Focus on
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, Foreign Office and General Post Office: Maintenance...
Catalogue reference: HW 55
What's it about?
HW 55
This series contains records of the Foreign Office, the General Post Office and the Government Code and Cypher School relating to work during the Second World War to establish and maintain Foreign Office intercept (Y) stations.
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 55
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Title (The name of the record)
- Government Code and Cypher School, Foreign Office and General Post Office: Maintenance of Foreign Office Intercept (Y) Stations: Correspondence
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Date (When the record was created)
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1941-1945
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series contains records of the Foreign Office, the General Post Office and the Government Code and Cypher School relating to work during the Second World War to establish and maintain Foreign Office intercept (Y) stations.
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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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English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
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- Foreign Office, 1782-1968
- General Post Office, 1660-1969
- Government Code and Cypher School, 1919-1946
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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6 volume(s)
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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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From 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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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
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Records relating to the maintenance of Foreign Office Y stations held by the FO and the GPO were passed into the custody of GC&CS, later GCHQ, for security reasons during and after the Second World War.
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
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Series is accruing
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Selection and destruction information (Information about how the record was selected for archiving)
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Records selected under Acquisition Policy criterion 2.2.1.3, documenting the work to repair and maintain Foreign Office intercept (Y) stations during the Second World War. All remaining 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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The Foreign Office maintained a number of wireless intercept (Y) stations at various strategic locations overseas in the years before the start of the Second World War. These stations, manned by FO staff, worked from 1938 to priorities established by the inter-departmental Y Committee, rather than by the FO. FO staff also did some traffic analysis and evaluation work overseas under GC&CS direction.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C16156/
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 55
Government Code and Cypher School, Foreign Office and General Post Office: Maintenance of Foreign Office Intercept (Y) Stations: Correspondence
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