this one, Sir.
November 25, 1941
Sir, I think we're on to something. Our listening station has intercepted a radio message. According to the direction findings, it's broadcast from somewhere around Kiel in Germany. We believe it comes from the U-boat shipyard. It's a Wehrmacht message. We have already broken the Wehrmacht keys for today, but we still have some problems with the plugboard settings. I believe you're the right person to figure this out.
The Wehrmacht keys for today. Unfortunately, we have one plug connection missing:
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Here's the message from Kiel:
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Let's hope we can figure out the plug settings. We'll just have to see which letters in the message are wrong. Always good to have an insight on that U-boat yard.
December 15, 1941
We have an incomplete message, on which we have worked out the first two wheels with our Bombes. Hut Six has done a great job on the plugboard. Your job is to find the position of the leftmost wheel. According to the SIGINT Officer, traffic analysis has shown that the message probably was sent from St-Nazaire to Lorient. Admiral Donitz is visiting the St-Nazaire U-boat harbor at this very moment, so this might be interesting.
Here's all we got from Hut Six, together with the partial St-Nazaire message:
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December 9, 1942
Sir, our SOE has received a message from the NKVD, the Russian secret service. NKVD has intercepted a message near Stalingrad, where the VI Army Corps of General Paulus is surrounded by Soviet forces. They are asking our help in breaking the intercepted message. This might be crucial information to turn the tide in Stalingrad.
The Wehrmacht settings for today. We didn't have the message key, so we ran the message through our Bombes. As you can see, we failed to resolve the rightmost wheel. Since it's a Wehrmacht Enigma, we can only choose between wheel I, III and V. We're also missing the ring settings to that wheel. An error on the rings can result in unreadable text after an initial good start, due to a wrong turnover point. If so, the ring should then be adjusted. I believe the message comes from the Oberkommando Der Wehrmacht (OKW), so I'm guessing, well, and educated guess, that the message could begin with "VON OKW" or "VON JOKWJ". If this is correct, we have a great crib to find the rest of the message.
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The message, intercepted by NKVD:
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Could this help the Soviets beat the Nazi's?
February 19, 1943
Sir, we received an urgent message from our Special Liaisons Unit in Tripoli. You know that Montgomery's 8th Army took Tripoli last month. Rommel's DAK, the Deutsche Afrikakorps, has now been cut off from its main supply. This could be a turning point. Therefore, the deciphering of all DAK messages has priority. Our colleagues have set all their efforts on breaking the German and Italian codes for Africa, and with success! We got into the DAK message traffic.
This is the note on the African keys, from Hut 3:
However, we also have some bad news. Our Y-station, attached to Monty's HQ, had a really bad radio reception. The result is quite disturbing. We lost some pieces of text, and worse, we lost some parts of the message keys. Maybe a Herivel Tip could be useful? But that's where you can earn your stripes, Sir! We've marked all missing pieces with an equal sign. Don't forget to skip then, while deciphering!
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And Sir, it's urgent, could you get this finished by yesterday?
May 15, 1944
MI5 has requested to keep them informed on the results of Operation Fortitude, the deceptions for D-day, to check if the Double Cross system pays off. Operation Quicksilver, with its fictitious 1st U.S. Army group, is a key element of Fortitude South. SIGINT has reported a rise in some French message traffic. According to their direction findings, it's probably from the German Army Group West. Curious what they have to say...
Sir, this is what we're facing: The key for today is still unbroken, but last week, a Special Operations Executive team in France recovered a Wehrmacht code sheet, that should have been destroyed by the operator. Well, you would be surprised what you can find in a dirt barge. You should be able to deduce the plugs and rings for May 15, knowing the structure of a code sheet. Too bad we don't know which of the five Wehrmacht rotors or reflector were used.
Here's the message, Sir. Enjoy the night shift!
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December 12, 1944
The 1st Canadian Army has finally cleared the Westerschelde, opening the ports of Antwerp to our supply ships. Although the supply situation is a little better, all Allied forces are now spread all over France, Belgium and Luxemburg. This could weaken our troops, while German forces are drawing back behind their borders, concentrating their troops and supplies. They also switched more and more from radio to telephone network to communicate. This mean less intercepts and less ULTRA information for Special Liaison Units. Each intercepted message can make the difference.
At 0900 hrs, U.S. 2nd Division has found an Enigma machine in a German Signals Truck near Sankt-Vith in Belgium, destroyed by our airplanes. The machine was still on key, but its plugboard was badly damaged, and missing some plugs. This is all we got from them:
This is one of the few messages, intercepted today.
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December 28, 1944
I think we're on a turning point, Sir. The U.S. 7th Army has reached the Vosges Mountains. If they can go on like this, the German troops will soon collapse. As they are drawing back, German troops leave all kinds of equipment behind. They seem to be in a hurry. They didn't even had time to destroy their secret documents. We have put our hands on a Wehrmacht code sheet, containing today's key settings.
The key settings, delivered on a silver plate, with many thanks to the fleeing German elite troops.
General Patton would appreciate all information, useful to his 7th and 3rd Army. If you break this partial message, this could be a nice Christmas present for the battered troops, stuck in the snow and cold.
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April 29, 1945
Well, Sir, I think we won't have to spend our summer vacation in Bletchley Park. U.S. troops are at the gates of Berlin. The Soviet army is already engaged in heavy fighting in the Berlin streets. I wonder what our friend Adolf is doing at this very moment. He's probably doing it in his pants, in the Reichskanzelei Bunker.
But work isn't finished. SIGINT still intercepted some messages from Berlin. I have a message for you, a long message, and they even didn't bother to divide it into parts. They must be desperate, those Germans. Well, so much easier for our statistics guys. I wonder why, and to whom, they still want to send these long messages. Very strange. I'm curious as to what they are doing over there. This is probably one of the last messages send on an Enigma machine in this War. One last effort, Sir. No key sheets or setting this time. If you break this one, you're an ace in codebreaking. Good Luck!
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Codebreakers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
1 | Jean-Francois Bouchaudy | 20.04.06 | 20.04.06 | 21.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 28.04.06 | 28.04.06 | 29.04.06 | 29.04.06 | 02.05.06 |
2 | Keld Helbig Hansen | 28.04.06 | 28.04.06 | 28.04.06 | 29.04.06 | 30.04.06 | 30.04.06 | 30.04.06 | 30.04.06 | 30.04.06 | |
3 | Jakub Stepniewicz | 21.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 28.04.06 | 29.04.06 | 29.04.06 | ||
4 | Torbjorn Andersson | 23.04.06 | 23.04.06 | 23.04.06 | 23.04.06 | 23.04.06 | 01.05.06 | 01.05.06 | 01.05.06 | ||
5 | Michele Denber | 21.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 23.04.06 | 24.04.06 | |||||
6 | Jason | 23.04.06 | 23.04.06 | 24.04.06 | 29.04.06 | ||||||
7 | Hindrik Deelstra | 21.04.06 | 22.04.06 | 20.04.06 | |||||||
8 | Daniel Foerster | 02.05.06 |
ALL-TIME
TABLE OF HONOR
This table
contains all code breaking results, registered during and
after the Challenge.
Message 1 | Message 2 | Message 3 | Message 4 | Message 5 | Message 6 | Message 7 | Message 8 | Message 9 | Message 10 | |
1 | Ole Artvig |
Daniel Foerster |
Hindrik Deelstra |
Jason |
Michele Denber |
Halon |
Jan Koslowski |
Jakub Stepniewicz |
Keld Helbig Hansen |
Jean-Francois Bouchaudy |
2 | Brandon Zickerman |
Anil Bolayir |
David Bellinger |
Joerg Uhr |
Jason Milletics |
Daniel Albertssons |
Alexander Van der Cruysse |
Jeong Ho Seok |
Torbjorn Andersson |
Olaf |
3 | Vladimir Kafrda |
Andrey Salamatin |
Philipp Antar |
Martin T |
James Michael R. |
Barbaros Oezdemir |
Samuel Zara |
Jean-Marc Devroye |
Dick Meppelink |
Jan Dvorak |
4 | Erhard Ducke |
Walter Bjorn |
Krieger |
David Whitaker |
Steve Mundy |
Fergus Mason |
Juergen Steenken |
Yoran Zonneveld |
Brent F. |
Heinrich Jul |
5 | Josef Weber |
Roman Dvoynev |
Bodo Herold |
Serge Claessens |
Meir Kalter |
Terence Dalton |
Dietmar Sternad |
Jos de Bruijn |
Bart den Hartog |
Allan Young |
6 | Patrick Hochstein |
Ratkai Tamas |
Florian Howald |
Toomas Bjorck |
Alam Jacklyn Wu |
Philip (G0ISW) |
Bruno Kayaert |
Ennocent |
Cristian Moldovan |
Christian Fibich |
7 | John Morehead |
Alexander Pukall |
Trevor Milner |
Dietmar Sterad |
Adrian Chitan |
Martin Mueller |
Alan Coggins |
Hans Nobbe |
Joe Nickerson |
Jarda Benkovsky |
8 | Andrew Corl |
Edwin Donders |
Frederik Brunkwall |
Philipp Overbeck |
Ulf |
Matthias Hess |
Felix Ponnighaus |
Czeslau Barczak |
Victor Bunchukov |
Thomas Mueller |
9 | Mario De Witt |
Jens Friese |
Manuel Kamper |
Mats-Ola Ekberg |
Charles Perko |
Daniel Palloks |
Massimo Joerin |
Jim Gilbert |
David Link |
John Angus |
10 | Esben Føllesdal |
Hugh Gibson |
Jan Solnicka |
Tysger B |
Matt Beard |
David Beattie |
Angel Saavedra |
Zdenek Berka |
Trond Rognan |
|
11 | Vincent Gillet |
Todd A. O'Brien |
Fred Braaksma |
Sammy Stoney |
Burbon |
Olaf Bühler |
John Allard |
Maraz |
Thomas Koehler |
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12 | Ralf Schmoll |
Stephan Keller |
Traugott Vitz |
Matthias Schlaefer |
Franz Haider |
Thorbjoern Michel |
Jon Cuneo |
Frans Lategan |
Dan Girard |
|
13 | Ruxiao Ma |
Frank H |
Dirk Blondeel |
Shawn Bresnahan |
Dave Goodwin |
Paul Ferris |
Krzysztof Mroczka |
David Carpenter |
Rudi Frank |
|
14 | Bo Whittemore |
Salvador Busquets |
Gabriel Ortiz |
Edu Canals |
Doug Beck |
Christian Siebert |
Gabriel Vistica |
Jesse Mawson |
Javier Marcelo |
|
15 | James Keener |
Walter Kissel |
Andreas H |
Shawn Cook |
Piotr Rokosz |
Lopo Metello |
Max Murdoch |
Dan Goldsmith |
Lubomir Nerad |
|
16 | Matthew Yaychuk |
Simon Keller |
Rainer Fleischmann |
Simon de Vries |
Sam Kennedy |
Arne Munch |
Frank Gawlik |
Thomas Ferguson |
Frank Inklaar |
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17 | Rick B |
Michael Kummer |
Hansjörg Rorer |
Hennie van de Vis |
Erwin Jonkheijm |
Jason From |
Viggo Worsaae |
Patrick Jennings |
Rafael Padilla |
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18 | Jorg Wandel |
Phil Taylor |
George Samorodin |
Harold Timmermans |
Pablo Merighi |
Richard Stevens |
Cory Friend |
Dave Morgan |
Christian Fiedler |
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19 | John Drake |
Sebastian Lazowski |
Steve Boothe |
Richard van Duivenbode |
Sven Röser |
Abhinab Das |
Derek McRiner |
Mattis Haase |
Klaus Becker |
|
20 | Graham Cotterill |
Chris Koalateem |
Julius Kompas |
Jan Jusseit |
Udo Schmidt |
Ken Prescott |
Daniel Bradley |
Martin Eklöf |
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21 | Jason Kirk |
KMV |
Leszek Jakubiak |
Fynn-Louis Osenberg |
Tobias Zehnder |
Claudio Zanzi |
Harro Nehlsen |
Jerry McCarthy |
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22 | Shin Hyun-Seong |
Stephanie Gutiérrez |
Tebis Llobet |
Ivan Snoeckx |
Alexandre Mayerle |
Peter Thörn |
Phil Burgin |
Michael Kaiser |
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23 | Kim Jaehyun |
Henry Roberts |
Zbynek Zelenka |
Stan Rooijackers |
Marek Gajda |
Alex Jakov |
Roger Perry |
Hans Nelisse |
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24 | Ronald Frank N3HI |
Cameron Jenkins |
Willem 214 |
Gary Mansfield |
Wally Merrin |
Ernst Genser |
Paul Martens |
Gerrit van Woerkom |
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25 | Yoga Raditya Nala |
Andries Ruiter |
Jakub Knejp |
Stephen Bopple |
Clemens van Santvoort |
Anthony W Bovill |
Andy Ashworth |
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26 | Maxime Deryck |
Pau Pascual Nicolás Gonzalez |
Joe Gavin |
Paul Burridge |
Bert Mulder |
Peter Hendriks |
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27 | Michael Feller |
Florian Gwerder |
Park Geonhee |
Tys van Sterkenburg |
James Lyons |
Flynn Hancock |
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28 | Dave Goodwin |
K.T. Steinke |
Jean-Luc Prual |
Oliver Randschau |
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29 | Harald Brumm |
Anna Klamm |
Jens Joervad |
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30 | Arnault Freymond |
Michal Bozon |
Peter Hardie |
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31 | Richard Bledsoe |
Alexander Riskin |
Julio Plaza |
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32 | Luc Opstaele |
deBart |
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33 | John Pickles |
Simon Daniels |
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34 | Matthias Hoffmann |
A.R.Bootsman |
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35 | Daimon Nomos |
Brian Neal |
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36 | Mark Lemire |
Gary Knight |
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37 | Nikos Kyrloglou |
Rafael Pascual |
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38 | Onno Kuijl |
William & Alice Thomas |
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39 | Chris Dermer |
Jan Beck |
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40 | Harry Brugmans |
Urs B |
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41 | Henk Nieborg |
Karsten Hansky |
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42 | Gina |
Klaus Mohrmann |
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43 | Willie Viljoen |
Christian Gauger-Cosgrove |
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44 | Ed Höcker |
George Lasry |
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45 | J-O Ahlm |
Markus Fischer |
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46 | David Kuehlwein |
Stefano Popovski |
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47 | Mr Herisson |
Rainer Boldhaus |
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48 | Rolf Schneider |
Luke Freck |
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49 | Ricardo Sagarzazu |
Gavin Melville |
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50 | Savas Ikiz |
Ivan Kralik |
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51 | Alexey Albov (UEMJ) |
Alain Mislin |
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52 | Ralph Beckmann |
Juerg Iselin |
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53 | Ivana Belgers |
Guy Beauchemin |
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54 | Marcel Lambrechts |
Christoph & Dominic Behle |
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55 | Anders Delbom |
Magne Groenhuis |
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56 | Ralf Drückes |
John Davies |
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57 | Robert Butler |
Luigi Tomelli |
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58 | Eric Langeveld |
Michiel Visser |
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59 | Arno Adam |
Iko Knyphausen |
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60 | Gerard Lührs |
Detlef Richter |
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61 | Martin Gwerder |
Jörgen van der Velde |
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62 | Alister Watt |
Peter Kohler |
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63 | Rudy Vanbelleghem |
Madness |
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64 | Patrick Ilyas Peeters |
Christian Crevecoeur |
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65 | Ronnie Tantriady |
Valentin-Daniel Popa |
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66 | Dmytro Riabchuk |
Matthias Schoop |
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67 | Ingo Steinel |
Marten Hammann |
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68 | Kamen Tolev |
Ivan Rolero |
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69 | Enis Murtezi |
Dave Raethel |
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70 | Andrea Mangione |
Adam R. Castor |
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71 | Daniel Moldovan |
García Larragan |
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72 | Marko Bühler |
Steve VA7KH |
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73 | Erik Steinacher |
Rene Gnehm |
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74 | Amrit Kaur |
Jean Louis Fritsch |
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75 | Fadrina Denoth |
Mikael Iremo |
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76 | Helmuth Lang |
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77 | Marc Niedmers |
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78 | Simon Vincent |
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79 | Ciprian Ionescu |
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80 | Oleksii Sylichenko |
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81 | Jan Hulst |
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82 | Felix Lötterle |
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83 | Mahmood Tavafoghi |
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84 | Jens Böltzing |
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85 | Klemen Zmahar |
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86 | Michael Galambos |
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87 | ||||||||||
88 | ||||||||||
89 | ||||||||||
90 |
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Challenge
© Dirk Rijmenants 2004. Last changes: 29
November 2024
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