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Olga Gray and the Woolwich Arsenal Spy Ring
In 1938, thanks to years of work by a remarkable female agent, MI5 ensured a package of British defence plans stayed secret.
Series
Government Code and Cypher School: Services Field Signals Intelligence Units: Reports...
Catalogue reference: HW 41
What's it about?
HW 41
This series consists of the reports to the Government Code and Cypher School by field signals intelligence units of the armed services based on decrypted intercepted enemy communications during and immediately preceding World War II. The series...
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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HW 41
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Title (The name of the record)
- Government Code and Cypher School: Services Field Signals Intelligence Units: Reports of Intercepted Signals and Histories of Field Signals Intelligence Units
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Date (When the record was created)
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1914-1977
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series consists of the reports to the Government Code and Cypher School by field signals intelligence units of the armed services based on decrypted intercepted enemy communications during and immediately preceding World War II. The series also includes a number of reports on the day-to-day operations of services signals intelligence, and some contemporary histories.
The records in this series were retained by the department under s.3(4) of the Public Records Act 1958, until it was decided that they could be made available to the public. The records were open from the date of transfer to the PRO.
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Arrangement (Information about the filing sequence or logical order of the record)
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The reports in this series are arranged by original report reference. Some of the series of reports were allocated lettercodes or codenames (e.g. the SPLICE series, or the SR reports), either by the service signals intelligence units which created and issued them, or by the Government Code and Cypher School upon re-issue. Others form un-numbered and un-referenced series, and they are arranged here either by the organisation which created them (for example, RAF Middle East Headquarters), or by subject.
The series also contains a number of internal and official histories of certain service signals intelligence units, as follows:
- 382 Wireless Unit, HW 41/118
- War Office Y Group, HW 41/119
- Wireless Experimental Centre, Delhi, HW 41/120
- Service signals intelligence in Europe and North Africa, 1939-1945, HW 41/125
- Service signals intelligence operations in the Middle East, 1934-1936, HW 41/126
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
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Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
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Miscellaneous
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Foreign Office, Government Code and Cypher School, 1922-1946
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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432 files and volumes
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
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Open
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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In 2001-2004 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)
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1938-1945
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
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Series is not accruing
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Selection and destruction information (Information about how the record was selected for archiving)
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All surviving records in this series detailing the activities and end product of World War II services signals intelligence were selected under section 2.2.1.3 (external relations and defence) of the PRO acquisition policy.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C15694/
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 41
Government Code and Cypher School: Services Field Signals Intelligence Units: Reports of Intercepted Signals and Histories of Field Signals Intelligence Units
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