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8
Sigint in the Sun - GCH Q 's
Overseas Empire
... with 'Sigint' locking onto targets with pinpoint accuracy, our
military ached to have a go.
Tim Hardy, Special Branch, Sarawak, April 1964 1
In the 1950s, GCHQ's top priontles were warning of an
impending war with Russia, and gathering intelligence on
Moscow's growing nuclear arsenal. However, on a day-to-day
basis, the Middle East, Africa and Asia were the regions where
sigint made a tangible difference. Since the end of the Second
World War, Britain had been involved in a prolonged 'escape
from empire', retreating from her colonies and hoping to replace
them with a vibrant Commonwealth of newly independent
states. The reality was more complex, since many of these countries
contained elements that were keen to evict the British
faster than they wished to go. Some hosted guerrilla groups
sympathetic to Moscow, others were divided communities that
faced a troubled journey towards independence. The result was
that Britain was involved in an endless litany of small wars that
stretched from the dusty deserts of Yemen to the steamy jungles
of Borneo. Because these were often guerrilla wars, finding the
enemy could be the main challenge, and here sigint was in its
element. Moreover, right across Asia and Africa, cyphers were
less secure than those of countries like Russia, so GCHQ could
also read plenty of high-grade diplomatic traffic.
Although sigint helped to smooth the end of Britain's empire,
GCHQ itself did not always want empire to come to an end.
Because the 1950s and 1960s were an era when a great deal