08 March 1947: SIGINT Communications North America

The British had additional ideas on how signals intelligence and communication facilities in North America should be run. Here, G.G. Crean of External Affairs forwards a memo written by Captain D.A. Wilson (Royal Navy) to Col. Wrinch. In the memo, Wilson argues that encryption facilities are sorely lacking in North America, and there can be no increase in SIGINT traffic without “adequate and rapid cryptographic aids.” Wilson suggests that all North American HYDRA users – including the CBNRC, their intercept stations, and the ASA and NCA in Washington, switch to Rockex, making it the “common and combined cryptographic system” used by the British, the Americans, and the Canadians, and increasing traffic-handling capabilities.