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Book Cover
Book
Author Ballard, Geoffrey St. Vincent.

Title On ultra active service : the story of Australia's signals intelligence operations during World War II / by Geoffrey St. Vincent Ballard
Published Richmond, Vic. : Spectrum, 1991

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  940.548694 Bal/Oua  AVAILABLE
 MELB  940.548694 BAL-O  AVAILABLE
Description 312 pages, 83 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), facsimiles, maps, portraits ; 30 cm
Contents A horse-box and a uniform -- Making tea and sloping arms -- Trooping to the Middle East -- Ailing in Egypt -- Recovering and seeing Palestine -- To Egypt to join the Intelligence corps - and recruited into the secret world of Signals Intelligence -- Sailing to Greece - and catching her spirit -- 4 Australian Special Wireless Section and its Signals Intelligence role -- The battle of Greece - and learning to master the German air codes -- The battle of Crete and "ultra" takes the stage: producing vital intelligence from German air communications -- The Syrian campaign - and wrestling with Vichy French transmissions -- Coping with the aftermath of the Syrian campaign -- Our tenuous life in Lebanon -- Aleppo interlude - to monitor the German advance in southern Russia -- Sweating and swotting at the OCTU, Cairo -- Back to the section, and then leave in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine -- From Middle East to further east - and home -- Adelaide and Melbourne - and home leave for us all -- establishing a "Sigint" organisation in Australia -- Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG) - the drive to recruit and train operators for the Pacific War -- Central Bureau (CB) meeting the cryptography and intelligence challenge - solving the Japanese Naval Air Cyphers -- Central Bureau moves to Brisbane - and "SIGINT" moves ahead -- Darwin, 1943 - and preparing for the invasion that never came - Role of 51 Wireless Section -- "Ultra" enters the war in the South West Pacific - breaking the Japanese main-line cyphers -- spreading the interception and intelligence net - (a) The Australian army Wireless sections (b) The RAAF Wireless Units (c) The american Army Signal Radio Intelligence companies (d) US Navy Radio intelligence Units afloat (e) Royal Navy Sigint Units aboard ship -- AWSG (Australian Special Wireless Group) Type "C" and "D" sections -- Australian Special Wireless Group moves from Bonegilla, Victoria, to Kalinga near Brisbane -- On duty as Central Bureau representative at advance echelon, GHQ, Port Moresby and Hollandia and at forward echelon, GHQ, Leyte (Philippines) -- 1944 - and "Ultra" sets the agenda for the Pacific war -- Brisbane, 1944 - the Central Bureau domestic scene -- British - US SIGINT co-operation, and its extension to Commonwealth countries - the Washington Conference, 1944 -- 1945 - on duty in the special security office of GHQ in Brisbane -- Central Bureau moves to the Philippines - but not for long! -- Central Bureau representative at south East Asia Command -- Saying "goodbye" to all that -- War-time Associations hold firm
Summary It tells the story of Australia's Signals Intelligence operations during World War II - in Greece, Crete and Syria, and later in northern Australia, New Guinea, the Netherlands East Indies and Philippines. It is a unique and thrilling story - told here for the first time publicly
Analysis History
Military intelligence
Signals intelligence (SIGINT)
World War 2
Notes Includes index
Maps on lining papers
Subject Ballard, Geoffrey St. Vincent.
Australia. Australian Army -- Biography.
Intelligence officers -- Australia -- Biography.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Cryptography.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Electronic intelligence -- Australia.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Australian.
LC no. 78006274
ISBN 0867862742