Introduction:

A recent Naval Dockyards Society (NDS) article during 2022 related to RNSTS reminded me of my time at The Admiralty (1959-64) and what a great HQ structure there was to manage the Royal Naval (RN) in those days, spread over London and Bath (and locations elsewhere).

I thought that there might be interest in the workings of a vital element of The Admiralty in Whitehall up to 1964 – namely how an element of information handling took place. I should add that this article has been written from memory. I would be delighted to hear from any reader who spots any mis-memorising.

"How The Admiralty in London handled signal messages to and from RN Ships, Commands and other elements around the world, in the pre-automated and pre-Satellite communications era.

Overview.

This was the function of War Registry (known as War Reg and located in The Admiralty Citadel on the corner of Horse Guards Parade) - which included encoding and decoding signal messages when of a classified nature and not deliverable by other secure means. Messages arrived in plain language, or code, via the co-located Whitehall Wireless (WW) section staffed by RN staff. They dealt with the actual transmission and reception of signal messages, making use of the communications circuits and ship broadcast as appropriate, passing on incoming messages via a Lamson tube system, and receiving outgoing messages from War Registry by the same means. There was a very close working relationship between the RN WW staff, and Civilian Staff in War Registry. Incoming messages were not only for The Admiralty, some had to be sent on to RN establishment in the UK. War Registry also handled messages on behalf of such as the Indian, Pakistan, Australian and New Zealand Naval Attaches etc., and others without full telecommunications capability.

The Admiralty HQ was located in Whitehall/Spring Gardens London, with its main historic entrance via the courtyard off Whitehall and dispersed around buildings in Bath. In that era the various elements at Bath such as DG Ships and D Armament and Supply (at Foxhill); DG Dockyards and Maintenance, and DG Weapons (at Ensleigh); PD Accounts (at Warminster Road) with a central Secretariat complete with message reproduction facilities and teleprinter circuit from Empire Hotel to War Registry, to mention a few. Bath elements normally operated during normal office hours, but War Registry worked 24 hours per day 365 days per year. At night and over the weekend the messages for distribution around Bath had to be taped up (5unit Murray Code holed tape in those days, so capitals only, and any mistakes had to be added to the end of each message if mistypes were made) and then fed into the tape reader from 0800 the next day when Bath Empire staff opened up. Over the weekend if the level of messages was heavy, War Registry would divert some (already typed up and enveloped for the Bath elements, to avoid reproduction delays at Empire Office) to the Courier which ran from London to Bath each morning and evening. The shift duty hours ran as follows: a day on duty from 0900 to 1900 then 24 hours off, then back on duty the next day at 1900 until 0900, then off for 24 hours and back at 0900 the next day and so on. Any time off over and above that between shifts as rostered had to be taken as leave. The overtime pay was attractive, the shift allowance was six shillings per shift worked. Provided the level of signal message traffic being processed permitted, the night shift would take a three-hour break in the two-tier bunks located elsewhere within The Citadel, one half of staff from 0001 to 0300 and the other from 0330 to 0630. Breakfast could be taken by crossing Whitehall to the then Lyons Corner House, with a half hour break. The typing and duplicator ladies had to share the bunk space provided for the Whitehall Wireless WRNS staff.

During normal weekday office hours, the office was boosted by more desk and typing/duplicating staff between 0830 and 1730, plus the Senior Executive Officer who reported to Director of Naval Signals (DNS) and a Higher Executive Officer overseeing the office operations. There was also an Administrative Office dealing with pay and overtime records and leave applications and a Procedures Office which dealt with any new instructions needed for message processing.

The War Registry Sections:

The Main Office comprised the following sections, each with a set of desks. No 1 section dealt with incoming messages for The Admiralty and others; No 2 section with outgoing messages from The Admiralty and others, and some incoming messages needing to be passed on; No 3 section dealt with the filing of all messages; The typing pool and associated reproduction section and with the teleprinter circuit (speed 50 Baud) to Bath; No 4 section dealt with the despatch of incoming and outgoing messages following typing and reproduction for distribution; The cryptography section dealt with the decoding of incoming messages and the encoding of outgoing messages. There were other associated areas attached to the main room where such as “The Roughs” (the complete evidence of the processing of in and out messages through War Registry, so it could be ascertained who had handled any given message and the action taken on it, should there be any subsequent mishandling enquiries).

No 1 section positions: The desk handling the arrivals on teleprinter paper, by tube from WW, time stamped them and passed them either to - the Cryptography Room if in code; The Operational Desk, or The Non-Operational/Administrative Desk for the adding of a distribution list by qualified “Markers”, which could be short, or long according to the subject matter and specified an Action Branch.

Routine Personnel and Ship Maintenance and Defect issues were regarded as Administrative unless there was an operational impact, in which case the Operational Desk staff would lead. Often, in silent hours, there would only be one Marker dealing with all the incoming messages. Due regard had to be paid to all manner of special caveats on messages e.g. Deltext - Officers Only; Personal For (a specific appointment), and Exclusive (in the case of Exclusive, unless it was caveated with special instructions it would be Marked on its textual merits, which sometimes led to complaint from those who thought they ought to have been the only recipient!)

For urgent messages an advance copy would be quickly sent off to the action directorate or branch. Very urgent messages such as Submiss (normally where a submarine had not signalled in as expected) would be notified by phone and advance copy. A more complex example which crossed my desk whilst on duty as a Marker was when a Member of Parliament was lost at sea. That signal message attracted a massive distribution list from The First Sea Lord and The First Lord of The Admiralty downwards. Such an unusual happening was not covered in the Marking Instruction Book, as it was not a normal loss at sea, or indeed a normal operational matter.

Generally, a distribution list appended in writing by the Marker involved around four branches, but equally there could be one, or over twenty. Depending upon the urgency of message received during the silent hours the Resident Clerk or the Duty Commander in The Admiralty would be notified by the No 1 Desk staff. For urgent Intelligence messages there was a Duty Intelligence Officer. Marked Messages were passed on to the typing pool by overhead conveyor, or walked in if we gentlemen fancied some exercise, or a chat with the ladies (probably how I came to marry one). This habit was however frowned upon by the shift typing supervisor, and especially during normal working hours, when their daytime Senior Supervisor was in position – rather like a Hospital Matron of years past.

If incoming messages referred to former messages they would be found in the files, mounted all along one wall with continuous desking, and checked and endorsed with the Date Time Group (DTG) and originator of the reply(s) and this would also enable the distribution list of such former messages to be used, or extended, depending on textual content. These files were also used to deal with phone calls from Admiralty staff who wished to know if a reply to their messages had been received (any endorsed DTG reference would inform on that aspect).

No 1 Section also had a “Put Away” (PA) desk. The person on this desk was responsible for checking that all action had been taken on any message. Only those staff issued with a numbered PA stamp were authorised to complete this task. Once PA stamped, all the associated evidence of actions was filed away in The Roughs section in another room with separate boxes for In and Out messages, on a daily basis and in DTG order.

Related Desks. In normal office hours there was a Telephone Enquiry Desk (just outside the main room) and a Scrutiny Desk, the latter staffed by an Executive Officer who was required to check a copy of all distributed messages, a posteriori.

No 2 section positions:

The Receiving Desk dealt with Admiralty outgoing Signal Messages, either received from the Bath circuit, or Duplimats as typed up by branches, or messages written on Signal Message Forms, as originating from branches and sent down ready for processing, via Lamson tube or Admiralty Messenger. Signal Messages passing through central mail rooms used envelopes clearly marked as a signal message, so they were handled without delay. Normally the originating branch specified the internal distribution so no added “Marking” by War Registry Staff was needed. All messages would first be given a Date Time Group (DTG) by a stamping machine which ensured no DTG of messages originating from The Admiralty was duplicated, to avoid confusion in terms of replies and other references The Processing Desk dealt with how the message was to be handled -e.g. did it need to be encrypted, could it be sent as a Basegram in all or in part, could it be posted and so on. This meant that this desk had to know where RN ships were and how likely they were to be, in or out of port abroad, or in the UK. Whether any Flag Officer, or Commander in Chief was operating in a “Flag” and/or “Rear Link” if going afloat (there was no point in overloading ships small communications facilities with administrative signals which could be dealt with by “Rear Link” ashore, as for classified signals extra effort was required, for example in their decoding, and “Flag” situations did not always take extra communications staff with it to boost ships commcens. Originating Admiralty Branches did not necessarily know of the Flag or Rear situation. The Passing Desk dealt with incoming messages via No 1 Section, but which had also to be passed on to elsewhere; The Post Desk dealt with messages to be forwarded by courier, or sent out by post (sometimes via PFPO Ships). Copies of messages ready for onward transmission, in code, or in plain language would be sent by tube to WW, before being passed on for typing and/or reproduction and internal Admiralty distribution. Extra work was involved when Her Majesty boarded HMY Britannia for Royal Tours, and the annual Royal Tournament Gun Run results would be phoned into No 2 section and a related signal message sent out to all RN ships and establishment at home and abroad. Whilst not an operational matter this information had to be treated as urgent due to wide Royal Navy interest.

Typing, duplication and teleprinter circuit (to Bath and later to Empress State Building Earls Court) – reacting to instructions from No 1 or No 2 Sections. Functions are self-evident.

No 3 Section. Filing allocation and management. This involved time stamping the file copy(s) understanding the filing system and ensuring that copies of both incoming and outgoing messages were filed in the appropriate file, of which there were fourteen main files in all but with many having sub-sections in their own clip folders. For example, File Number One was for CinC Nore file1/1 (closed by the time I joined) and related appointments in that area such as AS Chatham Dockyard (file 1/2), Sheerness (then just closing file1/4 ); File Number Two was CinC Plymouth (file 2/1)and related appointments there were (AS Devonport file 2/2 and so on); File Three was CinC Portsmouth (file 3/1) and so on for those authorities in that command area. The busiest file was File Number 7 (The Ships file); The NATO file was Number 14. Misfiling could cause a lot of wasted time subsequently and was thus an important element of the process. The files were kept in that form for immediate access for some weeks and then sent for binding and returned for some months, before leaving for historic storage elsewhere. No 3 Section staff would also locate and endorse former messages in the message files to assist No 1 section Marking staff, or also delve into The Roughs boxes if former quoted messages could not be found in the files, due to misfiling or misquotation.

No 4 Section. Despatch.

A hatch between the duplicating room was used to pass the typed and reproduced message copies to Section 4. Racking, Enveloping and Despatch of distributed messages around the HQ by using a long Post Office Sorting Room type rack of pigeonholes labelled up for all the Directorates etc., in The Admiralty from the First Sea Lord downwards. There were Lamson tubes to certain locations such as Director of Naval Operations and Trade and Military Branch (the busiest of the London Branches) to speed up delivery and there was also a messenger service every hour. The route for the “messenger barrow” sometimes had to use the old water pressure driven lift within the Admiralty Building, with its two ropes which needed a bit of skilful handling to get the lift to stop at the correct level.

Cryptography Section. Self explanatory function. Sometimes boosted by staff from other desks when changes were required to the crypto machines daily settings. There were some very experienced RN retired communications staff employed as Clerical Officers and others well versed in the reasons for why some incoming messages would not “break” i.e. decode. If there was a large backlog in the Coding office some outgoing messages would be edited to essentials by No 2 section desk. An example might be a complete crew change, where the names and ranks were important, but for an overseas ship the rest, such as baggage detail etc., could wait to be picked up at the next port of call. Such messages were normally walked down by a lady from Director of Movements in the evenings, already typed up on duplimats to assist War Registry reproduction processing – and they were often very long!

Exercises: No write up of the workings of a communications centre would be complete without reference to Exercises, especially in a Cold War era when such major pre-scripted tests were applied to the communications networks in an endeavour to assess the ability of such facilities to cope in The Four Minute Warning of Attack era. Detailed orders would be issued as to how messages, normal or Exercise, were to be handled. Messages, both real and Exercise could be Routine; Priority; Immediate; Emergency, or Flash. War Registry would have a normal load of outgoing messages being processed at a particular time, to be presented with a pile of Exercise messages from various parts of The Admiralty and elsewhere and to process them in the pre-determined manner. Something, no doubt, was learnt from such major exercises by the post exercise analyst teams to plan future communications facilities and build in appropriate network resilience.

Staffing Aspects:

Each Shift (of three A,B and C) had an Executive Officer; some ten Clerical Officers dealing with the desk sections and the coding work ; four typing staff and two or three duplicator operators and a Clerical Assistant on Section 4. I cannot recall the size of the Day Staff, but there were extra staff covering all the roles and a Messenger. Generally, desk staff stuck to their normal appointed Sections for efficiency reasons, certainly in the cryptography room. However, most staff were capable on most tasks and could move around to clear any build up, or backlogs, within the system. Staff were Positively Vetted, which became more rigorous after the John Vassal Spying case (1962) – he had worked in War Registry, prior to moving to other sensitive posts in the Admiralty Building, including the office of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty.

Summary of Experience.

On joining War Registry from school in 1959 I was the youngest member of the staff, and childhood Bermuda Dockyard experience enabled me to understand, from day one, the office chat by the more elderly experienced staff – many ex-RN communicators and indeed Dockyard staff who had left their tools behind in their Dockyards. It took me about two years under supervision to become a qualified "Marker" after moving through, and learning, the other section desks – starting with the filing section (supervised by an old hand for the first three months or so). Section one had a Marking Manual, it rarely kept up with the changes to the Admiralty organisation. There was a system of “Acquaints” issued by the Procedures Office which had to be checked on coming on duty, to note any revised instructions.

War Registry ceased in 1964 but we had to do the same task in Whitehall MOD Main Building with the formation of The Interim Manual Defence Communication Centre (DCC) under the Lord Mountbatten proposals. That was rather a difficult time for the first year, with the formation of MODUK; MODUK Navy; MODUK Army and MODUK Air, and message Markers had to learn new roles and deal with MODUK and all Three Single Services Message flows.

As the age of on-line encryption for many circuits and TARES (telegraph automatic relay equipment) advanced there were major changes in the role for many communications staff, but Terminal Message Handling and Distribution remained in the hands of Markers until Automated Terminal Message Handling arrived at MOD HQ. This new system was to be known as AMRAD - Automated Message Routing and Distribution. To prepare for the move to automation a three-letter code, a Delivery Indicator Group (DIG), was added to the first line of message texts, designed to be eventually computer read and thus enabling automated distribution (replacing manual marking intervention). For the first six months of operation of the new Interim Manual DCC in 1964/65, after introduction, this DIG system had to be over-ridden by Markers, as otherwise the messages, certainly in the case of the Admiralty, would not have reached those who needed to act. A decision was made “up the MOD management line” to force the use of DIGs with no intervention by Markers and thus distribution only to pre-formed distribution lists related to each DIG. This caused recipients of messages to complain that they now had to pass on incorrectly delivered messages. The DIG system took a couple of years to settle down and wrong delivery was gradually reduced. Those in charge realised that unless they forced the issue then automation would never work based upon the DIG system.

In 1967 I joined the automation (AMRAD) project team – there had been little understanding of the complexities of delivering messages to the various elements of the newly integrated MOD HQ in those days. Even after extensive trials in 1974 and returning to the Manual Communications Centre for a six-month rectification period we still had many staff dealing with messages which the computers rejected. AMRAD - initially could only process 40% of the incoming messages, as systems analysts had underestimated the skills and knowledge of the manual operators, and communication procedures overall. Later the DIG system was replaced by the SIC system (the NATO inspired Subject Indicator System) again with a three-letter code at the start of the text, which again had pre-set distribution loaded in the computers. The design team (RAF Medmenham), development (Marconi) and implementation challenges (the DCC staff) of the AMRAD system and its eventual success in service is quite another story worth documenting.

A War Registry "Marker" (Clerical Officer) in 1962 was not paid much for the responsibility held. Civil Establishments at Bath used to send me a pay reminder, when I was an “Esq”! - that was very short lived as we were soon retitled “Mr”. Pictures of War Registry may exist somewhere, but I have never seen any. However, someone did manage to capture a photograph of the most important and overworked staff element of the Typing and Duplicating section, and my future wife, who spent so many hours on the teleprinter link to Bath, can be noted therein – the blond!

Brian Hyde.