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Series
Government Code and Cypher School: Reports on Second World War German Army and Air...
Catalogue reference: HW 45
What's it about?
HW 45
This series contains weekly reports compiled by the Government Code and Cypher School of details of intercepted German army and air force wireless communications traffic during the Second World War. The reports give details of traffic volumes and...
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 45
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Title (The name of the record)
- Government Code and Cypher School: Reports on Second World War German Army and Air Force Communications
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1941-1945
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series contains weekly reports compiled by the Government Code and Cypher School of details of intercepted German army and air force wireless communications traffic during the Second World War. The reports give details of traffic volumes and call-signs, frequencies and operating schedules used.
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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)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Government Code and Cypher School, 1919-1946
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 50 file(s)
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
- Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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From 2002 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)
- File series ran from 1939 to 1945
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
- Series is accruing
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Selection and destruction information (Information about how the record was selected for archiving)
- Selected under Acquisition Policy criterion 2.2.1.3 documenting the use of communications traffic analysis for defence and intelligence purposes during the Second World War. All surviving records selected.
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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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For periods during the Second World War, particularly in the early period, staff at the Government Code and Cypher School were not able to break or interpret the codes being used in intercepted enemy wireless communications. In this situation, intelligence assessments of enemy activity and intentions could be inferred by analysis of communications traffic volumes. The reports in this series were compiled to facilitate such traffic analysis, so that variations in traffic volumes on particular networks or in particular locations could be analysed and interpreted.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C15770/
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 45
Government Code and Cypher School: Reports on Second World War German Army and Air Force Communications
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