SIGINT - The WW2 Radio Intelligence Division and Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is almost as old as radio itself, but during World War 2 it took on even greater importance. The United States Federal Communications Commission had two divisions devoted to SIGINT, the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (FBMS) and the Radio Intelligence Division (RID).
The mandate of the FBMS was to record, translate, transcribe and analyze shortwave propaganda radio programs that were being beamed at the United States by the Axis powers.
Additionally, between 1940-1947, the FCC's Radio Intelligence Division (RID) monitored clandestine radio transmissions in the United States. The RID was the FCC's “largest single activity” during the war years and helped military and government agencies locate the Axis enemy's clandestine radio transmissions.
Radio Historian Brian Harrison explores the fascinating history of these two organizations, the equipment that they used, and their contributions toward winning World War 2.
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My mother worked in Crypto during WW2. An Oregonian, she was trained in West Providence RI at a small College, and sent to Boston for service, living on Beacon Hill. She only spoke of her service when she saw her boss on NOVA broadcast in 1996.
Only stating " our team got a UBoat, " when asking for further information about her service , she said " Ive not been released" and took secrets of her service to her grave, keeping her oath. One of the Greatest generation for sure
Glad I found this video. I worked as a civilian contractor for the FBIS in Arlington, Virginia back in the 80s. Basically the typing pool: we took teletype printouts of foreign radio and TV programs, as well as newspaper and magazine articles, and entered them in a word processing system. All this was eventually printed, bound, and distributed to various government organizations. We received everything from the latest news on glasnost and perestroika from the USSR to crazy-sounding propaganda from North Korea and Albania. Something new every day. All very interesting. I did not know the FBIS went back as far as WWII. I enjoyed seeing how they worked in the old days, doing the same job as we did, only without the Wang!
When I was a young ham 60 years ago, I knew an older ham who said that when he was about 15 years old during WWII, he had been listening on his receiver, heard a CQ, and replied, all illegally. At the end of the QSO, law enforcement was at his door. Presumably, he used his own call sign, so that is not as remarkable as the RDF shown in this video. My friend said that he was offered and accepted a plea bargain, spending his time from age 16 to VJ day as radio operator on a USN submarine. That made him somewhat different mentally and emotionally, as we all could easily see.
On the other side of the ledger, there were German spies operating a transmitter with its antenna in a barn in Pennsylvania during WWII for whom the US authorities searched long and fruitlessly, and German POW's in Texas managed to do something similar while confined.
One of the most interesting AWA videos that I've seen. Loved it!
This channel is a hidden gem! Awesome work! But lets not keep it secret, SHARE!
A fascinating insight into the wartime history of our hobby. Believe it or not, the subject is just as relevant today as in the 40's. as it was a Cuban numbers station that alerted the authorities to the Myres spy case when the numbers station carried on transmitting after another Cuban spy was caught! An encrypted signal may pull up a red flag, so maybe, should it be needed, a network of Amateurs would be useful, listening out for odd messages sent in the clear! Fanciful I know, but I was brought up through the 50's and 60's on a diet of stories of WW2, spies and 5th columnists, so next time you hear a numbers station, check it out on the 'net, who knows it could be another Aldridge Ames! AWM, please keep up the good work, 73 Jim M7BXT
Interesting and fun stuff, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for a great informative and well done video.
If you find yourself recording, and notice your mouth is dry and sticky, please stop recording and drink some water. This audio is unlistenable. There's a reason there's a glass of water beside every microphone at a podium, or in a court room, etc. No one wants to hear that noise.
Here's the url to the History of the RID online pdf: www.qsl.net/w3df/sterling/ridhist.pdf
Well done, really enjoyed the snippets of the movies , it’s Fascinating to see how different countries used radio and detection to stop valuable information being sent to enemies.
Best wishes.73. 💙
Brilliant. William J. Halligan was one great radio manufacturer. He was of Irish descendants.
Wonderful presentation. Thank you.
That was very interesting, I knew there was a fair amount of radio monitoring in WWII but I was not aware of this program. From the video is sounds like this was separate from monitoring Japanese and German military transmission.
It was interesting the Navy did a transmitter location test. Early in the War German U-boats reeked havoc with US coastal shipping so I wonder if the FBIS were used to detect U-boats when they radioed home?
You might be interested in the US Navy's efforts to decode Japanese military traffic:
ua-cam.com/video/YBsly45Focw/v-deo.html
Magnificent ! Thanks for sharing !
I was a Novice and General during the era when hams were sworn not to divulge any radio gained information-- that was later dropped to accommodate weather warning broadcasts and allowed the ham to legally delvolge what he heard by radio.
I don't believe that the prohibition of divulging content ever protected amateur service or broadcast service transmissions. But other transmissions, e.g. ship-to-shore messages, non-amateur radioteletype, licensed 2-way business communications, ground-to-air communications, military, police, and other government communications were covered. Hams did not have to swear to anything, because the law (1934 Communications Act, IIRC), applied to anyone operating a radio receiver, and any license or transmitter owned or operated by the person listening in was irrelevant. We could listen freely to anything over the air, and there was no law against trying to decode the numbers or 5-letter groups or re-assemble the split spectrum transmissions, but, as you wrote, one could not divulge the contents.
Very interesting and entertaining. 73s and thank you very much. DO1LR
Just saw the motion picture on Turner Classic Movies and Who Knew radio hobbyists played a role in winning world war two. To bad it didn't prevent the pearl harbor attack.
Anyone know when and why the FCC Monitoring Station in Santa Ana, CA (Fairview and Edinger streets ) was closed. I was attending Orange Coast College in 1957 and they told us they could hear our Texas kilowatt when we were on the air; as we were only about 4 miles away. Wayne K6JIN, Former CT1 USNR
That was fantastic, very interesting.
Very cool, loved the movie snippets at the end!
Fascinating, thank you!
$5,000 a year salary before the war must have been really spectacular to translate radio transmissions.
Excellent thank you
Very good docu.! Thanks and 73 from Sovenia.
Charming film footage from back when the enemy was external of our borders 😂
Outstanding presentation. Thx.
This is the stuff radio dreams are made of. Almost cried when I saw the Ford's and Hudson's full of gear. 👍
Happy to see some of my slides being used in this presentation. You are welcome to use them, but attribution would be nice!
Hi Bob - you were one of the key contributors and I thank you very much. At 59:30 of this video there is a :"Special Thanks To" slide and you are near the top of this list. Thanks again!
@@brianharrison105 I guess I should have watched all the way through!
Excellent!!!
The RBIS’s building on K Street still stands, although the buildings on either side have been replaced. It would be great if one could get permission to crawl the building, looking for any signs of the RBIS occupancy.
Did the Alcock huts have any form of heating, or did the operators just freeze in the winter?
Very good video!!
Wonderful information, but a script would be MUCH better for future videos. My autism fixated on him saying uhhhmm so much i struggled to absorb the information. He averages 5-11 uuhhms per minute...
Wow, what an entitled person you are, complaining about someone’s speech pattern is beyond rude! The fact you counted the ‘um’s’ might have had something to do with your trouble understanding since you were pre-occupied with counting and making a tally just so you could complain about it on the internet. If you have a problem comprehending his very clear speech then you need to work on how YOU can handle it and not expect others to try and change their speech patterns for you. It’s not like his job is paid Voice Actor, so it’s on you to show respect and cut him some slack. Next time just keep it to yourself.
I have really enjoyed this video! I'm subscribing.
"found in a museum in belguim" means stolen? :D
That tougue-snapping is annoying....
Great video, but audio for the last half is terrible 😕
Please try watching it again - the audio is fine here throughout
@Brian Harrison thanks this is a great subject. Hope you make a few more videos... 👍 K7OSS
@@psnpacific Thank you, yes great subject! I wanted to get it out there. I have a handful of others posted on this site and a few more coming soon:: ua-cam.com/play/PLLTogcYJemH4wWx-c8FikXQT-sCeZ5yNU.html
Drs Afghan 2009 15 sites #POW
Okay, why in the film did he suspect the woman?
Go back to the woman in the yard when the agent was killed.
73
Very interesting
Minimize interference... ahhh hahaha Ha Ha Ahhh choke cough ahhhhh to the haha
A "video" made in 1944?? Are you sure about that? Perhaps you meant "film"? Since, yanno, video signal recording wasn't available until 1951.
All the Fcc does or did was LIE
ODNI USAFE 2005 x4 💜medal of honor #POW 🪦🔮🏺🩸🧬🦠🗝️🚪
I enjoyed this video , 73 kq4hcu