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A diplomatic cryptographic and intelligence section under the control of the Director of Military Intelligence had been operating for more than a year. This activity had been pioneered by Commander T. E. Nave RN [formerly RAN] and the unit was subsequently joined by a group of
distinguished cryptographers and academics including Professor A. D. Trendall who was Professor of Greek and Professor T. G. Room, professor of mathematics at Sydney University. Tucked away under the roof of Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, this unit had the task of de-ciphering the diplomatic and commercial trac passing between Tokyo and the Japanese embassies in the Pacific region. The observations and reports of Japanese diplomats, as well as the instructions they received from Tokyo, provided a most valuable `window' of Japan's aggressive intentions in
the Pacific. The unit's most spectacular achievement was said to be the de-ciphering of a message dated 4 December 1941 from Tokyo to the Japanese Consul-General in Sydney, ordering him to destroy all his codes and ciphers. A sure indication of the imminence of hostilities. |