A POTTED HISTORY OF FCO COMMUNICATIONS Part 2
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FOREWORD The writing of the first booklet of the Communications Centre (Comcen) ‘story’ was completed in August 2004 (From Telegrams to eGrams), and took the reader from the very earliest days of communications operations in the Foreign Office up to relatively modern times, i.e. 2004. FCO Library and Records Department (as existed then) placed a copy of that booklet into the National Archives in February 2005 as part of the official record of FCO formal communications and more recently (2016), a copy has been placed on the website issuu.com/fcohistorians by the FCO department responsible for overseeing the preservation of historical documents, the Knowledge Management Department. This second booklet is intended to take the reader through the next part of the story, from Summer 2004 to the closure of the Comcen on 30th March 2012, which brings to an end the use of professional communicators, mostly ex-Forces, working within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office domain. At this point in time, the manual element of providing highly secure communications to all of our posts and missions abroad and in and around Whitehall ceased. During its time, the professional communicators provided a service that was the envy of the diplomatic world. IT finally claimed the role of ‘sole message runner’ for diplomatic messages, known always as ‘Telegrams’ from the manner in which they were transmitted and received in the early days of worldwide communications. eGrams would merge into the new formal communications media: Diptels. So, what goes around comes around. Diplomatic Telegrams in a shortened title form returns.
Bill Bill Dunningham 1 March 2017
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Contents A brief look back Where we left off ETelegrams Putting together eGrams Staffing issues The London Bombing of 7 July 2005 The Lyon's Review Switching off the Ferranti MHS Life after the MHS Building a New Comcen The New Comcen Chronology Some anecdotes COMCEN Display Cabinets The Last Word
4 11 11 12 13 14 14 15 18 21 22 24 29 32 34
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A brief look back … One essential ability any national Foreign Service department must have is fast and very secure communication links to its outposts around the world. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has possessed this ability since its very early days. It is known that on his appointment to Rome in 1479, John Shirwood became the first resident English Ambassador. In 1505, John Stile, appointed by Henry VII as ambassador to Spain, became the first English ambassador resident at a secular court. By the reign of Elizabeth I, further resident ambassadors had been appointed to Vienna, Venice, France and Constantinople and the outline of a network of foreign embassies was thereby established. During 1640, the Northern and Southern Departments were created in London to care for this fledgling collection of diplomatic outposts. In 1782, the Northern Department became the Foreign Office housed at Cleveland Row, St James’s. There were further moves to the Cockpit, Whitehall in 1786 and to Downing Street and Fludyer Street in 1793. Downing Street and its environs in those days was a much less salubrious place than in present times being full of public houses such as the Cat and Bagpipes and Rose and Crown. In 1801, Colonial Affairs became the responsibility of the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and the term Colonial Office began to come into common usage. So, in those distant days, how would essential communications have been passed between the infant embassies and their masters in London? Well – the only possible way to pass instructions, information and intelligence would have been via human means, i.e. a courier carrying messages in a secure pouch, using ships to travel from England to reach distant countries and horses to travel between ports and destination embassies. In some cases, this would mean riding through war zones and wilderness areas. On occasion they would fall prey to attack by bandits or warlords. This would have made it very difficult to initiate new policies in a timely manner, or make changes to existing policies. Heads of Mission would have had to conduct their affairs in general accordance with the last known wishes of ministers in London. The first distinct organisation of King’s Messengers for overseas use came in 1772 when the Secretaries of State for the Northern and Southern Departments were granted 16 of the 40 King’s Messengers. Their trips were expensive and dangerous. In 1775, a journey from London to Paris is recorded as costing £48.10.8, while a Messenger’s journey to St Petersburg in 1780 cost £459.3.4. There were numerous fatalities in the line of duty. One Messenger en-route to St Petersburg actually died of fatigue following a continuous journey of 23 days and nights. Following the invention of electrical telegraphy in the 1830s, the telegram system was first used by the Foreign Office in 1852. The first successful submarine cables were laid across the Channel in 1850 and the Atlantic in 1858 (updated between 1866 and 1874 by Brunel’s revolutionary iron ship, The Great Eastern). In December of 1852 the Paris Embassy became the first British mission abroad to send a telegram to the Foreign Office, forwarding an announcement from the Governor of Malta on the arrest of a public figure. Telegraphic communication with Florence, Berlin and Vienna followed in 1853. At this time, the messages came first to commercial telegraph offices, the Electric Telegraph Company or the Submarine Telegraph Company, and were then delivered to the Foreign Office. By 1859, cables had been laid connecting Great Britain with Constantinople and Suez. In 1862 it was believed that 150,000 miles of telegraph cables were in existence throughout the world. Messages which had taken months to arrive could be transmitted in as many hours, and by the end of the century, in just a
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few minutes. By the end of the 19th century, telegraphy was the accepted essential form of world-wide communications.
The above is a copy of what is recognised as the first electronically transmitted Diplomatic Telegram, sent from the Paris Embassy by HMA, the Earl of Malmesbury in December 1852 – recovered from The National Archives. The text reads: ‘A message from the Governor of Malta dated 1st announces that Galliard is arrested.’ However, even by 1858 the new telegraphy system was still not seen by all as being the fast messenger of the system that the Office needed. The new medium was regarded with suspicion by Edmund Hammond, then Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign Office who told a Parliamentary Committee ‘No, we do not have the Electric Telegraph in the office: provision was made to admit of its coming in [to the proposed new Foreign Office building] because it was right and proper to make it, but I hope it will never come in’. Hammond further commented ‘I dislike the telegraph very much because you get nothing on sufficient record which passes by the telegraph and you are
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very much tempted to answer off-hand points which had much better be considered. I think the tendency of the telegraph is to make every person in a hurry and I do not know that with our business it is very desirable that that should be so’. But despite Hammond’s misgivings, a branch of the Electric Telegraph Company was installed in the Foreign Office soon afterwards and by 1861, telegrams were an integral part of the communications systems connecting the Office with missions abroad. This would have effectively been the first FCO Communication Centre (Comcen). In 1870, the General Post Office took over responsibility for telegraphs from the commercial telegraph companies. Foreign Office accounts for the year 1871-2 show that over £4,900 was spent on the transmission of telegrams. The telegraphic address for the FCO: PRODROME LONDON was registered in 1884 with PRODROME followed by the name of the mission for telegrams from the Office. This convention was subsequently followed for Telex answerbacks. However, there was great concern that telegraph cables could always be cut during period of hostility and the disruption this could bring would be a bit of a nightmare. Therefore, Guglielmo Marconi’s proposal for the establishment of a chain of high-power wireless telegraphy stations throughout the British Empire was met with a remarkably positive attitude by government. On 19th May 1911, a committee consisting of representatives of the Admiralty, War Office, Colonial Office, India Office, Foreign Office, Post Office and the Board of Trade signed a report approving Marconi’s proposals and advising state ownership of the new system from the outset. These plans were implemented and were further developed by the establishment of the Cable and Wireless Company in 1928, which fused in one undertaking all of the cable and wireless interests between the various parts of the British Empire. From 1914, telegrams and despatches were listed and numbered in separate annual series. This would have been the beginning of use of Telegram Numbers as commonly known now. In 1920, the handling of telegrams was divided between the Registry (receipt and registration) and the newly-established ‘Kings Messengers and Communications Department’ – known simply as Communication Department from 1923. All telegrams were copied in the Distribution Room of Communications Department and circulated as required. The more important of the day’s telegrams and despatches were reproduced on printed sheets known as daily print sections and circulated to the Prince of Wales, to members of the Cabinet and sometimes to missions abroad. The first telegrams from the Office were sent en-clair and received by the Foreign Office on commercial telegraph forms, but certain missions were also able to send telegrams in cypher from a very early stage. On 12 July 1853 for instance, Lord Westmoreland reported from Vienna regarding a secret despatch of 2 July in enciphered form. In 1932, Post Office Telephones informed the Foreign Office of a newly introduced service called ‘Telex’ which was a form of ‘typewriting over telephone wires’. A demonstration was offered but the Chief Clerk refused it in a manner reminiscent of Edmund Hammond, saying ‘that it does not appear that this service would be suitable for introduction into the Foreign Office”. On 14 May 1940 however the BBC Teleprinter Distribution system linked the Foreign Office with the Ministry of Information and four years later, internal communication in the Office was boosted by the installation of a Pneumatic Tube system.
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This photo shows Comcen staff cyphering and deciphering telegrams in the Locarno Suite during the Second World War.
The outbreak of war in 1939 imposed enormous pressure on the Communications Department and although it was recognised that the standard of proficiency was high and its cyphering speed was far ahead of any other government department, there were complaints of congestion and delay due to the sheer amount of telegram traffic being received and sent. To house the extra work, Communications Department took over two rooms of the Locarno Suite. To improve efficiency and speed of handling telegrams during this period, major reforms including the introduction of ‘modern installations and appliances on an appropriate but not extravagant scale’ were recommended and carried out during the war years.
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A diplomatic telegram awaiting manual decyphering by code book.
During the post-war austerity period, there were frequent requests for economy in the use of telegrams. In 1950, 225 members of staff (examiners, cypher operators, teleprinter operators etc.) were engaged in outward despatch procedures at the Foreign Office and a further 1-200 abroad. A one-page telegram of 350-400 words then took between 40 minutes to 2 hours to encipher and cost £25 to transmit to Lima – and just over £3 to Cairo. In view of the expense, greater use of the Diplomatic Bag service was recommended. After the occupation of France in 1940, the government asked the armed forces to establish communications with remaining allies and agents in Europe. This gave rise to a global military communications network using High Frequency (HF) radio and Morse code which operated from Hanslope Park. Following the takeover of this network by the newly established Diplomatic Wireless Service in 1947, it was expanded and the flow of classified traffic was considerably increased by the introduction of a basic machine cypher in the 1950s. Foreign Office communications were revolutionised by the development in 1963 of a teleprinter-based HF radio system called PICCOLO which would replace labour-intensive Morse code – and by the provision in 1964 of on-line cypher protection for plain text during transmission which hugely speeded up the process of encryption and decryption. Facsimile made its debut in the Office during the 1980s – both unclassified and classified. At UKREP Brussels during 1989, Comms section there were handling about 200 pages of unclassified fax material per day. Two years later, this had grown to 2,000 pages per day! This rapid growth was reflected in many other areas of the Office. It had become plain that proper investigation of the fledgling email systems popping up in businesses around the world needed to be explored as a possible carrier of the many, many pages of documentation issued by the FCO to its Embassies and institutions around the world. During 1989, the EU began sending some Unclassified EU documents to Brussels Embassies via an early form of email. This was promptly reported on back to London and Hanslope Park, the site of TSD, the FCO Services Technical department.
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Craning the Ferranti Comcen computers into the Office, 1986-1987.
The first major computer-based communications systems were installed in the FCO in 1986-7 (the Ferranti Comcen Message Switch) to provide a fully operational Message Handling System operating at up to Top Secret from August 1987. MK1A units to receive and to send diplomatic telegrams classified up to Top Secret were installed in all of the major Embassies and institutions abroad, with the roll-out extending to smaller posts quickly following on. The system software was sufficiently flexible to allow a number of upgrades over the years which speeded up delivery of telegrams considerably to missions abroad. This system was the envy of other Foreign Ministries for many years providing speedy support to all missions abroad and also to mobile Comcens set up very quickly at various meetings around the world such as CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government) and EU meetings outside of Brussels. The Comcen Message Switch would run until 5th June 2006. By employing a suite of three computers, one (a) on-line, another (b) acting as a ‘feeder’ for the other two and the third (c) just keeping up with things. When the on-line computer failed the secondary computer (c) automatically kicked in having been kept up to date by the central (b) computer. The Technicians would then get the (a) computer up and running again, chopping from (c) to (a) when ready. In this manner, computer use was virtually unchecked throughout its life. On-line usage was assessed as in excess of 99.5%, an amazing accomplishment, particularly so as the computer suite remained in use well past its theoretical shelf life. Constant updates to the system were put in place to speed things up, most taking the form of automating one or more parts of the system including those parts of the system delivering telegrams direct to departments, senior users and other government departments (OGDs). FCO telegrams were seen as being extremely important to the running of Number 10 Downing Street and whenever the electronic feed dropped out, plan B had to come into instant operation, i.e. delivering the telegrams in paper copy form until normal service was resumed.
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Inserting copies of telegrams into boxes to be delivered to FCO departments and Other Government Departments.
On 15 December 1982, Comcen staff were honoured by a visit by HM The Queen.
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Where we left off … and what came next The previous history booklet took the reader up to August 2004, when the old Comcen Ferranti Message Handling System (MHS) was finally starting its inevitable decline. ETelegrams had been successfully trialled, eGrams piloted and with the rollout proper just getting underway. The Comcen (Communications Centre) was moving into the period that was to bring about a huge change in the way it carried out its business – moving to a much higher degree of automated working where equipment would be monitored, and only attended when something actually needed to be done to keep the flow of traffic under way. So, now we should look closer at these two major strands of work, how Comcen staff dealt with them – and how they affected their work.
ETelegrams … The very first foray into distributing telegrams around the FCO by electronic means was in 1992, by using a form of diskFax linked into telephone lines. Once received, FCO departments could then upload their telegrams into their Aramis departmental IT systems for wider distribution. This system was then further developed into a system called SWIFT, fully outlined in Booklet 1, which became effective during the mid1990s. The move to develop eTelegrams (Diplomatic Telegrams sent via IT systems) was effectively the Comcen’s first venture into sending telegrams over the FCO global secure email system. The general idea was that telegrams would pass from the Ferranti Comcen Message Handling System (MHS) into gateways that would then direct them into Firecrest (the FCO IT system) which would carry them to their final destinations, to FCO departments, to all 250 plus missions abroad and to other government departments (OGDs) around the UK. This system was an essential step towards the eventual successor of a major part of the work of the MHS: the new eGrams. This project was overseen and funded by ITSU (the IT Strategy Unit). ETelegrams was a big success with the pilot posts, and showed that it was fully possible to deliver Telegrams via the FCO Comcen message handling system using current FCO email systems. The major plus was that for the first time, posts were opening up their missions in the morning and their telegrams were already waiting for them on their email system Registry account. It was then just a matter of Registry staff carrying out their own internal distribution within each post. The pilot posts were very enthusiastic about this new service seeing the simplification of processes as a real step forward. Based on these results, Comcen commenced a programme that would bring all of the other posts over to the new system on the lead-in to full eGrams. This would give all of our missions the opportunity to get used to receiving their telegrams over the Firecrest email systems – there wouldn’t be a sudden shock once posts were asked to migrate fully to eGrams. Comcen and ITSU were also pleased with the affect this move to eTelegrams had on Comcen as more and more posts moved onto eTelegrams; with the decline in numbers of daily contacts, Comcen manpower was freed-up for other tasks. As less staff were needed to service the activity with posts, Comcen were able to cut the amount of overtime they were having to spend on filling shift slots. They were able to demonstrate that best use was being made of resources. But of course, eTelegrams still relied upon the now aged Ferranti MHS, now into its 20th year of Comcen use – perhaps some kind of record for a major government computer system. It certainly shows that
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the software was extremely well thought out, allowing for the flexibility to add-on various other hardware and programmes – and the ability to fully control the flow of traffic in different ways. So, the period from mid-2004 to mid-2006 became a period of great change within the Comcen and in the way they transferred telegram traffic between the FCO and missions abroad. The differences in operation were gradual rather than instant. Posts were moving from direct contacts with Comcen to eTelegrams at the rate of only one or two a week.
Putting together eGrams … As early as mid-2002, the project was started to find a replacement for the processing of Diplomatic Telegrams which would allow the Ferranti MHS to be finally turned off and put out to grass. Meetings took place between ITSU and Comcen management along with some ‘outside’ IT expertise. Early brainstorming sessions quickly put together a wish-list of what it was believed the new system would need to be able to accomplish. It was decided that the new system would be called ‘eGrams’. In fairly short time IT consultants produced a first diagram of the type of environment which would be needed with some ideas on hardware and software. Throughout the next few months, eGrams was slowly but steadily improved in shape and design and as ITSU became aware of the true size of the requirement, so a decision was taken to turn eGrams into an official project. The project was to be headed by the IT Strategy Unit (later to become the IT Directorate), with a project team consisting of members of ITSU and Comcen. Outside IT consultants moved into a couple of offices at Hanslope Park and set about putting together the hardware and writing the software for eGrams, and producing the environment they would need to carry out testing of the early versions of eGrams as they were produced. Funding was obtained from ITSU to move the project forward. The project was well and truly under way. Over the next two years, the shape of eGrams was subtly changed and changed again as it was updated by the input of new ideas, most originating from those at home and abroad who would actually be users of the new system. For the first time, telegram originators would be able to incorporate email attachments to their telegrams. This could be helpful if they wished to include items such as local newspaper clippings, photographs, maps and even electronic copies of treaties. Yet, we still needed to ensure these messages could still travel to destinations outside of the FCO network, to all of the OGDs around Whitehall who also needed to see the product gathered from all around the world and its various institutions such as the EU, NATO and UN. Things were starting to get complicated and much thinking was beginning to have to take place ‘out of the box’. Other complementary work had to be undertaken such as the production of a written eGrams Guidance document – which would in effect take over from much of our own ‘DSP Telegrams’. This would be an essential tool for eGrams originators. Post, department and OGD addresses had to be entered into the email GAL (global address list) – importantly, current Collective Distribution Lists needed to be transferred from the MHS onto the GAL so that departmental and post originators could append their own distributions to eGrams. The links to OGDs through the government secure email systems had to be explored and OGDs convinced of the need for them to buy into what was then very new government technology. As early as August 2003, it became plain that Comcen would need to discuss changing the present arrangement of supplying 12
communications staff to man and run the Cabinet Office Comcen. It was appearing likely that Comcen staff would be in a redundancy situation once eGrams fully took over and those members of staff currently seconded to the Cabinet Office Comcen would also have to have the opportunity to bid. FCO Human Resources were having to look closely at this issue and determine exactly how the manpower situation would eventually need to pan out. Life was getting complicated. The politics of change also began to fully engage ITSU and Comcen management. It was not enough to simply produce a new system for all of our global Office to use. It was essential that post and mission’s thoughts and ideas were pulled into the eGrams ‘recipe’ along with home departments. It was necessary to canvas posts to find out their thoughts of what their new ‘tool’ should look like and be able to achieve. They needed to have their input, and inclusion of their thoughts should inevitably lead to a better system from the user point of view. As the eGrams system took shape, ITSU provided staff from the Smarter Working team to carry out demonstrations for home departments and some posts to obtain valuable feed-back on their perceptions of eGrams, and to give staff the opportunity to suggest any changes they would like to see. However, the sheer range of differences of opinion and expectation was enormous. Some individuals would have liked to see a new telegram template that was in a very simple form, easy to manipulate and distribute (similar to the existing Telegram form). Others wanted eGrams to perform with all of the attributes of Microsoft email – and more, at a very high security level. The full spectrum between these two far points was filled by yet other options. The debate then hotted up and gained focus, enabling final decisions to be made on the eGrams template to be used, and how the system would work. Eventually, in August 2004, eGrams was ready to pilot with a couple of volunteer departments and a post – namely, AD(E), the PUS’s Private Office and Accra. Hopefully this would provide ITSU and Comcen with some definite answers regarding the ease of use – and confirm the hardware and software could do all that was asked of it. To everyone’s relief, the pilot was a complete success. There were lots of supporting statements indicating that staff globally liked the product. It was novel – and easy to use within the Firecrest Office IT system, manipulating texts with Microsoft Windows products. The optimism barometer was rising. However, looking back with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps the pilot had been a little too limited. The range of staff seeing the new product had been relatively quite small – and therefore, so was the range of the feedback. Mid-2005, the rollout proper of eGrams got under way. Like all government departments, money was tight in the FCO. So now, the Office started to look seriously at how financial benefits could accrue from eGrams.
Staffing issues … The one obvious benefit of eGrams was expected to be in the form of reduced Comcen staffing since the new system would be mostly automatic, with staff only required to monitor and react only when necessary, as faults and problems arose. It was decided at meetings with FCO Services and the Trades Union that Comcen staffing numbers should be cut from 55 (including Cabinet Office staff numbers) up to September 2005, to 33 as we moved into March 2006, this being the numbers expected to be required to manage a new Comcen with a much reduced input to the running of the system.
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The Cabinet Office Comcen was also staffed by FCO professional communicators. Following meetings between FCO management and the Cabinet Office, it was decided that the Cabinet Office Comcen would close with all traffic being delivered to officers by other means.
The London bombing of 7 July 2005 … A further major event took place as the redundancy round was working through: the 7th July London bombing of 2005. This was to have an unexpected affect on Comcen staffing. Early in August, Comcen management received a visit from a senior member of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch. The Scotland Yard Comcen had been absolutely inundated with traffic concerning the bombing and they badly needed reinforcements, security vetted to Top Secret level, to keep on top of this urgent and sensitive work. Some members of staff had been unable to get home for days. Most were on their last legs. Scotland Yard had already approached other appropriately cleared departments but they were also very busy because of the bombing and couldn’t spare any staff to help out. Scotland Yard therefore requested manpower assistance from the FCO. At this time, Comcen already had a lot going on including a heightened level of their own traffic, closure of the Cabinet Office Comcen and return of staff from there to the FCO Comcen – and the redundancy round. Comcen management discussed the Metropolitan Police predicament and came to the conclusion that although Comcen couldn’t really spare them any manpower it was felt that under the circumstances there was a moral need for Comcen to act to assist. What MPSB were doing was ultimately extremely important on a wider basis to the country; the issue of dealing with terrorism on our own doorstep was now right in everyone’s faces - and Comcen management felt morally obliged to support that fight. Comcen management therefore asked for volunteers to support the Met Special Branch Comcen for about three months whilst they went through a rapid recruitment process to boost their own numbers. When staff were spoken to about the new need, it was pleasing to see that there were more than enough members stepping forward to help fill the breach, even though they knew they would be facing an unfamiliar Comcen in chaos which could only result in a great deal of unremitting toil for a number of months – but they obviously felt the same as Comcen management, i.e. that this was an issue that just had to be supported. It transpired that the work of the Comcen volunteers to the MPSB Comcen saved their day giving them the time to interview and take on new staff to fill the gaps and to process the high levels of message traffic quickly and efficiently.
The Lyons’ Review … It had earlier been decided by the Lyons’ Review that the Comcen would be one of the departments that should move to a location outside of London – i.e. in the Comcen case, to Hanslope Park where a small ‘stand-by’ Comcen already existed. The Lyons’ Review was set in train to make decisions about which functions, right across all government departments, could be moved out of London – for reasons of protection from acts of terrorism, and also of course for financial reasons; real estate in London being very expensive. The Comcen move to Hanslope Park was set to take place towards the end of 2007, when a newly built ICT building would be completed. A great deal of thought had to be put into ‘how’ the Comcen could move into new premises so far away without
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disrupting the service too much. Decisions had to be made about the amount of space that would be needed, and how the ‘kit’ could be fitted in. There were also staffing issues to consider, particularly for those who lived well south of the Thames. For some, this would be just too far to travel to work their shifts. It was plain that further meetings with HRG (Human Resources Group – part of FCO Services) would need to take place to determine just how these issues could be properly managed. As the Comcen moved into 2006, things began to quieten down a bit. Those who had accepted redundancy moved on to take up new challenges, staff returned from the Metropolitan Police HQ in Scotland Yard, new solutions to suit lower staffing levels were set in place with Service Level Agreements for Cabinet Office and No 10. The eGrams rollout was going well – to OGDs as well as to the FCO departments and posts. As a consequence of this, activity on the Ferranti MHS was proportionately decreasing. Staff had been lost through the redundancy round but this was evened out by the fact that post contacts were becoming less and less. Work levels for individuals remaining about the same throughout.
Switching off the Ferranti MHS … During the second quarter of 2006, the rollout of eGrams was completed and it was decided that the Ferranti MHS could finally be switched off. It had proved to be a quite extraordinary system, serving over 10 years beyond its expected operational life – processing approximately 2.5 million messages for each of those 20+ years. The ‘online’ figures for its lifetime were an incredible 99.999%. Extremely reliable. Should one computer suite crash, the workload was immediately taken up by the standby suite – and the engineers set to work putting things right. Comcen only suffered a dual-suite crash about once a year, and these were only of a very short term duration. The Ferranti MHS system had provided the FCO with a global communications system between the Office, posts abroad, international institutions and OGDs that was the envy of just about all of the diplomatic world. However, sadly, it had now come to the end of its use. New technology was fast taking over. The day for the switch-off was set as 5 June 2006. On the fateful day, the switch-off was carried out by Nick Westcott, the then Director and Head of ITSU, with one of the on-shift Techs throwing the actual switch causing the MDS computer suite to go into terminal decline. It was interesting to note that having switched off the computer, little red numbers continued to pass through the viewing panel – as though it had taken on a life of its own! Apparently, it was still carrying out calculations in its head – and these only ceased when the actual power was turned off. It fell to the Senior Comcen Engineer and his team to dismantle the MHS and peripheral bits and pieces, both in London and Hanslope Park, and arrange for its disposal. Once this was achieved, the Comcen engineers then set about improving the Comcen ergonomics, managing to do a huge amount with almost zero resources – some items borrowed from here, some retrieved from skips and cages there! Gradually, the Comcen was turned into a much better place to work. Elements of the Comcen Message Handling System computers were passed on to the Historical Computer Rooms at Bletchley Park and placed on view to visitors.
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Some of the Comcen shift of the day and management plus some ITSU and our IT consultancy representatives with Nick Westcott Head of ITSU.
Chris Webb holding up the very last log of computer transactions from the Message Distribution Suite.
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Ferranti Argos 700 Control monitor.
Kevin Davies doing the deed - turning off the power to the Comcen Message Handling System computers, 5th June 2006.
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Life after the Ferranti MHS … Once the Comcen was sorted out, life settled down a little more. The biggest issue confronting Comcen management now was probably the proposed move to Hanslope Park. Comcen had undergone various visits in the past from Home Estates Department with electronic tape measures and reams of impressive looking plans. It appeared that there was a grand vision that had the Comcen morphing into an impressive conference centre, with the Comcen management offices turning into break-out rooms and smaller conference rooms etc. It was looked upon as a very desirable space which could enhance FCO proceedings. However, eventually, the decision was taken not to transfer the Comcen to Hanslope Park; it was decided that space was already tight in the new building, Comcen already had an appropriate location – and it did not therefore seem worth spending the large amount it would take to re-cable and re-build at Hanslope Park. This left Comcen then, in September 2007, well aware that services were on the horizon that would eventually lead to the decommissioning of the Comcen in its entirety. Part of our task would be to keep the ‘old’ running as the ‘new’ took off – until all of the old became new. ITSU had been raising discussions with Comcen management focusing on how work should move forward to actually close the Comcen completely. Obviously this would depend upon newer systems being identified and coming online to take over all of the tasks of the Comcen, ensuring that very secure means were utilised. ITSU were working hard meeting with OGDs to identify how this might be managed. Ideas started to take shape looking at how the FCO upper IT levels could be beefed up using stronger crypto algorithms etc. However, the problems were numerous and difficult. To take the Comcen out of the distribution equation, it would be necessary for all Posts, FCO departments and all OGDs on the FCO telegram distribution lists to be able to communicate on similar equipment on which they could read and in most cases, originate message traffic. This was the major problem for ITSU – but they would be successful in solving it, improving things by taking manual Comcen operations out of the equation for the Comcen, Posts and OGDs, putting diplomatic telegrams directly into the hands of desk officers’ Firecrest PCs at home and abroad, with really high-level traffic being handled on other, extremely secure IT systems. From October 2007 through to the end of the first quarter of 2008, Comcen management were working hard to identify all of the lines of work that need to be carried out to ensure the business could continue securely through the next 5 years at least. This involved identifying and putting in place a replacement for the secure systems used with our smaller posts and replace certain ageing cypher equipment with other larger posts. Work moved ahead steadily on all of these fronts with Comcen liasing closely with FCO Services ICT Group to deal with the technical issues and to fulfil the rollout requirement. On the Comcen location side of things, it had long been felt that Comcen took up a huge amount of prime real estate which could well help to ease the Office’s space problems if it could be re-developed. From Comcen point of view, the Comcen offices had not been re-furbished since it was put in place 25 years ago. Meetings took place within the Investment Committee and between Security and Estates Directorate and Comcen – and it was agreed that funds would be made available to move the Comcen operation into a re-furbished, new, much smaller set of rooms and the old Comcen site would be re-developed into office space, building upwards to perhaps 3 floors. The
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current Comcen operation had already been condensed down simply to the main traffic hall. During February 2008, it became evident that the IT Department (ITD) who were responsible for the Comcen service and its funding were keen to place all of the Comcen services onto IT platforms – and that that was the right way forward was obvious to all. All that stood in the way were current practices for handling very secure material. So that’s where the conversations started – how to automate those practices in a safe and secure manner, through IT means. During September 2009, the eGrams team continued to busy themselves creating a new product designed to run on the 3rd generation of Firecrest. However, as a check before proceeding further, ITD commissioned a study to confirm that the Office still required eGrams in its present form, or whether some different flavours were now needed to be fed into the mix. At about that point, the author fully retired – so my personal oversight of the continuing work to pull all of the FCO formal communications onto IT platforms came to a halt. However, it is a matter of record that the Comcen operation moved from its original site (WH135) to its new site in a single much smaller room opposite during January and February 2009. Meanwhile, the IT Department continued to work flat out to identify a secure way of placing all of the Telegram operations, from Unclassified to Top Secret onto standardised FCO PC equipment and were succeeding a step at a time. This would place all of the work previously carried out by communications professionals onto FCO department members and the IT department. Telegram originators would apply addresses, texts and full distributions (including OGDs) before sending a telegram via the appropriate PC method. Eventually, the task was fully complete – all FCO departments had migrated to the new systems and the Comcen could be closed. Simon Fraser, CMG, Permanent Under-Secretary of State wrote in his quarterly update to Sir Richard Ottaway MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee: ‘After 61 years of continuous service, the FCO’s Communication Centre (ComCen) closed on 30th March 2012. The ComCen played a critical part in keeping our global network in touch. The need for the ComCen has gradually diminished through advances in technology and new ways of working.’ -----oOo-----
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The pictures below show the layout of the original Comcen during February 2008, how it was up to the point of the Comcen move to its new location in the FCO Main Building early 2009 – graphically illustrating the amount of hard graft needing to be undertaken by the engineers.
The Comcen from the DSO’s dais. In earlier days, there would have been as many as 25 Comcen members of staff carrying out various strands of manual work in the main Comcen and other rooms used for Communications such as the Off-line communications rooms and Telegram Distribution Section. With the SWIFT computer automated systems taking up a lot of the work, the Comcen staff input was very much reduced.
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The Comcen Operations Manager, at work in the eGrams area. Ten years earlier, there would have been as many as fifteen persons on shift running the various strands of work linking the FCO to posts and missions abroad and OGDs around the UK.
Building a new Comcen … So, a new Comcen site was chosen to enable the large main Comcen site to be used by the Office to house other department functions. The rooms chosen were originally part of the Comcen’s sites housing Off-line crypto rooms and Engineering rooms. Up to early June 2008 there were a number of meetings between Comcen and HES (Home Estates Dept). The new Comcen site was emptied of legacy systems still operating there, the Faraday cage removed and the rooms stripped back to bare walls. For the first time for many years, sunlight was making its way through dirty, cobwebbed windows, into the room. The intention was to retain as much real daylight as possible, bearing in mind the need for screening for security reasons. Reports were passed by HES up to the FCO Board regarding progress. The board retained a real interest in progress. The possibility existed that office space could be built in the ‘old’ Comcen area to house between 100 – 120 members of staff. With the current very high costs of office space in London, moving the Comcen was opening up the possibility of making much more of the existing FCO main building than had been possible in the past. The first task was to tidy up the new Comcen site, removing unnecessary girders and creating openings between rooms where they are needed. The photograph below shows the area being worked on.
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The New Comcen … The move to the new Comcen took place in the first 2 months of 2009. The handover from the builders to the Comcen took place on Wednesday 26 November 2009.
So, the above picture shows the very last Comcen that saw action for the Foreign and Commonwealth, ensuring that the need for fast and secure communications continued to be met – right up to the point where IT means was capable of taking over the task completely. Those who worked their shifts in the Comcen understood fully the importance of carrying out their work efficiently and securely – that all of the important strands of diplomacy, all of the plots being hatched abroad – were passing through their
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hands. Thousands of telegrams a day passed through the Comcen flowing outward to Embassies and organisations such as the EU and the UN. Others flowed inward from embassies and organisations on their way to FCO departments and other government departments such as No 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, Department of Trade etc. The Comcen kept government informed on a wide scale – and kept Great Britain abroad informed of UK government thinking and guided the way forward. The Comcen staff enabled all of this - they did their work well and all can be proud of being a part of that regime.
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Chronology (compiled by Ailsa Miller, KMD)… Below is a chronology of significant happenings at the FCO, with particular regard to the ‘communications operation’. 1253 1497 1640 1772
The first mention of a King’s Secretary in relation to Foreign Affairs. The first resident English Ambassador appointed to Rome. The Northern and Southern Departments created. The Secretaries of State for the Northern and Southern Departments are granted the services of 16 of the 40 King’s Messengers for use overseas. 1782 The Northern Department becomes the Foreign Office, housed in Cleveland Row. Charles James Fox is appointed the first Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 1786 Foreign Office moves to Cockpit, Whitehall. 1793 A further move to Downing Street and Fludyer Street. 1801 The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies assumes responsibility for Colonial Affairs – the name Colonial Office comes into common use. 1839 The Foreign Office and Colonial Office buildings are condemned as unfit and unsafe in a Select Committee on Public Offices report. 1850 Submarine telegraph cables laid across the channel. 1851 On 19 December 1852 the first telegram is sent by Lord Cowley, Paris to Lord Malmesbury at the Foreign Office. 1852 Until this time, the carriage of despatches from London to the continent was an expensive undertaking in terms of time, money and human life. Clerks used goose or crow feather quill pens to take dictation from the Secretary of State and would then copy the text into a large leather-bound register before sealing and addressing the original for the recipient abroad. Despatches were sent and received by mail by King’s (or Queen’s) Messengers. The financial cost of these journeys (e.g. £48.10s.8d London to Paris in 1775 and £459.3s.4d London to St Petersburg in 1780) was nothing compared to the human cost: George Sparrow robbed of his despatches and stabbed to death in Sicily in 1807; George Lyell murdered ‘by desperados’ in Madrid in 1815; and Thomas Brown died of fatigue after a journey of 23 days and nights to St Petersburg in 1820. 1856 An open competition announced for new offices to be built on the site between Parliament Street and St James’s Park. 1858 Telegraph cables laid across the Atlantic. 1859 Cables connect Great Britain with Constantinople and Suez. Late 1850s A branch of the Electric Telegraph Company installed in the Foreign Office. 1860 Telegrams become an integral part of communications between London and missions abroad – effectively the first COMCEN. 1868 Foreign Office moves into the new building. 1869 The General Post Office takes over responsibility for telegraphs from commercial companies. 1871-2 Foreign Office accounts for this year show over £4,900 spent on telegrams. 1878 Telegram use now so widespread they begin to be numbered like despatches and some missions handle several hundred each year.
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1884 The telegraphic address PRODROME (from the Greek prodromos meaning precursor) is registered. 1889 The first typist, Miss Sophia Fulcher, appointed. She and later colleagues were known as ‘Lady Typewriters’. 1898-9 First telephone installed in the Foreign Office by the National Telephone Company – the number was Westminster 415. 1906 The Treasury sanctions ‘installation of a system of telephonic communications in the Foreign Office’ and ‘a female Switch Clerk’ to be employed in return for the abolition of a Home Service messenger as soon as a vacancy occurred. 1906 Telegrams arriving during the day are handled by the newly established General Registry instead of being delivered direct to individual departments. Night time telegrams remain the responsibility of the Resident Clerks. 1907 The Foreign Office telephone system is extended and a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) installed. 1911 The security of telegraph cables is of concern to the government and on 19 May a committee consisting of representatives from the Admiralty, War Office, Colonial Office, India Office, Foreign Office, Post Office and the Board of Trade sign a report approving Marconi’s proposals for the establishment of a chain of high power wireless telegraphy stations throughout the British Empire, under state ownership. 1914 Telegrams and despatches are numbered in separate annual series – the beginning of the use of telegram numbers. 1920 The handling of telegrams was divided between the Registry (receipt and registration) and the King’s Messenger and Communications Department – renamed Communications Department in 1923 (deciphering and despatch). 1928 Wireless telegraphy plans developed further by the establishment of the Cable and Wireless Company which combined all cable and wireless interests, conducting communications throughout the British Empire. 1932 Post Office Telephones offers the Foreign Office a demonstration of a newly introduced service called ‘Telex’. The Chief Clerk declines saying ‘that it does not appear that this service would be suitable for introduction into the Foreign Office’. 1940 The BBC Teleprinter Distribution system links the Foreign Office with the Ministry of Information. 1940 After the occupation of France the armed forces establish a military communications network using HF radio and Morse Code which operates from Hanslope Park. 1944 A pneumatic tube system installed within the Foreign Office. 1947 Diplomatic Wireless Service established and HF radio network expanded. During the 1950s: extensive use of book cypher and systems such as Rockex/Eric/Noreen which are offline and manually intensive, relying on the skill of the staff for the speed in which the telegram passes from originator to recipients. More use of Telex and teleprinter links, occasionally via private wire. 1951 Cypher and Signals Branch born.
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During the 1960s: Huge influx of staff into the Comcen, predominately from the military. There are plans to demolish Scott’s buildings and rebuild completely new offices on the site but lack of money and public outcry lead to the building being designated as a Grade I listed Building and demolition rejected in favour of restoration. Events from now on are within the living memory of C&SB members and any additions or amendments to the chronology or details are very welcome. 1963 PICCOLO, a teleprinter based HF radio system developed (to replace Morse code). 1964 On-line cypher protection for plain text during transmission speeds up the process for encryption and decryption. 1965 Foreign Office amalgamated with Commonwealth Relations Office and C&SB inherit their crypto system: TYPEX. 1968 The Colonial Office (latterly the Commonwealth Office) incorporated into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, bringing their Basic Book Cypher (Col E). 1978 The Home Office moves out of the Whitehall building. During this time, the Comcen occupied room K7 (Telex room), K8 (Machine room) and the Locarno Suite Upper Rooms 7 and 8 housing the ROCKEX and Book Cypher operations, Telegram Distribution Section (TDS) were located in a Portacabin in Durbar Court. This arrangement did not provide the most convenient, modern or clean accommodation. Many officers escaped on postings to Washington, New York, Paris, Brussels, Bonn or Hong Kong and a lucky few, including DSCs based at Hanslope Park Central Receiving Station (CRS), visited more remote (or exotic) locations, and then there was the Cabinet Office - whose Comcen was also staffed by FCO Comcen communicators on 3 year tours of duty. 1982 The new purpose built Comcen, WH135, is completed. TDS move into the new box-room, WH112 and on 15 December, as part of a tour of the FCO, HM The Queen visits the new Comcen and Distribution areas. Early 1980s: All Comcen systems are manually intensive. The Unclassified Area of the Comcen is dominated by Telex machines sending and receiving telegrams to and from posts all around the world. The other end of the Comcen houses the Classified Telex (Alvis) using T100s and T1000s. Both areas are constantly busy, noisy and knee deep in tape and paper. Telegrams are received from originators on the official draft form and input into an Optical Character Reader which produces a paper copy and a tape. Others are on a blue draft form and are typed up to produce the paper copy and tape. Telegram Enumerators apply telegram numbers to outgoing telegrams. A distribution is added and a copy passed to TDS in the box-room for copying and internal distribution. Ferranti commence developing the first Comcen Message Handling System – MHS. This is effectively a suite of computers to handle the reception and onward routing of telegrams known as the Message Switch (MS), linked to a further suite of computers, the Message Distribution System - MDS and the Message Introduction System – MIS. These systems were set up to allow distribution of Telegrams in paper copy form around the FCO and other government departments. The box-room was served by a lift
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which would deliver boxes for departments floor by floor – from which point, messengers would wheel them around on trolleys to deliver to recipients. 1983 Some Comcen Supervisors are despatched to Manchester to get to grips with the MHS equipment, produce the necessary work-practices and become Trainers. 1986-7 Comcen Message Switch installed, staff training takes place. 1987 Fully operational Message Handling System goes live in August. Into the 1990s: The MHS pulls together several separate functions into a more cohesive standardised entity. The telegram originator submits a typed pink form for input into the OCR which relays the telegram to the MIS. One copy is sent to the MS for transmission to post and another to the MDS for an ad-hoc distribution list or Collective Distribution List (CDL) to be added before distribution around the FCO and to other Whitehall departments. Two small computers, Ferranti Telex Managers, connect directly to the MHS and handle most of the work of the Unclassified Area and although the Classified Telex systems continue to be used it is now possible to produce the paper tapes of their queuing traffic automatically from the MS and input any messages from post. Work is underway to develop an improved interface at post, the MK1A workstation to replace telex machines and allow telegrams to be sent at 1200 bauds per minute (a great improvement on the 50 to 75) bauds limits of the present equipment). 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait, MK1A issued to certain posts in anticipation of a Gulf War and the inevitable increase in telegram traffic. 1991 End of the (1st) Gulf War, MK1A is a success and a rollout to all major posts gets underway. 1992 First steps towards electronic telegram distribution using DiskFax. 1993 The decision to close either the London or Hanslope Park Comcen is made. Hanslope Park will close. Mid 1990s: Development into electronic telegram distribution continues. Aramis (the new office wide IT system) and the introduction of the new telegram distribution system initially called Secure UNIX Distribution System (SUDS) and later renamed SWIFT revolutionise telegram distribution. Telegrams are delivered direct to departments as they are processed, an end to the thrice daily delivery of boxes containing paper copies of telegrams. While the introduction of more advanced IT brings benefits, a faster service to the Office and quieter working conditions, future developments also meant that the Comcen’s work would inevitably become redundant. The Comcen was always perceived as financially expensive. It did cost a lot to run a 24-hour operation, 365 days each year, but the end-product was very secure communications links between the FCO and all of its approximately 250 posts abroad plus links to all of the other government departments in the UK. A world-wide, secure, classified communications network, as provided by the Comcen, required physical point to point contact. Comcen officers have always been active in assisting posts in times of need, from basic communications cover in times of staff shortage or increased
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work load, to the aftermath of terrorist attacks or establishing a new mission after armed conflict: • The first instance recalled is – Yom Kippur 1967, communications officers assisted in a number of missions in the area as the volume of traffic went through the roof. • After the terrorist bombing of the British Consulate in Istanbul, two Comcen officers deployed portable communications equipment to the site and by all accounts turned their hands to all manner of other duties to ‘make things tick’. • Another Comcen officer was among the first group of British diplomats into Kabul, establishing communication links with London. This officer also went into Baghdad at the end of the (2nd) Gulf War taking all the latest portable communications equipment to set up the first British Office. • A number of Comcen officers answered the call from the Metropolitan Police Special Branch to help man their communications centre at Scotland Yard in the aftermath of the London 7/7 bombings. • Communications officers have always supplied support to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at international conferences and summits as well as for the Prime Minister and, on one occasion, even covered a Foreign Minister’s holiday on a caravanning holiday in France. Ailsa Miller, KMD.
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Some Anecdotes … The following anecdote is from Alf Shackleford, ex-Head of Comcen Engineers and then Head of Comcen: “There were many Communications Operations Department (COD) personnel, plus a small group of CED (engineering) types, who survived that fateful Christmas Eve in 1974 when cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin and knocked out FCO Radio Comms to the Far East for a while. The ordeal for most of us, wives and children included, will never be forgotten. Some people lost everything, some Australians their lives. Fortunately for most of us FCO Brits it was just a terrible night that will always bind a few people together with shared frightening memories.” Alf Shackleford. Editor: I had a peek on the internet to find out some more details of cyclone Tracy and found the below (frightening!) facts: Weather details: Gales extended to about 40 Km from the centre of the cyclone. The diameter of the eye of the cyclone was about 12 Km at Darwin. Maximum wind reached 217 km/h before the anemometer ceased to function. A storm surge of 1.6 metres was measured in the harbour, 4 meters estimated at Casuarina Beach. There was 255 mm of rainfall in 12 hours overnight. Death toll was 65 persons. Injuries: there were 145 serious injuries, over 500 with minor injuries. About 70% of houses were destroyed suffered major structural failure – in other words, were destroyed. The photos below perhaps help to underline just how frightening experience must have been for those caught up in cyclone Tracy. Darwin 1974 - Cyclone TRACY – A personal account by Alf (Roger) Shackleford “My first overseas family posting with the FCO was in January 1974 to Darwin Northern Australia. Communications in ‘74 between London and many embassies and missions was through the medium of High Frequency (HF) Radio on a system developed by FCO engineers known as Piccolo. Our presence in such a remote area of Australia was to provide the HF link or relay between 12 Far East missions and London. Darwin is situated in tropical Australia 10 degrees below the equator with two distinct seasons, hot and dry followed by hot and wet. To offer relief from the heat houses were predominantly built using light materials and were raised above ground level on concrete piers to allow air to circulate.
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In the few days leading up to Christmas Cyclone Tracy started to develop in the Indian Ocean and began tracking east through the Timor Sea towards the coast of Australia gathering strength all the time. Local weather bulletins became frequent with the popular assumption that if ‘she’ hit the coast ‘she’ would be deflected harmlessly out towards the Arafura Sea. Christmas Eve dawned with leaden skies and very strong winds but life carried on as usual preparing for the festivities ahead. By nightfall it became apparent that “she” would come closer than was forecast and some structural damage was expected. That evening we naively put our two young daughters to bed but they were noticeably without their usual feverish excitement and expectations for Christmas. A sense of foreboding was setting in. Before midnight as the storm worsened we had them up and dressed. Local radio advice was that in the event of danger seek refuge in the smallest room theoretically being structurally the strongest. Under the house a breeze block store room was undoubtedly the strongest but by the time I tried to go below both external doors were damaged and blocked. We decided to barricade ourselves into the loo, by far the smallest room. With the aid of a torch I took mattresses from the beds and padded the walls and floor. I sat enthroned with one child at my feet my wife and second daughter sat facing. Horrendous crashes and bangs began and continued throughout the night as airborne debris struck our home; windows were smashed allowing the wind and rain to drive through the house. The neighbourhood was quickly plunged into darkness as power lines came down. After what seemed an eternity an eerie silence suddenly descended as the eye passed directly overhead. With difficulty I managed to get out of the loo and shone my torch outside hoping to find some sign of life. To my horror nothing was recognisable everything I knew had disappeared the garden had been scoured clean. As I stood trying desperately to figure out what to do the incredible noise restarted warning of the approaching second side of the storm. Scurrying back to my family I managed to grab two Christmas presents, one for each of the children, from our now forlorn tree lying shattered in a corner of the living room. We resumed our frightening ordeal. The plasterboard ceiling slowly gave way and dropped across my shoulders basically trapping us inside by blocking the door. We did our best to keep the children’s spirits up who probably through fear made no complaints at all. The youngest did ask if we were going to die, ‘no of course not it’s only a storm’ I reassuringly replied. Eventually as daylight approached the storm passed. We clambered out of our life saving refuge to a scene of complete and utter devastation. Not a leaf on a tree not a house left intact, some had almost disappeared with only the floor remaining on top of the piles. Electricity cables lay over the roads wrenched from twisted supports, trees and branches were entwined with cars that had been tossed from beneath houses all manner of household items lay scattered everywhere. We quickly found our neighbours Charlie and Renee who were thankfully unharmed having taken to the store room before the worst of the onslaught. Renee sat in a wicker garden chair in an almost regal pose with a plastic cover over her head
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supported by a broom, rake and hoe. A bottle of brandy was passed around, children included; we toasted each other thankful for escaping safely from such an ordeal and wishing Merry Christmas to all. The neighbourhood quickly began to stir and organise itself in the local school. Soon hot food was miraculously prepared and people started to look for others less fortunate. The casualties were never officially declared but up to 50 people lost their lives or were unaccounted for. Tracy had defied expectations by tracking through the centre of the northern suburbs the most densely populated area of Darwin. Wind speeds were allegedly recorded at above 150mph Of the FCO contingent; During Christmas Day we managed to get to the main station 20 miles out of town and conducted a head count, all were safely gathered in. We had escaped with some cuts and bruises but thankfully no serious injuries, trauma did set in with some people who had suffered very bad ordeals. By Boxing Day the RAF had mobilised and a Nimrod was despatched to take the ladies, children and non essential staff off to Singapore and home. A small contingent remained to repair and recover what could be saved and to get the station running to a limited operational status. In April 1977 I was sent on a six month unaccompanied tour to the British Eastern Relay Station situated on the island of Masirah where FCO staff provided BBC broadcasts to the Middle East and Gulf areas. After six weeks the relay station was completely destroyed through the night by an unnamed hurricane. A neck tie for survivors was struck declaring - Hurricane Alf B.E.R.S 13.6.77!” Alf Shackleford _________________________________________________________
Washington – 9/11. The following was received from Simon Gore, currently desk officer who recalls how 9/11 unfolded for him during his tour of duty at Washington: “I was on shift in the Comcen in Washington on the morning of September 11th 2001. I remember that my shift partner came in late and telling me that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. I thought he was exaggerating, a few months earlier someone had flown a microlite into the empire state building and that had caused a major stir. I had a mental picture of a light aircraft crashing. The local radio was on but I had not been paying attention to it, we then wheeled out the ‘out of hours TV’ and sat transfixed to ABC as the events unfurled in front of our eyes. As the dust settled over the site of the towers, we became even more involved as reports were coming in about the plane that had hit the Pentagon. I went up to the staff Restaurant on the top floor and could see the smoke rising from across the river. The next issue was the aircraft that was finally brought down over Pennsylvania. Rumours started that this was also on it's way to DC and that because the White House had Anti-Aircraft cover (?) there was a possibility that the target could be the Vice President's residence, next door to us. The instruction went out to clear the Embassy - with the usual caveat of essential staff (Comms!) staying put. The local schools were closed and Government buildings emptied. 31
Ian Allan and I stayed and handled the rest of a frantic day until Craig Hiden came in to take over. Originally when the Embassy was closed, Craig had been called and told not to come in. Later on, a decision was made that we should go to 24 hour coverage for a while to cover the fallout.” Simon Gore Editor: As we in the UK watched this terrible scenario unfolding, we were as appalled and dumbfounded as those in Washington that such a thing could happen in the world today. It was difficult for us all to understand. ________________________________________________________
COMCEN Display Cabinets … Comcen were the custodians of a number of very old communications equipment and code books which they displayed in secure cabinets – photographed below:
Display case 1 showing an Enigma, Rockex and Noreen plus a number of very old code books and important messages. 32
Display case 2 with Typex. Devices like this were re-engineered by Bletchley Park to enable the deciphering of Enigma encoded messages.
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The Last Word … It seems appropriate that with this last ‘full-stop’, there should be a final ‘comment’. I would just like to add that I have been honoured to form part of a very select and extremely proficient team of individuals charged with care of the FCO’s diplomatic telegram traffic, much of which was highly classified and sensitive and its delivery to the proper addresses at home and abroad in a secure and timely manner. During its lifetime, the Comcen carried out an essential element of the arm of diplomacy on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Those individuals involved should be proud of their part in this endeavour. Bill Dunningham Head of Comcen (retired) Editor
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