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Series
Government Code and Cypher School: Commercial Section: Reports of Plain Language...
Catalogue reference: HW 29
What's it about?
HW 29
This series comprises summary reports by the Commercial Section of commercial messages originated in enemy and neutral countries. Two notable topics stand out: German efforts to obtain wolfram and iron ore from Spain; and the attempts by Japan to...
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- HW 29
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Title (The name of the record)
- Government Code and Cypher School: Commercial Section: Reports of Plain Language and Public Code Messages
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1938-1945
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series comprises summary reports by the Commercial Section of commercial messages originated in enemy and neutral countries. Two notable topics stand out: German efforts to obtain wolfram and iron ore from Spain; and the attempts by Japan to obtain new technology and products from Germany. Reports were initially circulated to the Ministry of Economic Warfare, the Board of Trade, the Information Branch of the Censorship and the three service ministries; other ministries were added later.
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Related material (A cross-reference to other related records)
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For records of the Ministry of Economic Warfare see FO 837
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Separated material (A cross-reference between records that are related by provenance but now kept separately)
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The first reports were largely experimental and have not survived.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
- CS file series
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English and French
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Government Code and Cypher School, Commercial Section, 1938-1945
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 329 file(s)
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
- Open
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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In 2000-2004 Government Communications Headquarters
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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Accumulation dates (The dates the record was accumulated)
- 1938 to 1945
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
- Series is not accruing
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Selection and destruction information (Information about how the record was selected for archiving)
- All surviving messages from the outbreak of the war have been preserved.
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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The Commercial Section was set up in 1938. It moved location four times: from London to Bletchley at the outbreak of war and back to London in 1939, because of pressure on space at Station X; in September 1940 to a house some miles from Bletchley; and back to London in May 1942 as part of the Civil Branch of the school. The section was closed down in August 1945.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C15451/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
17,110 records
Within the department: HW
Records created or inherited by Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
You are currently looking at the series: HW 29
Government Code and Cypher School: Commercial Section: Reports of Plain Language and Public Code Messages
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