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What did GC&CS stand for? (Yes I could search for this but I feel like curious conversation is almost a lost art these days.)
by wrboyce 3y ago
What did GC&CS stand for? (Yes I could search for this but I feel like curious conversation is almost a lost art these days.)
- defrost 3y agoI'd have to check my notes from a 40 year old interview with a former Bletchley Park code breaker .. as I recall ... The official legit name of GC&CS was Government Code and Cypher School .. but IIRC at the time (1919 post WWI) the official name was coined it was putting out letterheads and contracts as G<something> Copper & Cable Services. That's a dim recollection of what may have been one of many inside jokes | chuckles from WWII Bletchley as retold to an Australia some 30 odd years later so YMMV. It's in keeping with keeping secrets from the general public & foreign agents via a Boring Name. The British | Commonwealth WWII company front for their pre Manhatten Project nuclear programme was Tube Alloys .. so they did like a dull metals related cover name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_Alloys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_Alloys
- JetSetIlly 3y agoI've always been amused by these boring sounding cover names. In the USSR, nuclear related work was administered by the "Ministry of Medium Machine Building". And The Manhattan Project was originally the "Manhattan Engineering District". Although that sounds a little bit exotic, at least to my ears.
- wrboyce 3y agoFantastic, I’m glad I asked! Thanks for the insight.