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Series
Government Code and Cypher School: Signals Intelligence Passed to the Prime Minister,...
Catalogue reference: HW 1
What's it about?
HW 1
This series contains summaries of selected signals intelligence reports, issued by the Government Code and Cypher School and sent by the head of M16 ("C") to the Prime Minister (or, in his absence, the Deputy Prime Minister or the Lord Privy...
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 1
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Title (The name of the record)
- Government Code and Cypher School: Signals Intelligence Passed to the Prime Minister, Messages and Correspondence
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Date (When the record was created)
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1844-1945
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series contains summaries of selected signals intelligence reports, issued by the Government Code and Cypher School and sent by the head of M16 ("C") to the Prime Minister (or, in his absence, the Deputy Prime Minister or the Lord Privy Seal) in batches several times each day during the Second World War (using the code name BONIFACE), with associated correspondence.
The documents comprise the original cover notes and actual documents passed on, complete with annotations and minuting.
Each file usually has three main elements, in addition to the cover note from the head of the Secret Intelligence Service and included associated correspondence and some intelligence reports from other sources:
- Items CX/FJ, CX/JQ or CX/MSS: reports relating to enemy ground and air forces in Europe and derived from high grade cyphers such as ENIGMA;
- Naval headlines: summaries of Spanish, German and Italian naval activity;
- BJ reports: selected translations of intercepted diplomatic telegrams.
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Arrangement (Information about the filing sequence or logical order of the record)
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Arrangement
Cover sheets were given serial numbers which start at C6112 (HW 1/3) and end at C9995 (HW 1/715). Serial numbers are not consecutive and restart at number one (HW 1/716). Intervening serial numbers were allocated to different series by the Secret Intelligence Service and do not form part of the Dir/C Archive.
Cross references in the list refer to the former reference not to the HW 1 series reference unless otherwise stated.
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Related material (A cross-reference to other related records)
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See also the Government Code and Cypher School: Diplomatic Section and predecessors: Decrypts of Intercepted Diplomatic Communications (BJ Series) in: HW 12
See also the Government Code and Cypher School: Directorate: Second World War Policy Papers in: HW 14
See also the Admiralty, Operational Intelligence Centre records in: DEFE 3
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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)
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Dir/C Archive
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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)
- 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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3794 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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from 1993 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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The documents were returned to GCCS for safe-keeping rather than being retained by the recipient. The documents were consulted by the official historians writing British Intelligence in the Second World War and were referred to as the Dir/C Archive.
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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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Unpublished finding aids (A note of unpublished indexes, lists or guides to the record)
- There is a key to the terms and contractions used in this series and the key to abbreviations in HW 14. Some Standard German Military Terms and Contractions. Please speak to staff at the enquiry desk for the precise location.
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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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During the Second World War there was a great expansion of signal intelligence demand especially by the services, which led to the Prime Minister being sent daily summaries of selected ENIGMA messages.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C9280/
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 1
Government Code and Cypher School: Signals Intelligence Passed to the Prime Minister, Messages and Correspondence
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