Overview

During the Second World War, Australia maintained a super-secret organisation, the Diplomatic (or `D’) Special Section, dedicated to breaking Japanese diplomatic codes. The Section has remained officially secret as successive Australian Governments have consistently refused to admit that Australia ever intercepted diplomatic communications, even in war-time. This book recounts the history of the Special Section and describes its code-breaking activities. It was a small but very select organisation, whose `technical’ members came from the worlds of Classics and Mathematics. It concentrated on lower-grade Japanese diplomatic codes and cyphers, such as J-19 (FUJI), LA and GEAM. However, towards the end of the war it also worked on some Soviet messages, evidently contributing to the effort to track down intelligence leakages from Australia to the Soviet Union. This volume has been produced primarily as a result of painstaking efforts by David Sissons, who served in the Section for a brief period in 1945. From the 1980s through to his death in 2006, Sissons devoted much of his time as an academic in the Department of International Relations at ANU to compiling as much information as possible about the history and activities of the Section through correspondence with his former colleagues and through locating a report on Japanese diplomatic codes and cyphers which had been written by members of the Section in 1946. Selections of this correspondence, along with the 1946 report, are reproduced in this volume. They comprise a unique historical record, immensely useful to scholars and practitioners concerned with the science of cryptography as well as historians of the cryptological aspects of the war in the Pacific. “This publication fills an important gap in the present available knowledge concerning code-breaking in Australia during World War II. It also gives overdue recognition to the important contribution made by David Sissons to this subject”. Professor John Mack, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney.

Full Product Details

Author:   Desmond Ball ,  Keiko Tamura
Publisher:   ANU Press
Imprint:   ANU Press
ISBN:  

9781925021073

ISBN 10:   1925021076
Pages:   200
Publication Date:   01 September 2013
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgements Acronyms and Abbreviations Chapter 1 . David Sissons and D Special Section Desmond Ball Chapter 2 . The Diplomatic Special Intelligence Section: Its Origins and History D.C.S. Sissons Chapter 3 . Japanese Diplomatic Cyphers: Cryptographic Survey Report Of Special Intelligence Section HQ Australian Military Forces Melbourne 1946 Annexes: Interviews, Correspondence and Notes Annex 1 . David Sissons to Alan Stripp, 9 November 1988 Annex 2 . Notes from an Interview with with Professor Arthur Dale Trendall by Desmond Ball on 10 May 1990 Annex 3 . David Sissons to Ian Smith, 3 August 1990 Annex 4 . Ian Smith to David Sissons, 8 August 1990 Annex 5 . Interview of Dr A . P . Treweek by David Sissons, 11 October 1990 Annex 6 . Ronald Bond, Notes on Sissons (3 August 1990), Smith (8 August 1990) and Treweek (11 October 1990), undated but probably late 1990 Annex 7 . David Sissons to Desmond Ball, 11 October 1993 Annex 8 . Steve Mason to David Sissons, 26 June 1994 Annex 9 . Steve Mason to Desmond Ball, 7 July 1995 Annex 10 . Ronald Bond to Desmond Ball, 29 September 1994 Annex 11 . David Sissons to Desmond Ball, 22 May 1996 Annex 12 . David Sissons to Desmond Ball, 9 September 1996 Annex 13 . David Sissons to Desmond Ball, 16 October 1996 Annex 14 . David Sissons to Desmond Ball, 23 March 1998 Annex 15 . David Sissons to Kenneth McKay, 9 November 2004 Annex 16 . Notes on the Breaking of GEAM Using the 'Winds - Set-Up' Message Annex 17 . David Sissons to Kenneth McKay, 28 November 2004 Annex 18 . David Sissons to Kenneth McKay, 19 December 2004

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