Catalogue description Government Code and Cypher School: Far East Combined Bureau, Signals Intelligence Centre in the Far East (HMS Anderson): Records

In 1934, the Far East Combined Bureau headquarters were opened in Hong Kong. The role of the Bureau was to provide the (Naval) Commander-in-Chief of the China Station with timely warning of the outbreak of future hostilities with Japan by means of the interception, decyphering and interpretation of Japanese electronic communications. The Bureau was organised into two sections: an Intelligence Section, staffed by officers from the three armed forces whose role was to interpret the decoded communications; and a Special Intelligence Section, staffed by cryptographers and linguists from the Government Code and Cypher School. The Bureau also had its own 'Y' (wireless interception) station mostly staffed by ex-naval wireless telegraph (W/T) operators.

In August 1939, the Bureau was removed from Hong Kong to Singapore, which was considered a more secure base from which to continue its operations. After the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941, the Bureau continued as a general intelligence gathering and analysis service, principally for the Admiralty, as Army and Air Force personnel were withdrawn from the Intelligence Section. The Bureau left Singapore in January 1942, and was briefly established in Ceylon, but following Japanese air raids on the island in April 1942 the Bureau, along with the rest of Eastern Fleet Headquarters at Colombo were removed to Kilindini near Mombasa, East Africa.

In August 1943 a new naval 'Y' station was established in Colombo, known as HMS Anderson. The Bureau relocated to Colombo and resumed its operations intercepting and decoding enemy communications, and the whole Bureau soon became known by the station name, HMS Anderson. The Bureau continued to operate from Ceylon for the remainder of the war.