https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/7d70733c8a354993e64374df839fa410.pdf d9ff264d197ab8caff3c122d691c923b PDF Text Text Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act DcKiMtenbdivulgue en vertu de la Loi surfaeces a {'information Prepared tgrt D llgo nwu. -jl\--IO'i(,-6~y The ai» of thio brief is tc outline th* history of participation in tho 8XMU &MWUitt« Syoten. 2« The Oobaoo Wireless Station on* ootabllohod If US during tho w*r a* tho Canadian terminal of th* British Diplonatle tflroTooi sy»ten*e transatlantic link and ao a training for British agents* The traneatlantle radio circuit and ito noocKiliitotl lino oonannioatlono wee known oo HYDRA* Tho insta!** la tion inccarfor itod transmitting and receiving facilities^ administrative aecetssodatlon and aingla living eejertere* WiU. • •--'' x Hi MMiNBORt. "•" t• enoieas e^^eer a* ^•*ejNOMneoa v ^ ^ o «sw^'* or %ewvaomn or vawojnOMMf eesw w"ww *^.*>wei^peaie)^teeiae wweaoi woawa^weBev eiem 3* Oaring uuuvwiaatloas In London in 1946 between Mr Croon oad Mr Claoobrook of tatornal Affair* and tho El authorities, the Canadian* pat forward tentatively tho euggeotlco that tho Canadian "iotuiiiwoiit night no willing to tako over and operate suggestion and stated they would probably ho prepared to tranofor tho jjwt«11«t.1m to tho Comedian Qejwernamat without ohsrio 4* fhooo infersal disonsslons ooro reported to tho Ion I w a n Ruber toon (ahd*r-®*eretary of State for internal affairs)* F U G •*». In the roport Mr Croon gore throe main roioiini why lt oould bo desirable for Canada to operate HTCaa* a* to earry Extmrml ..K.jt *+-ir b. • ^A veaavosoM affairs traffio hotwian Ottoom - i a •' " i oer aomam *.-*<v* * .h^. * • • . aowvonH to carry C0MHT traffic, which oould include all raw intercept aatorial between Ottawa and IgMgejl NbJ IMM*N MMl em*Jn^ns*flej| e* by oannrohip of BYJDfta oo ebould bo contributing a^^eiepar wmwjew eaev^oj*aew^ oaj eam^er mrwip^* lo^^^^enep ejpia**fcee***e* s*>n* *^^*ie*isv»e-.savjs*flp^^am effort of tho Cmiiiii lth and tho OBA. It oould alao ononr* boo cooperation of the 3X and 05A in a effort and tho reotption by of a l l nitre, Intelligence they would require! d* in addition, HKKA would aloo carry traffic the Foreign Office and the Britioh Rnbaooy in and bet ween tho OK and 01 Cownx author ft i « . 5« In a letter to Sir Edward Trawl* (OCnVj, Mr tobertoon ajp^^e^pewep » * vej^O/ wjpae we^w^ ejpMn^r^veeor^we*.a^now' ''^a'^aa i^^Baaveei o^ ut a» afW^woiae w e> ^owai ew w wan J a^wfrOiaa e« wwa wlow i t would bo bettor i f thio station wore taken owor old operated tgr Canada** FlaO *B% 1^ W i t SECRET 000124 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a f information ': "*• ^,"-*, *-U • 2 - %*0T ILs* \Kt/ i \ JLiw 1 6. Mr ItobortMB als* wrote to th* CCS (thorn Lb-Oon Foulkoe) on 7 Hay 46 {TV& •€*) and stated that me felt tiossiumloationa and cipher for COMBS should bo peculiar tm OOMUT oven though the Sorvieee t0«nt notually provid* th* coomnnioaUons* Fares 1(a) (d) of the letter referr. Mr Eeberteom also agreed that opmratim of HTDRA by tho Amy would bo MM most rmitabl* arrangement. Form 2(c) of th* letter refers. ?• On 19 Vov dm* Mr Henney inforwed Mr Pearson that l t mould be in order to g nfom tho 71 Oorermeont that Canada mas willing tc take over 8TSRA at a mart of tho ^03/ceaede programme in the field of interception. FLAG •?>*. Thm omm* day a telegrsc mm sont from "*•*** %^vsa» eewean* *,*ia * • * « * **• w^e* ee «uje aeej*^arwaa T* a a BM W aIBJ* a* vmmeeewwpamsJP evemwAi^mwvov oswaatmj B»A.*w*"^ovav WJPW- of WTOtA to Canada* Thio telegram stated thati a* BH»U would bo qporatod by tho Jfetvi b* 8BDRA would bo used for eOKZlT traffio and might also in the future smemmmmiete diploweUe traffic} o* tho Amy might* at a later date, suppluommt or replao* •misting tiaat witters* 8* A copy of tho telogy-im end of tho reply roosivod from Sir Idward Travie agreeing to the transfer, subject to Trw**ury approval, v*o omnt to th* CCS by 8»t ernal /iffmlw* on 29 HOY AU FL»0 •*«. ?. On a Mar 47, 'ho -M for mttitHMil /«ffalro oonfirming 8XQMA ami hi* understanding of traffio betwoon Canada and OK* **™e. * w^^efea se^^ew em eras ^mawm a n a * mpwepv e^ ja o) a* wrote to the Under Joerstary of State arrangenonts mad* with rtgmril to the hamdlittg of External Affaim FUC • ? • . In his rmply (FUG *G«) ww?***' »eew "*v w* m*er eaemmrw^oj weaves v# ewes ejrejpeeaj ^sawm mind that the maim purpose of the station io tm carry UOUT (now COWS?) traffio between Washington ami Tendon. I do not feel therefor* that i t mould bo deelrablm to mm* BBi* for purposeo ether than Mom nlwsmmw emmmml with Mat amlmed tfejeflsn authorit'sts." - * * i^xmm •*m•>#*ir 10* ^*r n » < * «- > ^ n V M ^^Mr "SrBB'B' W » ^ "**B » • • »* ^^W*r*i w^*r^p. i ^**BBBBBOBPBBBBP ^pr^Bi ^B*-* ^ * B <*t- WMWBBBB BJ On 29 mar 47, internal Affair* advised the COB that 01 It ma* •••awl th* Amy wonld takt over reopcmslblllty for th* *tatioa aiaen am *op^*> op t o> * msBaem a* sj teases* •'^aae-ewjB'MemjMr s^ejnw Westavj* wee. ewewm^^owm v^RonrgsV^a* warmer become om Army responsibility to be operated prismriiy for the •—••••• o * ' • j. as I' '-•». •* '-' x B -t -' t l t H * * £-i | MM '•- : ~" • • ••' * I *^ I MPeetFmaWJP - £'' MisMWS•* *"* to th* MORA familiUes. It has long boom tbm opinion of tho 01 authorities that i f HTCSU ms*eto provid* th* rellabl* service and hi 4. traffio oapacity ooneldomd ossmntial, the nuaibcr of talttmrs wonld have to bo increased and th* raillnitod poser to at least 40 **• 2vmn before formal arrangismiito mmm o*mwlmmsd* . IP, y.c-< op «*m ftmJM ttrt ttvmitbmJ It m of a 100 W tmntmitter* Because this order of power would •mrioasly limit raooption in Oshawa, th* SfSSA moeivsrs and tape relay centre were included In f he plans for expansion of th* operations building at '•mom^fc"fle*BR*rs9 ^ww*^t*v*'wmavommawjawgffl. wm wpvrws wa^*s*nPnflB*w••*** wjaTna*''|asn*tfltWflfc mrmop aeamaAWJPm tpw^memrWH»*BW»,a»m^s# at Oshawa and thia installation and the mow* of -***«eiving and traffio foaotiomt of STDRA t o taitrla mat ooapl*t*d in 1951. Th* cost of the Oshawa oonstmctlon amd the BTOSA portion of the loitrim expansion i t estimated at approwimately H50*0C0* SECRET 000125 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a (information btURh i 12. In 1955 a directional transmitting antenna was completed at a cost of $170,000 and in 1958 an additional rhombic antenna of unique design was erected at a cost of $4-5,000. Ancillary equipments to increase the flexibility of the transmitters are in the planning stage. 13. The domestic facilities have also been improved. A water distribution system has been installed within the camp as well as three wiles of mains to bring water from the City of Oshawa. In addition, roads within the camp area and the approach roads have been improved. 14. Prior to 1953• HYIffcA costs were shared by the Army Vota and ERB Vote 700. In 1953 It was decided that Vote 700 should no longer be charged for HYIRA operations. In the sane year the Director cf Signals suggested to the Department of External Affairs that as its traffic is carried over HYDRA it should help share the cost. Since then External Affairs have paid for nost of the line rental, stationery and a major portion of teletype maintenance costs for the HTDRA portion of leitrim. These expenditures by External amount of $86000 annually and more recently have been inereaselby #86000.00 to cover the rental costs of a channel in the transatlantic cable. In comparison the cost to the Army for HTDRA operation exceeds 1500,000 annually. 15. These expenditures have been considered by the Army to be a cooperative sharing Of costs and that HTDRA continues to be a clearly defined Army responsibility operated primarily for C0MINT communications. 16. In recent years a misunderstanding appears to have developed regarding the principles on which HTDRA was transferred to the Army. During the 18th meeting of CSB, Mr Crean stated that HTDRA "was operated by National Defence (Army) on behalf of External Affairs.." General Foulkes considered it necessary, at that time, to reaffirm to External Affairs his understanding the HTDRA was opsrated by the Canadian Army primarily for C0MINT communication. This letter is at FLAG »J». RECOMMENDATION 17. I recommend that the Army continue its directed task of operating HTDRA for C0MINT communications. SECRET 000126 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Hydra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context HY00068 Title A name given to the resource Hydra Communication System Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 11/03/1958 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Hydra Communications - Policy, RG24, 1250-36 Vol. 1, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Department of National Defence Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource DND, External Affairs, Oshawa Wireless Station, SIGINT, COMINT, OTC, Ottawa Traffic Centre, Ottawa Wireless Station, OWS Description An account of the resource Report prepared by D Sigs on history of Canadian involvement in Hydra communication system. Report notes financial contributions to Hydra system made by External Affairs, but stresses DND's financial, administrative, and operational responsibilities for Hydra and for COMINT. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en