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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2007 5:14:55 GMT 8
I've been doing some research on my Dad's wartime activities in Corregidor and came across this great forum. I was wondering if anyone else is related to any the team of code breakers that were intercepting and translating the Japanese diplomatic transmissions? Here's a link with some of the story: web.archive.org/web/20041020151333/http:/www.usncva.org/clog/corregidor.htmlMy Dad, Charles H. Jackson, was in the last group of 21 code breakers to escape on the USS Seadragon on April 8th, 1942. He ended up in Melbourne, Australia where I believe that he worked in the Monterey Apartments: home.brisnet.org.au/~dunn/sigint/monterey.htmWhile in Melbourne he met and married my Mom, who soon thereafter traveled by Navy ship to Boston to care for his three kids from his first wife who had passed away. Tragically, my Mom died at the age of 33 in 1954. I'm curious if there are any others that are interested in this interesting and previously secret story of these code breakers. Rick
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2007 4:53:25 GMT 8
What information do you have of the code breaking activities that your father was involved in on Corregidor? Most readers on this site would love to hear what you know. Several of us go to Corregidor on a regular basis and could answer some questions about the Navy Intercept Tunnel. There are some great pictures of it on this site, whats left after the Japanese blew it up. Look at the pictures just posted under 245 photos........There are a couple good ones in there.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2007 6:19:35 GMT 8
Thanks. I'll add what I do know about the Navy code breakers on Corregidor, but I am not a subject matter expert. My quest for information is of a personal nature, as my father never spoke of his work there. My life is very much tied to Corregidor though, as my Dad ended up escaping and continuing his radio intelligence work in Melbourne, Australia where he met and married my Mom. There is much information on the web about the code breakers in "Station C" now, however, their work was considered ultra top secret for many years, most notably during the war. Some of the information about their work has only recently been de-classified. Corregidor was chosen as an ideal site and the operation was moved from nearby Cavite to Corregidor around 1939. The US navy code breakers were able to intercept and translate the Japanese diplomatic code, without their knowledge of it. The contribution of their work to the war effort was huge, and their capture would have had serious repercussions. For this reason all 75 of this group were removed from the island between the time that MacArthur left and the time that it surrendered to the Japansese. (There was one fatality that was non combat related.) My Dad escaped on the USS Seadragon on April 8th, 1942, hours before Bataan surrendered. Their work continued in Melbourne, Australia and they continued to provide vital intelligence to Admiral Nimitz and MacArthur. Here is a link with information on the Melbourne operation: home.brisnet.org.au/~dunn/sigint/frumel.htmI just got off the phone and was speaking with Dolores Burnett, widow of Sid Burnett who was my Dad's best friend and one of the guys that escaped with him. Here is a link to some stuff that he wrote for the US Navt Cryptologic Society: www.corregidor.org/chs_cryptolog/ctn_srh-180.htmHere's another account from one of those guys, Vince Chamberlin: www.corregidor.org/chs_cryptolog/ctn_chamberlin.htmAnother account from Duane Whitlock: www.corregidor.org/chs_whitlock/station_c.htmMy Dad kept a scrap book from the day he joined the Navy in 1935, but the pages during his stay on Corregidor are mostly empty. There's a Japanese propaganda card where they're recommending that the Americans surrender and will be treated fairly. There's also a photograph of the backside of a Philipino peso on which he has many signatures of his buddies, including the ones mentioned above. I also have a letter that he sent to his Mom (in Boston) from Corregidor in which he warns her to heed the warning of any bombing sirens and take cover. I surmise that an attack on the US east cost was a real possibility based on what he was "hearing". She never received the letter - it was delivered back to him after the war. Some have suggested that the Navy cryptologists' contribution to the war was huge while others dispute it. Here's a link to an article in which some of their successes are outlined, including Admiral Yamamoto's assassination and our success at the Midway: www.lilesnet.com/Midway2007/code.htm Any stories or added information would be much appreciated. Rick Jackson
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Post by EXO on Aug 2, 2007 20:30:36 GMT 8
Early in the life of the Corregidor.org website (circa 1999), I was very pleased to have contact with Duane Whitlock, and through him, the NCVA and its CRYPTOLOG articles, which you have mentioned, and which are echoed on the Corregidor site by their kind permission. I thought I should do this because not many people could find the NCVA at the time, and I felt that their role on Corregidor (and their importance throughout the war) was spectacularly underappreciated. I even had the honour of Duane Whitlock's 'peer review' of my Breaking Purple article at www.corregidor.org/chs_crypto1/purple.htmThis article refers to a number of illuminating source materials with which you will need to become familiar if you wish to venture further into the twilight world of cryptography. However, amidst the innumerable busy littlenesses of running the website, the SECRET CORREGIDOR section has languished a bit, no, A LOT, I must admit. Looks like a redesign for the To Do list... In assessing the role of the coadbreakers, be sure to always recognize that a great deal of yield relied not on the physical cracking process, but on signal and traffic analysis, which was not as spectacular, but singularly as important. If you have access to a scanner, we'd love to share the pictures that you have in that scrapbook.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2007 2:10:49 GMT 8
Thank you EXO for your response and your excellent "Breaking Purple" article.
I'm sad to report that Duane Whitlock recently passed away according to a Bill Lowery that I have been communicating with. However, the papers that he wrote and referenced here are at the NCVA archives. For those that are interested, they can be purchased in paper format or by CD.
In reading the documents I received from the NCVA, I have discovered my that the peso was owned by Sid Burnett who escaped on the USS Seadragon with him. He was also one of my Dad's closest friends. I have also been talking to Sid Burnett's wife, and it's possible that the original peso note may still exist. If so, and she is willing to share it, I will post to that effect.
Best regards, Rick
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