Missing Pieces: - Royal Australian Navy

aPPendix
in the chain of command of the US Army’s Signals Security Agency, and MacArthur
consistently maintained its independence. 871
CB itself formed part of a web of mainly British Y stations. However, this existed more
to relay intercepted material to GC&CS than to exchange information. 872 There was some
tension between the Americans and the Australians over the maintenance of these
British Commonwealth links, but the Australians held their ground. The predominantly
Army- and Air Force-oriented CB was able to supply important operational decrypts
to Allied naval forces from its work on the Japanese air-ground and associated minor
codes. 873
new intelligence Organisations
In mid-1942, GHQ SWPA instituted sweeping changes in the organisation of intelligence
in the command. Apart from CB, it established the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB),
with an Australian colonel as the controller, to be the umbrella organisation for four
different elements:
•
•
•
•
Section A — Special Operations Australia, cover name ISD, conducting raids and
seeking out intelligence to meet special requirements, with a British director
Section B — Secret Intelligence Australia, really a branch of the British SIS, obtaining
intelligence through secret channels, with a British or Australian director
Section C — basically the RAN Coastwatcher Service augmented with other
observers, and headed by Lieutenant Commander (later Commander) Feldt, RAN,
and
Section D — Far East Liaison Office, responsible for propaganda operations. The
director throughout the war was an RANVR officer.
Late in 1942 Section D was detached from AIB and operated under the direction of
the Commander Allied Land Forces, with the cooperation of the other two Australian
services. In early 1943, Section C was split to form the Philippines Regional Section
— charged with guerrilla liaison — and the NEI Regional Section (NEFIS) to work in
parallel with the RAN Coastwatchers, but in their own regional areas of responsibility.
The clandestine agencies were tasked and deployed to collect intelligence on targets
for amphibious assault, while the Coastwatchers maintained their role of observing and
reporting from enemy-occupied areas of the SWPA. 874 Later in the war, AIB intercept
stations were established close to operational areas to record reports from agents and
pass the intelligence on directly to local commanders. 875
In addition, in July 1942 GHQ established the Allied Geographic Section (AGS),
responsible for collecting and collating geographic, topographic and hydrographic
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