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GCHQ: Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency

GCHQ Bude near Morwenstow - photo used with kind permission of = Alan=20 Turnbull http://www.secret-bases.co.uk 3D""=20 =

GCHQ:=20 The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence=20 Agency

Published=20 by Harper Collins, July 2011

Paperback=20 ISBN 978-0007312665, 32 plates, Pp.666

&= nbsp;

I will be talking about the GCHQ book at the Lewes Speaker = Festival at=20 1800 on Friday 5 August

Details of = this event=20 can be found HERE

I will also be talking about GCHQ at Edinburgh Book Festival = at 1600=20 on Thursday 18 August

=

&n= bsp;

Signals Intelligence History Links >>>

GCHQ's HISTORY=20 PAGES

ALAN = TURING

Birgelen=20 Veterans Association

Bletchley = Park

Britain's=20 best-kept WWII Secret

CESG = History

Cipher=20 Machines Timeline

CodeS = and=20 Ciphers in the Second World War

CROMWELL=20 CYBER SECURITY SITE

Crypto=20 Machines

CRYPTO-MUSEUM

CSE=20 Canada History

FAPSI - = The=20 Russian Agency

GCHQ at=20 FAS.ORG

GCSB = NEW=20 ZEALAND HISTORY PAGE

Langele= ben=20 (13 Signals Regiment) History Project

Lux ex Umbra - = Canadian=20 CSE

NAVSECGRU=20 STATIONS PAST AND PRESENT: a-l

navsecgru=20 STATIONS PAST AND PRESENT: L-Z

NSA=20 Cryptologic Heritage

NSA at = FAS.ORG

NSA=20 COLD WAR HISTORY STUDY RELEASED

NSA Field = Station=20 Teufelsberg

NSA=20 literature at Muskingkum

Peter=20 Long's History of RAF Watton

RSARS -=20 INTELLIGENCE AND SECRECY

RSS - THE = SECRET=20 LISTENERS

Secret Bases = UK

The=20 Secret Sentry Declassified

SIMON = SINGH'S=20 CRYPTO CORNER

Spyflight = Nimrod=20 R.1

Swiss = Sigint

UKNACE=20 - counter-eavesdropping

Y SERVICES - = GARATS=20 HAY

A Signals Intelligence Timeline with links, photographs and = documents=20 >>>

Inter-war

1 Nov. 1919 GC&CS=20 formed from a merger of the Army=92s MI1b and the Navy=92s Room = 40=20

1921 Alastair Denniston becomes (Deputy) = Director=20 of GG&CS

1925 SIS and GC&CS move to Broadway = Buildings=20

1927 Neville Chamberlain reads out = decyphered=20 Soviet telegrams in Parliament

1936 GC&CS opens an RAF section =

Aug. 1939 GC&CS=20 moves to Bletchley Park to avoid wartime bombing

1940s

6 Sept. 1941 Winston Churchill visits = Bletchley=20 Park to congratulate staff

21 Oct. 1941 Four code-breakers appeal = for more=20 resources and Churchill orders "Action This Day"

Mar. 1942 GC&CS send Edward = Crankshaw to=20 Moscow to explore liaison with the Soviets on sigint

1942 Edward Travis becomes (Deputy) = Director at=20 Bletchley Park

1942 Holden agreement on Anglo-American = naval=20 sigint

Jul. 1942 Bletchley=20 achieves the first breaks into the German high grade "Tunny" = cypher=20 produced by the Lorenz

1943 BRUSA agreement on Anglo-American = military=20 sigint

1944 Revised Holden agreement on = Anglo-American=20 naval sigint

Feb. 1944 Cypher = Policy Board=20 created due to penetration of Allied cyphers

1 Mar. 1944 Edward=20 Travis becomes Director of all of GC&CS

May 1945 TICOM mission = establishes=20 contact with German OKW-Chi who worked on Soviet military traffic=20

Jun. 1945 US=20 ANCIB proposes UK-US co-operation against Soviet traffic known as=20 Operation Bourbon (previously Rattan)

15 Sept. 1945 US Army codebreakers = re-designated=20 Army Security Agency (ASA)

25. Oct 1945 Frank Rowlett, a US = codebreaker, is=20 sent to Canada to interrogate Igor Gouzenkou, a defecting GRU code = clerk

Oct. 1945 Radio=20 Warfare Establishment created at RAF Watton

22 Feb. 1946 Commonwealth sigint = co-operation=20 conference in London begins

5 Mar. 1946 Revised=20 BRUSA agreement on Anglo-American sigint co-operation =

Apr. 1946 Move=20 from Bletchley Park to Eastcote completed and term "GCHQ" formally = adopted

May 1946 Revised BRUSA technical = appendices on=20 Anglo-American sigint co-operation

Sept. 1946 Radio=20 Warfare Establishment at RAF Watton is renamed Central Signals=20 Establishment

Jan. 1947 A further Commonwealth sigint = conference=20 in London

Feb. 1948 Percy Sillitoe, DG of MI5, = heads to=20 Canberra to discuss Australia's Venona cases

Jun. 1948 A further Anglo-American = communications=20 intelligence agreement incorporating Canada

1 Aug. 1948 Captain Edmund Wilson and = his team are=20 shown over Oakley and Benhall sites at Cheltenham

29 Oct. 1948 =91Black=20 Friday=92 =96 a major change occurs in Russian cypher = procedures=20

1 Nov. 1948 Staff are told by Edward = Travis that=20 the term =91London Signals Intelligence Centre=92 is abolished in = favour of=20 GCHQ

20 May 1949 US Armed Forces Security = Agency=20 created, a weak forerunner of the National Security Agency (NSA)=20

Aug. 1949 Loss=20 of the USS Cochino, a US submarine on a sigint missions = in=20 northern waters

1949 Vienna tunnel operations to collect = Soviet=20 communications begin, overseen by Peter Lunn of SIS (MI6) =

1950s

10 Mar. 1950 US=20 Communications Intelligence Board to oversee the American sigint = effort is=20 created

25 May 1951 Donald Maclean, who has been = identified by Venona, flees London and heads for Moscow =

Mar. 1952 Eric Jones becomes Director of = GCHQ,=20 taking over from Edward Travis

Jun. 1952 William Marshall of the = Diplomatic=20 Wireless Service arrested for passing secrets to the KGB =

Jul. 1952 Move from GCHQ's post-war site = at=20 Eastcote to Cheltenham begins

24 Oct. 1952 Truman=20 signs order to create the National Security Agency (NSA), = following=20 failure to warn of Korean War

1953 London Communications Security = Agency (LCSA)=20 created with Major General William Penney as Director

12 Mar. 1953 Loss=20 of an RAF Lincoln over the Inner German Border

17 Mar. 1953 A=20 fifteen-day BRUSA Planning Conference ends in Washington and = results in=20 major allied sigint agreements

Feb 1954 The move from Eastcote to two = sites at=20 Cheltenham is completed

6 Apr. 1954 USCIB Directive 12 = regularizes the=20 SUSLO system for comint liaison with UKUSA countries

7 Jun. 1954 Alan Turing dies of cyanide = poisoning=20 - most likely suicide - in Wilmslow, Cheshire

2 Sept. 1954 Work=20 on the Berlin Tunnel to access Soviet communications = begins=20

Apr. 1956 Buster Crabb disappears on his = infamous=20 dive, prompting a review of all short-range intelligence = collection=20

21 Apr. 1956 Eastern bloc troops break = into the=20 Berlin Tunnel

1956 Joint = Services School=20 for Linguists moves from Bodmin to Crail in Fife

1956 NSA moves to new headquarters at = Fort Meade=20 in Maryland

1956 Creation=20 of the Joint Speech Research Unit

1957 RAF Hambuhren = handed=20 over to German communications units

1957 Move=20 from HMS Anderson sigint site to Perkar on Ceylon

1957 Government White Paper suggests = coming end of=20 National Service

1957 Karamursel NSA station built in = Turkey to the=20 south of Istanbul

1957 William=20 Friedman visits GCHQ and LCSA to discuss the European neutrals = problem=20

11 Oct. 1957 Jodrell=20 Bank, the first radiotelescope is completed and is also used for=20 sigint

1 Nov. 1957 Captain=20 Robert Stannard RN becomes Director of LCSA, taking over from = Penney=20

Mar. 1958 Peter=20 Wright and MI5 begin "Operation Rafter" to search for KGB radios = in=20 Britain

21 Aug. 1958 The RAF=92s sigint unit, = 192 Squadron=20 is renumbered as 51 Squadron

2 Sept. 1958 US=20 Sigint C-130A Hercules shot down over Armenia with loss of 17 = crew=20

1958 Berlin tunnel translators move from = SIS to=20 GCHQ and are designated the "London Processing Group"

1958 Comet sigint aircraft enter service = with RAF=20 51 Squadron

1959 1 Special Wireless Regiment renamed = 13=20 Signals Regiment serving mostly in Germany

May 1959 RAF=20 Habbaniya in Iraq closed and sigint personnel moved to Cyprus=20

3 Jun. 1959 One of RAF 51 Squadron=92s = new sigint=20 Comets is destroyed by a hangar fire

1 Sept. 1959 2 Wireless Regiment at = Ayios Nikolaos=20 renamed 9 Signals Regiment serving mostly in Cyprus

12 Nov. 1959 The=20 first dedicated US sigint-gathering ship, the USS Oxford, = is=20 authorised

1960s

1 May 1960 Loss=20 of Gary Powers U-2 aircraft over Russia

1960 Clive Loehnis becomes Director of = GCHQ,=20 taking over from Eric Jones

Sept. 1960 Joe Hooper introduces joint = sigint=20 equipment purchase with services

Dec. 1960 Templer inquiry into = integration of=20 service interception units affected by the end of National = Service=20

1961 George Blake arrested and early = compromise of=20 Berlin Tunnel realised

1961 Collection begins from Teufelsberg = in Berlin=20 operating out of US Army Security Agency vans

Nov. 1961 Project Sandra on Cyprus = receives=20 Treasury approval

1962 Perkar sigint site on Ceylon closed = and some=20 activity transferred to Mauritius

1 May 1962 Templer Working Party on = Integration of=20 Interception Services reports

Jul. 1962 Sir=20 Stuart Hampshire review of GCHQ is initiated, triggered by rapid = growth of=20 GCHQ expenditure

Dec. 1962 Sir Stuart Hampshire visits = NSA for=20 three weeks as part of his review of GCHQ

Mar. 1963 LCSA becomes London=20 Communications-Electronic Security Agency

May 1963 Hampshire review of GCHQ is = completed=20

Jun. 1963 Permission for a US austere=20 communications facility on Diego Garcia requested

2 Jul. 1963 Brian=20 Patchett defects from the British sigint station at Gatow in West=20 Berlin

1963 MC 74/1 =96 NATO Cryptographic = Policy agreed=20

1963 Project Sandra begins operations on = Cyprus=20

1 Jan. 1964 Little=20 Sai Wan in Hong Kong passes from RAF control to GCHQ =

Sept. 1964 Cypher clerks at the British = Embassy in=20 Moscow repel KGB =91firemen=92

1964 David Irving uncovers the "Ultra = Secret" but=20 is persuaded not to publish his scoop

1964 Rolling=20 shelves installed at GCHQ to accommodate file storage problems =

1964 Brigadier=20 John Tiltman, a senior cryptologist, retires from GCHQ =

1965 Joe Hooper becomes Director of = GCHQ, taking=20 over from Clive Loehnis

1965 LCSA takes over SCDU and JSRU and = is renamed=20 Communications-Electronic Security Department (CESD)

1965 Revision of the Sigint Charter PSIS = (S) 65=20 (5)

Nov. 1965 Diego Garcia agreement = completed and=20 2,300 inhabitants are removed

1966 Pine=20 Gap station opened in Australia

1966 GCHQ station at Two Boats on = Ascension Island=20 opened

1966 John Tiltman asks David Kahn to = remove=20 references to GCHQ from Codebreakers

Sept. 1966 George Wigge, Harold Wilson's = Paymaster=20 General, reviews security at FCO and GCHQ

Oct. 1966 Decision taken to replace = sigint Comets=20 with Nimrod R1

1967 Scharfoldendorf=20 station near the Inner German Border closed

7 Jun. 1967 USS Liberty AGTR = ship=20 attacked off Israel with loss of 34 lives and 174 casualties =

1967 Chapman Pincher and the =91D-Notice = Affair=92=20 exposes cable vetting

1967 Teufelsberg sigint site in Berlin = begins=20 operations

Dec. 1967 First voyage of the USS = Pueblo=20

Jan. 1968 Geoffrey Prime offers his = service to the=20 Russians

23. Jan 1968 USS=20 Pueblo AGER-2 ship captured by North Korea =

24 Jan. 1968 HMS = Totem, a=20 veteran sigint submarine, is sold to Israel (renamed INS Dakar) = and sinks=20 off Cyprus

Feb. 1968 Douglas Britten, an RAF sigint = specialist, is seen by MI5 leaving a message at the Soviet = consulate in=20 London

20 Aug. 1968 The Russian invasion of=20 Czechoslovakia takes GCHQ and NSA by surprise

Nov. 1968 Chief=20 Technician Douglas Britten is sentenced for passing sigint secrets = to the=20 KGB

Late 1968 Dick White review of DIS and = JIC in the=20 wake of Czech invasion

Late 1968 Dick White inquiry into rising = sigint=20 costs

9 Sept. 1968 Geoffrey Prime begins work = at GCHQ=92s=20 London Processing Group

1969 GCHQ=92s nuclear powered sigint = ship project=20 abandoned

Jun. 1969 Decision=20 to merge CESD with GCHQ and change its name to CESG =

1969 Arthur Foden becomes Director of = CESG, taking=20 over from Robert Stannard

1970s

19 Jun. 1970 Launch of Rhyolite 1 sigint = satellite=20 by NSA at Cape Canaveral

1971 Hugh=20 O'Donel Alexander, wartime Head of Hut 8 and Head of H Division = (1949-71),=20 retires

1971 RAF Chai=20 Keng at Singapore closes

30 Mar. 1972 Kizildere=20 incident, 3 GCHQ staff killed by the TPLA in Turkey =

Apr. 1972 Visit to Paris by a JIC (A) = delegation=20 to meet with Groupe de Synthese et Prevision (French JIC) =

1972 Skynet III decision

6 Mar. 1973 Launch of Rhyolite 2 sigint = satellite=20 by NSA at Cape Canaveral to verify the SALT 1 arms control treaty=20

18 Jun. 1973 Closure of = Cobra Mist=20 facility at Orford Ness announced

1 Aug. 1973 Arthur=20 Bonsall becomes Director of GCHQ, taking over from Joe = Hooper=20

9 Aug. 1973 Nixon-Kissinger =91cut = off=92 of=20 intelligence co-operation attempted

1973 Transfer of London Processing Group = to=20 Cheltenham begun

1973 Clifford=20 Cocks discovers the asymmetric algorithm later the foundation of = RSA=20

Apr. 1974 US=20 SOSUS station opened at RAF Brawdy

Apr. 1974 Publication of Frederick = Winterbotham's=20 The Ultra Secret reveals Bletchley Park

3 May 1974 First operational flight by a = Nimrod R1=20

20 Jul. 1974 Turkey=20 invades Cyprus in response to an attempted coup

1974 US sigint bases in Turkey shut down =

9 Sept. 1974 The = first=20 deployment of an SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft to RAF=20 Mildenhall

Feb. 1975 Government Secure Speech = Network=20 cancelled

Jul. 1975 "Ivy Bells" undersea cable = tapping=20 operation begins using USS Halibut

Jul. 1975 US sigint bases in Turkey shut = down=20

Aug. 1975 Work on Diego Garcia expansion = begins=20

Nov. 1975 GCHQ site on Mauritius station = closed=20

Sept. 1975 Brian Tovey becomes Director = of CESG,=20 taking over from Arthur Foden

22 Mar. 1976 Geoffrey Prime moves from = London to=20 Cheltenham

1976 NSA=20 takes delivery of its first Cray Computer

1976 GCHQ station at Two Boats on = Ascension Island=20 closed

1976 Geoffrey Prime promoted to section = head in J=20 Division

11 Mar. 1977 President Jimmy Carter = discusses=20 UKUSA with PM James Callaghan and they affirm its ongoing value=20

1977 Transfer of London Processing Group = to=20 Cheltenham completed

1977 14 Signals Regiment (Electronic = Warfare)=20 formed

1977 GCHQ=92s Wincombe station closed =

1977 GCHQ=92s Flowerdown station closed =

18 Feb. 1977 Journalists Aubrey and = Campbell=20 interviewed Berry (ABC). They are arrested under the Official = Secrets Act=20

24 May 1977 Further charges were added = under=20 section 1 of the Official Secrets Act

28 Sept. 1977 Geoffrey Prime resigns = from GCHQ=20

11 Dec. 1977 Launch of Rhyolite 3 sigint = satellite=20 (Aquacade) by NSA at Cape Canaveral

1978 GCHQ=92s Gilnahirk station Northern = Ireland=20 closed

1978 Special Collection Service, a joint = NSA-CIA=20 black bag unit created

1978 GCHQ station at Two Boats on = Ascension Island=20 reactivated

1978 John Johnson become Director of = CESG, taking=20 over from Brian Tovey

1978 Brian Tovey becomes Director of = GCHQ, taking=20 over from Arthur Bonsall

4 Apr. 1978 Launch of Rhyolite 4 sigint = satellite=20 (Aquacade) by NSA at Cape Canaveral

5 Sept. 1978 ABC = Trial=20 opens at the Old Bailey

18 Sept. 1978 ABC Trial stopped after = jury member=20 exposed as SAS officer

3 Oct. 1978 Second ABC trial opens =

24 Oct.1978 All=20 section 1 charges dropped in ABC Trial

17 Nov. 1978 Aubrey, Berry and Campbell = receive=20 non-custodial sentences

Dec. 1978 Government discussions over = whether the=20 Energy Secretary, Tony Benn, should have access to sigint =

Jan. 1979 Iranian revolution =96 NSA and = GCHQ=20 listening posts in Iran are lost

Jan. 1979 Permission for US sigint bases = to reopen=20 is given by the Turkish government

23 Feb. 1979 One day strike triggers = Brian Tovey=92s=20 thinking on union removal at GCHQ

24 May 1979 NSA Director Bobby Ray Inman = writes to=20 Brian Tovey about "Collection of Information on U.S. Persons" =

1980s

1980 Alastair Anderson become Director = of CESG,=20 taking over from John Johnson

1980 Ivy Bells submarine tapping = operation blown=20 by Robert Pelton, a KGB agent inside NSA

1980 Communications=20 and Security Group created at Garats Hay (Beaumanor) =

9 Mar. 1981 One day strike at GCHQ is = followed by=20 further disruptive action into April

16 Nov. 1981 Geoffrey Prime makes his = last contact=20 with the KGB in East Berlin

1982 Gordon Welchman, a Bletchely Park = veteran, is=20 threatened with Official Secret Act over Hut Six Story=20

1982 GCHQ=92s Little Sai Wan in Hong = Kong closed=20 down and moved to Chum Hom Kwok

26 Jun. 1982 Geoffrey Prime confesses to = police=20 that he has spied for the KGB

15 Jul. 1982 Geoffrey Prime is remanded = in custody=20 on Official Secrets Act charges

23 Sept. 1982 James=20 Bamford=92s Puzzle Palace is published

25 Oct 1982 NSA is authorised to set up = a Computer=20 Security Evaluation Center

10 Nov. 1982 Geoffrey=20 Prime pleads guilty to espionage

Sept. 1983 Peter Marychurch becomes = Director of=20 GCHQ, taking over from Brian Tovey

1 Dec. 1983 Pilot polygraph machine = arrives at R12=20 at Cheltenham

Dec. 1983 Decision on de-unionisation = taken by an=20 hoc Cabinet committee

25 Jan. 1984 GCHQ staff receive the = surprise GN=20 100/84 letter on union membership

17 Apr. 1984 WPC Yvonne Fletcher is shot = outside=20 the Libyan People=92s Bureau in London

1984 GCHQ=92s Brora station in = Sutherland closes=20

1984 Little Sai Wan at Hong Kong closes = and=20 replaced by Chum Hom Kwok

1984 A=20 major extension to the facilities at Menwith Hill, codenamed = STEEPLEBUSH,=20 is completed

1985 Paul Foster becomes Director of = CESG, taking=20 over from Alastair Anderson

1985 Interception of Communications Act = is passed,=20 largely in response to the Malone case

1 Aug. 1985 KGB officer Vitaly Yurchenko = defects=20 and reveals NSA spy Robert Pelton

1 Mar. 1986 John=20 Le Carr=E9, A Perfect Spy, is published, one of the few = major=20 spy-novels featuring sigint

21 May 1986 "The=20 Whisteblower" - perhaps the only spy-film about GCHQ - starring = Michael=20 Caine, is released

5. Jun. 1986 NSA spy Robert Pelton is = convicted of=20 espionage for the KGB

6. Jun. 1986 Jonathan Pollard pleads = guilty to=20 espionage for Mossad

1986 Joint Speech Research Unit at GCHQ = is=20 amalgamated with Speech Research

Group at RSRE to form Speech Research = Unit=20

13 Nov. 1986 BBC Governors express = disquiet=20 regarding a series of documentaries by Duncan Campbell called = "Secret=20 Society"

18 Jan. 1987 The=20 Observer reveals the BBC decision not to show "Secret = Society"=20 documentary on UK's Zircon sigint satellite

20 Jan. 1987 European Commission for = Human Rights=20 declares GCHQ trade union case inadmissible

29 Jan 1987 Alastair=20 Milne is asked to resign as Director-General of the BBC following=20 controversy over "Secret Society"

1987 STU-III = secure=20 speech unit introduced by NSA

1987 Peter Wright's Spycatcher = MI5 memoir=20 causes GCHQ to delay the Clifford Cocks revelation by 10 = years

31 Jul. 1988 Hawklaw=20 station in Fife closed

1989 The hilltop station at Teufelberg = in Berlin=20 closed

1989 John Porter become Director of = CESG, taking=20 over from Paul Foster

1989 John Adye becomes Director of GCHQ, = taking=20 over from Peter Marychurch

1990s

1990 Capenhurst = Tower=20 in Cheshire begins intercepting Irish telephone traffic =

Mar. 1991 Andrew Saunders becomes = Director of=20 CESG, taking over from John Porter

1992 Unified Incident & Reporting = Alert Scheme=20 (UNIRAS) created to log IT security incidents in government =

5 Feb. 1993 John=20 Adye informs IOCA that GCHQ categorically denies intercepting = phone calls=20 involving the Royal Family

Late 1993 Sir Michael Quinlan asked to = look at=20 government spending on intelligence

22 Dec. 1993 T of R for Quinlan=92s = =91Review of=20 Intelligence Requirements and Resources=92 agreed

12 May 1994 UK=20 police raid the home of "Datastream Cowboy" a 16 year-old hacker = who had=20 penetrated US military systems

14 May 1994 26 Signals Unit departs RAF = Gatow in=20 Berlin

2 Jun. 1994 An=20 RAF Chinook carrying security personnel from Aldegrove crashes on = the Mull=20 of Kintyre

Jun. 1994 Sir Michael Quinlan=92s = =91Review of=20 Intelligence Requirements and Resources=92 completed

1994 GCHQ=92s=20 Earls Court station at the Empress State building closed =

Oct. 1994 Operations at GCHQ=92s Chum = Hom Kwok=20 station end

2 Nov. 1994 Intelligence Services Act = places GCHQ=20 and MI6 on the statute books and establishes new oversight=20 machinery

12 Dec. 1994 Roger=20 Hurn Special Study commissioned

Jan. 1995 Chung Hom Kwok closed down and = operations move to Geraldton in Australia

Jan. 1995 Operations at Cheadle end and = the=20 station is closed in June

25 Mar. 1995 Roger Hurn =91Special = Study=92 of GCHQ=20 completed

Mar. 1995 13=20 Signals Regiment in Germany disbanded, some move to JSSU at RAF = Digby=20

16 May 1995 XW666,=20 one of the three sigint Nimrod R1s ditches in the Moray Firth=20

1995 RAF 51 Squadron moves from RAF = Wyton to RAF=20 Waddington

16 Oct. 1995 New high-level post created = to=20 represent GCHQ in London

6 Nov. 1995 J, K and V Divisions = abolished. M, Q,=20 U & W Divisions created

10 Nov. 1995 GCHQ=92s Central Training = School at=20 Taunton closes

23 Nov. 1995 Impending appointment of = David Omand=20 as Director of GCHQ is announced

Jan. 1996 Sideslip/Caid/Cental and = Yardage=20 introduced for Radio Operators/RDs

1 Jul. 1996 David Omand becomes Director = of GCHQ,=20 taking over from John Adye

1996 Mark Urban = publishes=20 UK Eyes Alpha with detailed coverage of Zircon =

1996 RAF Pergamos on Cyprus closes =

1996 GCHQ appoints Michael Drury as = Director of=20 Legal Affairs (GCHQ's first full time legal advisor)

15. Jan. 1997 GCHQ formally asserts that = it has no=20 role in monitoring UFOs and holds no significant information on=20 UFOs

16 Jan. 1997 GCHQ relaxes regulation on = the=20 employment of gays and lesbians

28 Apr. 1997 XV249,=20 the Nimrod R1 replacement for XW666, becomes operational =

15 May 1997 Robin Cook announces the end = of the=20 GCHQ trade union ban

1 Apr. 1997 CESG moves to cost recovery = and=20 completes restructuring

Oct. 1997 NSA= =20 station at Edzell in Scotland which focused on Soviet naval = traffic is=20 closed

18 Dec. 1997 Clifford Cocks delivers a = public talk=20 on the contribution of Ellis, Cocks and Williamson to Public Key=20 Cryptography

Jan. 1998 Kevin Tebbit becomes Director = of GCHQ,=20 taking over from David Omand

May 1998 Kevin Tebbit introduces SINEWS = (Sigint=20 NEW Systems)

Jun. 1998 Lead 21 management training = scheme=20 begins at GCHQ

Jul. 1998 Francis Richards becomes = Director of=20 GCHQ, taking over from Kevin Tebbit

15 Aug. 1998 Omagh bombing by a breakway = faction=20 of the IRA kills 29 people

1998 Communications and Security Group = moves from=20 Garats Hay (Beaumanor) to Chicksands

4 Jan. 1999 Richard Walton become = Director of=20 CESG, taking over from Andrew Saunders

May 1999 Foreign Secretary Robin Cook = announces=20 Benhall as the site for the new "Doughnut" building

1999 GCHQ station at = Culmhead in=20 Somerset closed, functions transferred to = Scarborough

1999 Speech Research Unit privatised =

1999 National=20 Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC) created = (pronounced=20 "nicey")

Sept. 1999 Cabinet Secretary asks = Lieutenant=20 General Sir Edmund Burton to review GCHQ

2000s

Jan. 2000 GCHQ assists NSA during a = major computer=20 failure at its Fort Meade headquarters

May 2000 A GCHQ team deploys to the UK = High=20 Commission in Sierra Leone to support military operations = there=20

Jun. 2000 Construction of GCHQ's New = Accommodation=20 Project - known as "The Doughnut" - commences

2000 Burton review completed focusing on = cost=20 overruns on the New Accommodation Project

5 Jul. 2000 European Parliament votes to = investigate charges that "Echelon" targets European = businesses

Jul. 2000 Brian Paterson from GCHQ helps = to=20 develop Government Technical Assistance Centre (GTAC)

13 Mar. 2001 Geoffrey Prime released = from=20 Rochester Prison on parole

11 Jul. 2001 European=20 Parliament inquiry into Echelon interception system produces=20 report

11 Sept. 2001 9/11=20 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington

12 Sept. 2001 Directors of MI5, SIS and = GCHQ fly=20 to Washington

Oct. 2002 Brent=20 2 secure telephone designed by CESG is launched

2002 Huw Rees becomes Director of CESG, = taking=20 over from Richard Walton

2 Jun. 2002 JTAC=20 begins operations in the MI5 headquarters at Thames House =

3 Mar. 2003 Observer publishes = NSA=20 message leaked from GCHQ on the monitoring of UN delegations =

20 Mar. 2003 Iraq war begins with = targeted strikes=20 against Saddam Hussein

Apr. 2003 Dr=20 David Pepper becomes Director of GCHQ, taking over from Sir = Francis=20 Richards

Jul. 2003 Chris=20 Ingliss takes over from Barbara McNamara as SUSLOL, NSA's = representative=20 in London

16 Jul. 2003 National Audit Office = publish report=20 on New Accommodation Project IT costs

Jul. 2003 Scarus=20 (Learas) manpack sigint equipment arrives in Afghanistan =

17 Sept. 2003 Staff begin = to move=20 into the GCHQ New Accommodation Project - known as 'The=20 Doughnut'

14 Nov. 2003 Katharine Gun charged under = Official=20 Secrets Act over leaking of NSA document on UN monitoring =

Feb. 2004 Katharine Gun acquitted over = leak of NSA=20 message on UN monitoring

1 Apr. 2004 Joint=20 Electronic Surveillance IPT formed for procurement of systems such = as=20 Soothsayer, Coblu, Ince and Scarus

May 2004 Move to GCHQ's New = Accommodation Project=20 - 'The Doughnut' - is completed

Dec 2004 'The=20 Listening Stones' - a group granite sculptures - are installed in = Hester's=20 Way Park near 'The Doughnut'

Apr. 2005 18th=20 (UK Special Forces) Signals Regiment created - absorbing 264 (SAS) = Signals=20 Squadron and other groups

7 Jul. 2005 7/7 terrorist attacks on the = London=20 transport system

Sept. 2005 John=20 Widdowson becomes Director of CESG, taking over from Huw Rees=20

Oct. 2005 Heilbr= onn=20 Institute for Mathematical Research set up at University of=20 Bristol

2 Sept 2006 XV230=20 - a Nimrod Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft explodes over = Afghanistan with=20 the loss of all 14 crew

Apr. 2006 NTAC (formerly GTAC) is = transferred from=20 the Home Office to GCHQ

1 Feb. 2007 Centre=20 for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) created by = merging=20 NISCC, NSAC and a unit from MI5

27 Apr. 2007 Estonia is subjected to a = massive=20 cyber attack affecting many institutions including the Estonian=20 Parliament

25 Jun. 2007 BBC=20 Radio 4 begins broadcasting the first series of "Hut 33" a sitcom = set in=20 Bletchley Park

21 Jul. 2007 Cheltenham=20 floods threaten to shut off the supply of chilled water that cools = GCHQ's=20 super-computers

Nov. 2007 GCHQ expands = recruiting=20 by advertising on the X-Box Live gaming platform

9 Jan. 2008 Ken Wharfe, former = bodyguard, tells=20 the Princess Diana Inquest that recordings were probably made by=20 GCHQ

28 Feb. 2008 Sir John Adye, ex-Director = GCHQ,=20 assures Princess Diana Inquest that GCHQ was not bugging Royal = phones=20

9 Apr. 2008 UK=20 tightens regulations for American U2 imagery/sigint flights from = Cyprus=20 codenamed "Cedar Sweep"

Jun. 2008 Siginters = Memorial to=20 those working on sigint who were killed in action is installed in = the=20 courtyard of GCHQ

Jul. 2008 Iain=20 Lobban becomes Director of GCHQ, taking over from Dr David=20 Pepper

Aug. 2008 Intercept=20 Modernisation Programme announced

15 Sept. 2008 BBC Panorama claims that = GCHQ=20 intercepts could possibly have prevented Omagh bombing

14 Nov. 2008 Declassi= fication=20 of Thomas Johnson's four-volume history of NSA covering 1945-1991=20 [available here]

Dec. 2008 Plans=20 are developed for a new administrative building adjacent to the = 'Doughnut'=20 and a multi-storey car park

Jan. 2009 Report by Sir Peter Gibson = rejects main=20 claims by BBC Panorama regarding Omagh bombing

Aug. 2009 Matthew Aid's = history=20 of the NSA, The Secret Sentry, is published =

13 Nov. 2009 Plans=20 for new office accommodation at GCHQ Benhall to allow transfer of=20 remaining staff from Oakley

2010s

Feb. 2010 RC-135=20 Rivet Joint replacement for the Nimrod R1 sigint aircraft=20 finalised

10 Mar. 2010 Cyber=20 Security Operations Centre begins full range of activity =

4 Apr. 2010 BBC Radio 4 = documentary=20 "Cracking the Code" on GCHQ by Security Correspondent Gordon=20 Corera

15 Jun. 2010 CESG = imposes=20 Whitehall iPhone ban

Jul. 2010 Leaked Whitehall report argues = GCHQ's=20 ethnic minority employees are too few at 2.49% of the = workforce=20

23 Aug. 2010 The=20 body of Garreth Williams, a GCHQ employee on secondment to SIS, is = discovered in his flat in Pimlico

12 Oct. 2010 Ia= in=20 Lobban, Director of GCHQ, talks at IISS on the subject of = cyberthreats -=20 his first public address

22 Dec. 2010 GCHQ's=20 Canadian sigint partner CSEC announces a new $880 million=20 headquarters

6 Jan. 2011 NSA=20 holds groundbreaking ceremony for $1.2 Billion Data Center at Camp = W.G.=20 Williams in Utah

7 Jan. 2011 General Sir David Richards (CDS) = visits GCHQ=20 and voices the need for a UK Cyber Command

4 Feb. 2011 Foreign Secretary William = Hague=20 details cyber attack on the FCO by a 'hostile state intelligence=20 agency'

10 Feb. 2011 Prime Minister David = Cameron visits=20 GCHQ and is briefed on cyber = threats

 
      Interv=
iew=20
      with Amy McLeod of KnowledgeCentre about the GCHQ =
book
       
      Read=20
      about the unknown connection between Bletchley Park's secret =
stations and=20
      Warwick University  
       
       
      Paperback on sale 7 July 2011 >>>
       
       =20
      
       
      GCHQ:=20
      The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence=20
      Agency
      Published=20
      by Harper Collins, June 2010
      ISBN=20
      9780007278473, Pages 666
       
      Reviews
      'Richard J Aldrich is an outstanding analyst and =
historian of=20
      intelligence, and he tells this story well ... It is an important =
book,=20
      which will make readers think uncomfortably not only about the =
state=92s=20
      power to monitor our lives, but also about the appalling =
vulnerability of=20
      every society in thrall to communications technology, as we =
are.'=20
      
      Max=20
      Hastings, The Sunday Times, 13 June 2010 =

       
      'In this superlative history, Aldrich packs in vast =
amounts of=20
      information, while managing to remain very readable. =
He=20
      paints the broad picture, but also introduces fascinating detail, =
such as=20
      how , following the loss of Hong Kong in 1997, GCHQ planted remote =

      collection equipment on container vessels which sailed far inland =
up=20
      China's waterways. But this is neither a cosy insider memoir not a =

      hard-hitting journalistic expose. As Richard Aldrich's notes =
testify, most=20
      of his material comes from open source publications. There are no =
secrets,=20
      he affirms, only lazy researchers. And he is definitely not one of =
them.'=20
      
      Andrew Lycett, Literary Review, 8 June 2010=20
      
       
      This is a sober and valuable work of scholarship, which =
is as=20
      reliable as anything ever is in the twilight world of=20
      intelligence-gathering. Yet there is nothing dry about it. Aldrich =
knows=20
      how to write for a wider audience, while avoiding the =
speculations,=20
      inventions, sensationalism and sheer silliness of so much modern =
work on=20
      the subject. 
      The=20
      Spectator, 12 August 2010

       
      The Week=92s "Book of the Week": 
      'Aldrich has taken a decade to produce the first =
substantial=20
      account of the agency's history, and this superlative book packs =
in vast=20
      amounts of information, yet remains wonderfully readable. He has =
dug up a=20
      massive amount of fascinating detail.' 
      The Week, 2 July 2010 
       
      'As the historian Richard J Aldrich notes in the =
introduction=20
      to his excellent new history of the Cheltenham-based agency it =
represents=20
      by far our largest, most expensive, most productive - and yet most =
secret=20
      - intelligence effort. GCHQ: The uncensored story of Britain's =
most secret=20
      intelligence agency instantly ranks as the most essential =
exposition of=20
      the hidden power wielded for 70 years by Britain's information =
superweapon=20
      ... Aldrich packs much of his book with ripping operational tales =
from the=20
      Cold War period, sharply written with due attention to the real =
people=20
      involved, as well as the politics.' 
      C=
hris=20
      Williams, The Register, 15 June 2010 
       
      'In the opening sentence of his important though =
curiously=20
      subtitled book, the historian Richard Aldrich writes: "'GCHQ' is =
the last=20
      great British secret." =85 GCHQ grew out of Bletchley Park, where =
a=20
      brilliant collection of chess players, linguists and =
mathematician. GCHQ=20
      (Gloucestershire's biggest employer) remains extremely secretive =
compared=20
      even to MI5 and MI6, though it accounts for the bulk of the =
=A32.4bn=20
      officially spent each year by Britain's three intelligence =
agencies.=20
      Aldrich shows how GCHQ developed into a global =
intelligence-gathering=20
      agency of truly industrial proportions =85. "The frightening =
truth", Aldrich=20
      concludes, is that "no one is in control". ' 
      Richard=20
      Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, 19 June 2010 =

       
      Mr Aldrich skilfully weaves together the personal, =
political,=20
      military and technological dimensions of electronic espionage. He=20
      recognises the limits of even the most sophisticated sigint: GCHQ =
can=20
      track the movements of armed forces but cannot always fathom what =
those=20
      forces are up to. In the internet age, the agency faces two =
challenges:=20
      how to monitor the rivers of digitised information that flow =
around the=20
      world; and how to maintain political legitimacy for governments to =
gather=20
      and store large quantities of personal data so that the =
information can be=20
      searched for patterns of terrorist and criminal activity. Its work =
is=20
      harder than ever. 
      The=20
      Economist, 8 July 2010 
       
      'Richard Aldrich, an accomplished cold war intelligence =

      historian, has taken a decade to produce the first substantial =
account of=20
      what is known about the agency, and what can be gleaned from the =
recently=20
      released official archive ... During the 1960s and 1970s, military =
risks=20
      were taken and important foreign policy decisions managed to =
support the=20
      demands of the intelligence collectors. Among these events was the =

      manipulation of decisions about the British military presence in =
Cyprus=20
      solely to obtain covenient real estate for GCHQ and radar bases, =
and the=20
      deportation of the Chagos Islanders en masse from their homes on =
Diego=20
      Garcia. As Aldrich puts it, "the sigint tail had begun to wag the =
policy=20
      dog". ' 
      Duncan=20
      Campbell, New Statesman, 24 June 2010 
       
      Aldrich=92s history was 10 years in the making and =
clips through=20
      all the milestones and missions, traitors and technology involved =
in=20
      GCHQ=92s development. And we learn that the =93special =
relationship=94 was born=20
      of a pragmatic postwar trade in UK territory for US gadgetry.=20
      Today GCHQ is housed in a vast doughnut-shaped =
nerve=20
      centre near Cheltenham in the UK that strips the ether of all =
digital=20
      chatter =96 inane, malevolent or otherwise. It is, Aldrich =
concludes, =93a=20
      vast mirror=94 reflecting the spirit of the age, albeit one he =
fears that=20
      =93may eventually enslave us=94. 
      Carl=20
      Wilkinson, The Financial Times, 12 July 2010 =

       
      In the first line of this fine book, Richard Aldrich =
boldly=20
      declares that GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is =
Britain=92s=20
      last secret. If it is, he has done a great deal to uncover much of =
it. The=20
      book is a product of nearly a decade=92s worth of painstaking =
research in=20
      various public archives and interviews with those involved in some =
of the=20
      high-political work of the agency during its postwar history. It =
is a=20
      testament to Aldrich=92s perseverance in the darker reaches of =
departmental=20
      archives, stretching right across government, that he has managed =
to piece=20
      together such a comprehensive and empirically rich account of the =
most=20
      secret of British secret agencies. ... an invaluable read for all =
who are=20
      interested in the study of intelligence, surveillance and =
security.=20
      
      International=20
      Affairs 86: 5, 2010
       
      Richard Aldrich is the foremost historian of the =
British=20
      intelligence agency GCHQ ... Aldrich pays tribute to an American =
writer,=20
      James Bamford, who wrote a book in 1982 about the National =
Security Agency=20
      at Fort Meade, Maryland, entitled The Puzzle Palace. ... With his =
own=20
      originality and research in unorthodox sources as well as official =

      documents, Aldrich has now done the same for GCHQ and comes down =
to the=20
      present. Since September 11, 2001, government wiretaps and =
electronic=20
      monitoring have spun out of control. GCHQ concludes with a warning =
at what=20
      seems to be an historic trend in the making: when sophisticated=20
      surveillance combines with biometric monitoring, universal =
fingerprinting,=20
      and the gathering of DNA, civil liberties are more at risk than =
ever=20
      before. 
      Wm.=20
      Roger Louis, English Historical Review, =
2011
       
      Sinclair=20
      McKay applauds an intriguing history of covert surveillance, =
review of=20
      GCHQ by Richard Aldrich, The Telegraph, 10 July 2010=20
      
      The=20
      Yorkshire Ranter, GCHQ Review: Part 1, The World's Most =
Classified=20
      Blog and Other Stories, 12 August 2010 
      Tapping=20
      into the Secret World of GCHQ, Richard McComb, Birmingham =
Post, 1=20
      July 2010, Part 1 
      Tapping=20
      into the Secret World of GCHQ, Richard McComb, Birmingham =
Post, 1=20
      July 2010, Part 2

Page=20 contact: = Richard=20 Aldrich Last revised: Sun 10 Jul = 2011=20

Back=20 to top of page

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GCHQ: Britain's Most Secret Intelligence Agency

GCHQ:=20 The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence=20 Agency

Published=20 by Harper Collins, July 2011

Paperback=20 ISBN 978-0007312665, 32 plates, Pp.666

&= nbsp;

I will be talking about the GCHQ book at the Lewes Speaker = Festival at=20 1800 on Friday 5 August

I will also be talking about GCHQ at Edinburgh Book Festival = at 1600=20 on Thursday 18 August

=

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Interv= iew=20 with Amy McLeod of KnowledgeCentre about the GCHQ = book

Paperback on sale 7 July 2011 >>>

GCHQ:=20 The Uncensored Story of Britain's Most Secret Intelligence=20 Agency

ISBN=20 9780007278473, Pages 666

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