Were there Kiwi Code Breakers in WWII?

[Dave Homewood]

Did the New Zealand military have any specialist code breakers in NZ or up in the Pacific intercepting messages and breaking codes? Was there a Kiwi equivalent to Bletchley Park?

[davidd]

Dave,
I think we can say with some conviction that there definitely was no Bletchley Park in New Zealand over the years of WW2, but we DID have some WRNS women (usually known as Wrens) at Blenheim who were "reading" Japanese W/T Morse transmissions (emanating from Rabaul?) and these were onforwarded to Hawaii for US Navy to breakdown into something useful - I think there was something about it in the WAAF book written by Bertha -----? Also my late dad and his mates (all W/Oprs) in the islands used to often listen to the Japanese transmissions from Rabaul and thereabouts, and could soon identify the individual Japanese operators by their particular styles, but as it was all in IJN codes they did not have a clue what they were talking about (much like the Wrens at Blenheim). The only difference was that the Wrens wrote it all down, whereas dad and his mates did not.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

Interesting stuff, thanks David. That would be Bathia McKenzie's WAAF Book I presume?

Now you mention it I seem to recall a 1990's TV interview with a Wren who I seem to recall was called Bunty Lange, or something similar, who spoke of taking down top secret signals broadcast by the Japanese. I am sure she was based in the Marlborough Sounds somewhere, does that make sense?

Did the Japanese use the same letters we use on Morse (A to Z)? Because of course they have a whole different alphabet which the average Kiwi would have no idea about interpreting and writing down.

[davidd]

Re your last sentence Dave, quite right, that it why NZ sent on the signal intell to Hawaii for the experts to work with! However the fact remains that the Japanese did use a kind of Morse, but what the individual Morse characters meant in Japanese is a complete mystery to me. However the Americans had enough knowledge to decipher high priority Japanese naval messages prior to the battle of Midway. No doubt you have read about the little trap set by the Americans, which the IJN obligingly swallowed hook line and sinker, thus enabling the US Navy to deploy their own naval forces to best advantage for the said upcoming battle. I could not even suggest any scholarly texts which might explain how the Japanese employed Morse, but perhaps other Board members have some ideas?
David D

[suthg]

My Aunty was at the radio antenna base at Waiouru intercepting signals and performing triangulation to find submarines or ships. They were successful it seems at times.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks David.

Graeme that place was RNZN Irirangi, just south of the Army camp, which was still active up till the 1990's but has now closed as the technology has marched on and it's no longer needed. It must have been the most remote and desolate Naval base in RNZN history.

[jaybee]

I don't believe there was code breaking as such. However, there were 7 sigint stations operated by the RNZN during WW2, namely Musick Point (Auckland), Awarua (Southland), Awanui (Northland), Tamavua (Fiji), Tinakori Hill ((Wellington), and Rapaura (Blenheim). The Army also operated a similiar unit at Nairnville park in Wellington, which was joined by 30 WRNZS in 1943.

The role was monitoring signals, 'fingerprinting' the transmitting radio, classifying transmissions, and presumably identifying points of transmission for naval intelligence using, as I understand it, HF/DF equipment.

[emron]

I recommend a visit to the RNZN Communicators Assn site. There's ample detail in their history of the NZ military communications, including the security measures taken to protect allied traffic and the extent of surveillance of enemy W/T. That's also where I found details about the radio stations at Mt Albert and Purewa and how they fitted into the network.