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
Ministry of Defence: Defence Signals Staff: Registered Files
Catalogue reference: DEFE 26
What's it about?
DEFE 26
Registered files of the Defence Signals Staff, relating to signals intelligence generally.
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- DEFE 26
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Title (The name of the record)
- Ministry of Defence: Defence Signals Staff: Registered Files
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1954-1982
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Description (What the record is about)
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Registered files of the Defence Signals Staff, relating to signals intelligence generally.
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Related material (A cross-reference to other related records)
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HQ No.90 (Signals) Group: papers, AIR 68
Earlier records relating to signals can be found in:
HQ No.90 (Signals) Group: technical drawings, AIR 56
Directorate of Signals: papers, WO 244
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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)
- D/DSS 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
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Ministry of Defence, Defence Signals Staff, 1954-1954
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 23 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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Ministry of Defence
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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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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
- Series is accruing
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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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After the 1964 unification of the three service ministries into the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Signal Staff [DSS] was created to group together the service signal departments under the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Signals) [ACDS(S)]. The Assistant Chief was invariably an officer of four-star rank (Rear-Admiral, Major-General or Air Vice-Marshal) alternating by service at each change of incumbent.
Broadly speaking, the DSS carried out the same duties as its precursors, although within a tri-service organisation. The DSS was split into four main divisions DSS Central, Directorate of Naval Signals, Signal Officer in Chief (Army) and DSS (Air). DSS Branches [Signals or Sigs] were operating throughout the four divisions (N denoting Navy, ARMY for Army, and AIR for RAF).
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C5784/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
68,016 records
Within the department: DEFE
Records of the Ministry of Defence
You are currently looking at the series: DEFE 26
Ministry of Defence: Defence Signals Staff: Registered Files
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