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The Secret Code-Breakers of Central Bureau: How Australia’s Signals-Intelligence Network Helped Win the Pacific War
A groundbreaking work of Australian military history, The Code-Breakers of Central Bureau tells the story of the country’s significant code-breaking and signals-intelligence achievements during the Second World War. It reveals how Australians built a large and sophisticated intelligence network from scratch, how Australian code-breakers cracked Japanese army and air force codes, and how the code-breakers played a vital role in the battles of Midway, Milne Bay, the Coral Sea, Hollandia, and Leyte.
The book also reveals Australian involvement in the shooting down of Admiral Yamamoto near Bougainville in 1943, and how on 14 August 1945, following Japan’s offer of surrender, an Australian intelligence officer established the Allies’ first direct radio contact with Japan since the war had begun.
This is a rich historical account of a secret and little-understood side of the war, interwoven with lively personalities and personal stories. It is the story of Australia’s version of Bletchley Park, of talented and dedicated individuals who significantly influenced the course of the Pacific War.
The book also reveals Australian involvement in the shooting down of Admiral Yamamoto near Bougainville in 1943, and how on 14 August 1945, following Japan’s offer of surrender, an Australian intelligence officer established the Allies’ first direct radio contact with Japan since the war had begun.
This is a rich historical account of a secret and little-understood side of the war, interwoven with lively personalities and personal stories. It is the story of Australia’s version of Bletchley Park, of talented and dedicated individuals who significantly influenced the course of the Pacific War.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 12, 2017
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April 13, 2021
The Secret Code Breakers of Central Bureau by David Dufty AA
Synopsis /
A groundbreaking work of Australian military history, The Code-Breakers of Central Bureau tells the story of the country’s significant code-breaking and signals-intelligence achievements during the Second World War. It reveals how Australians built a large and sophisticated intelligence network from scratch, how Australian code-breakers cracked Japanese army and air force codes, and how the code-breakers played a vital role in the battles of Midway, Milne Bay, the Coral Sea, Hollandia, and Leyte.
The book also reveals Australian involvement in the shooting down of Admiral Yamamoto near Bougainville in 1943, and how on 14 August 1945, following Japan’s offer of surrender, an Australian intelligence officer established the Allies’ first direct radio contact with Japan since the war had begun.
This is a rich historical account of a secret and little-understood side of the war, interwoven with lively personalities and personal stories. It is the story of Australia’s version of Bletchley Park, of talented and dedicated individuals who significantly influenced the course of the Pacific War.
My Thoughts /
This book tells the story of the emergence of signals intelligence in Australia during the Second World War, and of the men and women who worked for Central Bureau and other signals organisations based in Australia. The activities of those people remained secret for decades and were never recognised by the Australian government.
The Beginning.
The Second World War was a ‘global war’ that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It included all the great powers – forming two opposing military alliances – the Allies and the Axis – and directly involved more than 100 Million personnel from more than 30 countries. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities, with more civilians than military personnel killed. Tens of millions of people died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), premeditated death from starvation, massacres, and disease.
World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party (he invaded Poland with 1.5 Million troops). Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany two days later.
The Book.
This is an intriguing, detailed look at the breaking of coded messages by the Australians and allies across World War 2. I found it to be a well thought out narrative into the expertise in the art of code breaking and admiration for the type of people recruited. A fascinating story of the Pacific War and finally, how the role of the code breaker expanded from the beginning of WW2.
Central Bureau. The Central Bureau was the (deliberately anonymous-sounding) name given to a large part of Australia’s WW2 code-breaking apparatus: yet as the war dragged on, the politicking and turf wars caused an enormous amount of fragmentation. Japanese Navy codes, Army codes, Water Transport codes, ground-to-air codes, sea-to-air codes: all of these were tackled and defeated. Yet even though the theoretical structure and nature of some of these codes were worked out early on, the codes themselves and the additive tables used to scramble them were subject to change. So the practical cryptologic work never ended until right up to the end of the War.
As the codebreaking process became more mechanised, and the volume of intercepts grew, many more staff were recruited from a wider range of sources. A significant proportion of these were recruited from the Women’s Services; the WRNS, the ATS and the WAAF. By 1945, 75% of the staff of Bletchley Park were women, and of these six out of ten were in uniform. The remainder were recruited through the Civil Service. As a consequence civilians and uniformed personnel worked alongside each other in most sections. He has several wonderful moments in the narrative dealing with the Australian women as Morse code operators including one between the Australian military chiefs and the Prime Minister calling them out on their sexism over theirs antics in trying to avoid using them.
Although quite dry for the most part, boredom is avoided by the often unusual or thought-provoking language; or, at the slight attempts at humour throughout. If you enjoy reading factual accounts or, love reading about history in general, you would find this book really enjoyable – so please add it to your TBR and let me know what you think.
Favourite Quotes.
1. What he did not grasp was that ‘solving’ a code and ‘breaking’ a code are two different things. The Allies had solved it, meaning that they knew how it worked – it used five numbers, an additive book that was applied in a certain way, and an indicator system. But they had not broken the code. Breaking a code involves learning enough code words and indicators so that any given message can be read.
2. Rudy Fabian had no desire to get involved in what he saw as ‘secret inks and all that crap’.
3. Lieutenant Alistair Wallace Sandford – None of his equipment was uniform. He deplored regimentation. He said he didn’t see why individuality should be suppressed, and made to conform to a common, very common, pattern. In short, he was somewhat out of place as an officer in the war-toughened Australian Signal Section. But as events were to prove, he was completely fearless and so in the end we accepted him as a brother in arms.
Synopsis /
A groundbreaking work of Australian military history, The Code-Breakers of Central Bureau tells the story of the country’s significant code-breaking and signals-intelligence achievements during the Second World War. It reveals how Australians built a large and sophisticated intelligence network from scratch, how Australian code-breakers cracked Japanese army and air force codes, and how the code-breakers played a vital role in the battles of Midway, Milne Bay, the Coral Sea, Hollandia, and Leyte.
The book also reveals Australian involvement in the shooting down of Admiral Yamamoto near Bougainville in 1943, and how on 14 August 1945, following Japan’s offer of surrender, an Australian intelligence officer established the Allies’ first direct radio contact with Japan since the war had begun.
This is a rich historical account of a secret and little-understood side of the war, interwoven with lively personalities and personal stories. It is the story of Australia’s version of Bletchley Park, of talented and dedicated individuals who significantly influenced the course of the Pacific War.
My Thoughts /
This book tells the story of the emergence of signals intelligence in Australia during the Second World War, and of the men and women who worked for Central Bureau and other signals organisations based in Australia. The activities of those people remained secret for decades and were never recognised by the Australian government.
The Beginning.
The Second World War was a ‘global war’ that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It included all the great powers – forming two opposing military alliances – the Allies and the Axis – and directly involved more than 100 Million personnel from more than 30 countries. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities, with more civilians than military personnel killed. Tens of millions of people died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), premeditated death from starvation, massacres, and disease.
World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party (he invaded Poland with 1.5 Million troops). Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany two days later.
The Book.
This is an intriguing, detailed look at the breaking of coded messages by the Australians and allies across World War 2. I found it to be a well thought out narrative into the expertise in the art of code breaking and admiration for the type of people recruited. A fascinating story of the Pacific War and finally, how the role of the code breaker expanded from the beginning of WW2.
Central Bureau. The Central Bureau was the (deliberately anonymous-sounding) name given to a large part of Australia’s WW2 code-breaking apparatus: yet as the war dragged on, the politicking and turf wars caused an enormous amount of fragmentation. Japanese Navy codes, Army codes, Water Transport codes, ground-to-air codes, sea-to-air codes: all of these were tackled and defeated. Yet even though the theoretical structure and nature of some of these codes were worked out early on, the codes themselves and the additive tables used to scramble them were subject to change. So the practical cryptologic work never ended until right up to the end of the War.
As the codebreaking process became more mechanised, and the volume of intercepts grew, many more staff were recruited from a wider range of sources. A significant proportion of these were recruited from the Women’s Services; the WRNS, the ATS and the WAAF. By 1945, 75% of the staff of Bletchley Park were women, and of these six out of ten were in uniform. The remainder were recruited through the Civil Service. As a consequence civilians and uniformed personnel worked alongside each other in most sections. He has several wonderful moments in the narrative dealing with the Australian women as Morse code operators including one between the Australian military chiefs and the Prime Minister calling them out on their sexism over theirs antics in trying to avoid using them.
Although quite dry for the most part, boredom is avoided by the often unusual or thought-provoking language; or, at the slight attempts at humour throughout. If you enjoy reading factual accounts or, love reading about history in general, you would find this book really enjoyable – so please add it to your TBR and let me know what you think.
Favourite Quotes.
1. What he did not grasp was that ‘solving’ a code and ‘breaking’ a code are two different things. The Allies had solved it, meaning that they knew how it worked – it used five numbers, an additive book that was applied in a certain way, and an indicator system. But they had not broken the code. Breaking a code involves learning enough code words and indicators so that any given message can be read.
2. Rudy Fabian had no desire to get involved in what he saw as ‘secret inks and all that crap’.
3. Lieutenant Alistair Wallace Sandford – None of his equipment was uniform. He deplored regimentation. He said he didn’t see why individuality should be suppressed, and made to conform to a common, very common, pattern. In short, he was somewhat out of place as an officer in the war-toughened Australian Signal Section. But as events were to prove, he was completely fearless and so in the end we accepted him as a brother in arms.
August 2, 2018
This book reveals in detail the amazing people made up of mathematicians, code-breakers and radio experts who intercepted the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces attack plans making it possible for American and Australian Armed Forces to thwart many of these planned operations. General Douglas MacArthur was so impressed with their work that the men of Central Bureau accompanied him on his counter-attack in the Pacific.
The Kana code was the Japanese version of Morse from the Japanese orthographic Katakana, 75 separate characters. Learning the actual Katakana symbols was not possible due to the urgency of time and lack of language skills of the Australians. Those training to learn the dit dit dot of Morse had to learn extra symbols via the Latin alphabet that would cover for the extra Japanese symbols.
All those involved were sworn to secrecy and many died without revealing anything to anyone. Sadly the Australian Government made the Australian Code Breakers wait until 2011 for acknowledgement of their service and even then it came from Britain. The US army wanted to award 3 men with the Medal of Freedom with a Bronze Palm for their services in WW2 however the Australian bureaucrats could not agree to the awarding of medals by a foreign power.
Another obstacle during this time was the shortage of labour. Women were recruited for the first time into the Armed Forces with great awkwardness due to the lack of female facilities etc. In typical male prejudice attitude of the times females were not allowed to be posted overseas.
The Kana code was the Japanese version of Morse from the Japanese orthographic Katakana, 75 separate characters. Learning the actual Katakana symbols was not possible due to the urgency of time and lack of language skills of the Australians. Those training to learn the dit dit dot of Morse had to learn extra symbols via the Latin alphabet that would cover for the extra Japanese symbols.
All those involved were sworn to secrecy and many died without revealing anything to anyone. Sadly the Australian Government made the Australian Code Breakers wait until 2011 for acknowledgement of their service and even then it came from Britain. The US army wanted to award 3 men with the Medal of Freedom with a Bronze Palm for their services in WW2 however the Australian bureaucrats could not agree to the awarding of medals by a foreign power.
Another obstacle during this time was the shortage of labour. Women were recruited for the first time into the Armed Forces with great awkwardness due to the lack of female facilities etc. In typical male prejudice attitude of the times females were not allowed to be posted overseas.
March 3, 2018
This book is an awesome read. I’d recommend it even to those who wouldn’t normally read non-fiction. At first, I feared that it would be rather dry, but it is told in such a way that it is enthralling. This part of Australia’s history should be taught in schools. I was fascinated, in fact, shocked, at the scale of the role Australian code breakers played in WWII. I had no idea how close Australia came to having a war on the continent. And no idea that female codebreakers played such a role. Their treatment was sexist and appalling and they deserve far more recognition than they have received. In fact, I’d like to see a movie made about them. I was not, however, shock at the first-class political bullshit that went on. It is disgraceful that those operatives were denied medals when they were identified as deserving them due to politics. Those involved should hang their heads in shame. I very good book.
Read
July 8, 2019Who knew? This enthralling study tells a deeply human story. The men and women who gave our troops a significant edge in the fight against the Japanese are the genuine heroes in this engaging and exciting book.
Michael McKernan, Author of The Strength of a Nation and When This Thing Happened
This is history and military strategy written at its most engaging.
Waikato Times
The author weaves a true tale of intrigue, remarkable perseverance, urgency and good luck.
Hawkes Bay Weekend
A delightfully and thoroughly engaging story of the emergence of the Australian contribution to the signals and radio interception intelligence … Dufty’s writing style is light and easy to read, reminiscent of other contemporary historical narratives that tell a series of stories, most notably the emphasis of the human story associated with these experiences.
Rhys Ball, NZ International Review
Michael McKernan, Author of The Strength of a Nation and When This Thing Happened
This is history and military strategy written at its most engaging.
Waikato Times
The author weaves a true tale of intrigue, remarkable perseverance, urgency and good luck.
Hawkes Bay Weekend
A delightfully and thoroughly engaging story of the emergence of the Australian contribution to the signals and radio interception intelligence … Dufty’s writing style is light and easy to read, reminiscent of other contemporary historical narratives that tell a series of stories, most notably the emphasis of the human story associated with these experiences.
Rhys Ball, NZ International Review
September 29, 2017
New WW2 Codebreaking Ground Covered
There are few resources on General MacArthur 's Central Bureau, let alone from the Australian perspective.
David Duffy fills this niche well
He has several wonderful moments in the narrative dealing with the Australian women as Morse code operators including one between the Australian military chiefs and the Prime Minister calling them out on their sexism over theirs antics in trying to avoid using them.
The Australian role in the breaking the coded message leading to the shoot down of Adm. Yamamoto is also detailed including the fact the Central Bureau provided a complete decoded version of the message in a lessor air to ground code message that was used to by U.S. Navy code breakers to crack the version in the stronger JN-25 Japanese Naval code.
All in all it rates a strong five stars.
There are few resources on General MacArthur 's Central Bureau, let alone from the Australian perspective.
David Duffy fills this niche well
He has several wonderful moments in the narrative dealing with the Australian women as Morse code operators including one between the Australian military chiefs and the Prime Minister calling them out on their sexism over theirs antics in trying to avoid using them.
The Australian role in the breaking the coded message leading to the shoot down of Adm. Yamamoto is also detailed including the fact the Central Bureau provided a complete decoded version of the message in a lessor air to ground code message that was used to by U.S. Navy code breakers to crack the version in the stronger JN-25 Japanese Naval code.
All in all it rates a strong five stars.
October 30, 2020
The Secret Code-Breakers of Central Bureau is a very good book. It’s a “popular history”, but it is based on no small amount of research from source documents and interviews with people who served in the organisation. This may frustrate some looking for more detail on the technical side of things, but for someone like me more interested in the general story of the organisation and the people involved, it was perfect.
It covers the formation of what became FRUMEL in Melbourne (a navy-focussed codebreaking and signals intelligence organisation), before the later establishment of Central Bureau (a primarily army and air force organisation), and then follows Central Bureau through to the end of the war, and a little after. It’s a person-and-event focussed history, but it goes to the trouble to explain some of the structure of the codes used, and the technical challenges faced by the codebreakers/traffic analysts, and it does it at a level that people with no experience with signals intelligence or cryptanalysis (code-breaking) can understand.
The style of writing is engaging and easy to read, making the book very accessible, which is accentuated by the reasonable-sized font and well-spaced lines. The standard of editing was very high, with only the occasional typo and, as far as I could tell (I’m not in a position to pick any errors of fact on the core material of the book) very good when it came to facts as well.
As is so often the case, the book is weakest when talking about the broader context within which the core subject of the book falls, be it historical context or military developments during the war. It wasn’t always weak (and was often very strong), but it’s not surprising given the sources used that some of the broader context stuff wasn’t quite on the money - readers are advised to not take their more general impressions on the Second World War, or on the Australian/British/US strategic relationships and arrangements, from the book. It’s important to note that this is an issue that catches up many authors, from all countries, and while it’s not something I’d encourage, it’s hardly a cardinal sin. One pet peeve of mine is that for a book that provides ranks from the army, air force and navy, it didn’t make clear who was who, which given some ranks are used in both services (but denote different levels of the chain of command – the clearest being that a captain in the RAN is far more senior than a captain in the Australian Military Forces, and captains from both services get a mention), it was a bit confusing, particularly as the discussion of the person wouldn’t necessarily mention which service they were with.
These were relatively minor things though, and not material in terms of enjoying the book more generally, which I did immensely. It’s an impressive piece of work and an important contribution to Australian history. All up, I’d recommend to anyone interested in Australia’s contribution to WW2, or Australian signals intelligence and cryptanalysis more broadly, but would suggest those who are into more technical/detailed works on the topic be aware that the book isn’t primarily aimed at them.
It covers the formation of what became FRUMEL in Melbourne (a navy-focussed codebreaking and signals intelligence organisation), before the later establishment of Central Bureau (a primarily army and air force organisation), and then follows Central Bureau through to the end of the war, and a little after. It’s a person-and-event focussed history, but it goes to the trouble to explain some of the structure of the codes used, and the technical challenges faced by the codebreakers/traffic analysts, and it does it at a level that people with no experience with signals intelligence or cryptanalysis (code-breaking) can understand.
The style of writing is engaging and easy to read, making the book very accessible, which is accentuated by the reasonable-sized font and well-spaced lines. The standard of editing was very high, with only the occasional typo and, as far as I could tell (I’m not in a position to pick any errors of fact on the core material of the book) very good when it came to facts as well.
As is so often the case, the book is weakest when talking about the broader context within which the core subject of the book falls, be it historical context or military developments during the war. It wasn’t always weak (and was often very strong), but it’s not surprising given the sources used that some of the broader context stuff wasn’t quite on the money - readers are advised to not take their more general impressions on the Second World War, or on the Australian/British/US strategic relationships and arrangements, from the book. It’s important to note that this is an issue that catches up many authors, from all countries, and while it’s not something I’d encourage, it’s hardly a cardinal sin. One pet peeve of mine is that for a book that provides ranks from the army, air force and navy, it didn’t make clear who was who, which given some ranks are used in both services (but denote different levels of the chain of command – the clearest being that a captain in the RAN is far more senior than a captain in the Australian Military Forces, and captains from both services get a mention), it was a bit confusing, particularly as the discussion of the person wouldn’t necessarily mention which service they were with.
These were relatively minor things though, and not material in terms of enjoying the book more generally, which I did immensely. It’s an impressive piece of work and an important contribution to Australian history. All up, I’d recommend to anyone interested in Australia’s contribution to WW2, or Australian signals intelligence and cryptanalysis more broadly, but would suggest those who are into more technical/detailed works on the topic be aware that the book isn’t primarily aimed at them.
May 12, 2022
I attended a public lecture in Canberra by the author (whose previous work was about the construction of an android), and bought a signed copy of this book. By now, everybody is probably aware of the part that code-breaking played in the war. The story of code-breaking in the South West Pacific Area, where work was carried out in conjunction with that at Bletchley Park in England and Arlington Hall in the United States, has been recounted before in various places; the best is probably MacArthur's Ultra (1992) by Edward J. Drea. Many accounts have concentrated on the organisation of code-breaking effort, which was somewhat messy, but an impressive instance of Australian-US collaboration (although US Army-US Navy collaboration was often lacking). This book concentrates more on the personalities involved, and the work that they did. The Central Bureau gave General MacArthur an independent source of high-grade intelligence within his own command.
In the nature of the subject, new details have been coming out even as the number living participants has been dwindling, and Dufty has indeed made several new discoveries. While obviously written for the general reader and not the scholar, the book also delves into the technical details of how messages were encrypted and enciphered. (Starting with the difference between the two.) The way the Japanese used their codes is clearly documented. The descriptions of the activities of the Y-stations is also very good. This is often overlooked in many accounts. Radio traffic was more important in the Pacific than in Europe (because land lines were lacking) and divisions could be tracked, and useful information gathered, even if their messages could not be read.
Ultra could not provide all the answers, and it frequently under-estimated the numbers of Japanese defenders, with serious results. Moreover, the Australian government had been penetrated by Soviet agents, and the information they obtained was passed to the Japanese. The reasons why remain uncertain.
In the nature of the subject, new details have been coming out even as the number living participants has been dwindling, and Dufty has indeed made several new discoveries. While obviously written for the general reader and not the scholar, the book also delves into the technical details of how messages were encrypted and enciphered. (Starting with the difference between the two.) The way the Japanese used their codes is clearly documented. The descriptions of the activities of the Y-stations is also very good. This is often overlooked in many accounts. Radio traffic was more important in the Pacific than in Europe (because land lines were lacking) and divisions could be tracked, and useful information gathered, even if their messages could not be read.
Ultra could not provide all the answers, and it frequently under-estimated the numbers of Japanese defenders, with serious results. Moreover, the Australian government had been penetrated by Soviet agents, and the information they obtained was passed to the Japanese. The reasons why remain uncertain.
June 30, 2020
reading the well written reviews here and amazon I heartily concur with the 5 stars. The bibliography is a great source of further reading for those interested in the 'I was there' parts of the story. I've added several to my 'to be read' list. I agree that these folks contribution should have been recognized by Australia back in the mid 70's when much of the material was declassified. A great deal of the success of the Southwest Pacific campaign was due to the entire intelligence community of which the Australians were an integral part. Be nice to see Australian TV turn it into a mini series.
April 3, 2021
Overall a fascinating read, but I think the part I liked best was the historical description of the war in the Pacific, a subject I knew very little about - to my shame - previously. I often found myself reaching for google maps to find the locations. Also enjoyed the description of war time Brisbane (I live a few km from Nyrambla House in Ascot). I found the last couple of chapters very moving.
January 29, 2018
This was a fascinating story of signals intelligence officers from Australia and USA mainly in Melbourne and Brisbane and Irian Jaya and Philippines and Japan. I enjoyed the code-breaking techniques and decrypting of Kana Morse Code to interpret Japanese military messages that caused World War II to end sooner. This is a remarkable and well kept secret story. I am glad I read it. It inspired me. It has a very extensive bibliography and both name and subject index so well written and researched.
July 27, 2021
This is a truly amazing book.
August 14, 2023
Exceptionally well researched and presented with a great mix of historical fact and page turning thrills. Full review to come.
September 9, 2024
Didn't know much about this. Interesting. Agaon, due to secrecy not really recognised.
March 9, 2024
I loved this non-fiction book, The Secret Codebreakers of Central Bureau by David Dufty. I was attracted to it because my mother did some of the work Dufty describes. The book is not what I expected. The detail is extrordinary, especially considering that most of the official records were burnt to protect Australia's interests. Everyone involved in signals and cryptanalysis was sworn to secrecy and most believed this oath never expired. (It did. They were not to say anything for a mere 30 years.) I was stunned to learn about the top secret work done only a few kilometers from my home. Dufty tells us about the wide range of brilliant people who worked tirelessly for years and went unrecognised. Gossip and old wives tales about the surrender of Japan fade away as Dufty explores this fascinating time with careful detail. I like the way Dufty includes occasional glimpses of the personalities involved and short scenes from their lives. This book is not for wimps. It is not a happy-dreams story. It is dry and detailed. It is about a horrific time in recent history. Real people. Real determination against the odds. You must read this. You will be engrossed well past midnight and into the morning hours, falling asleep with the book in your hands.
Read
July 8, 2019Who knew? This enthralling study tells a deeply human story. The men and women who gave our troops a significant edge in the fight against the Japanese are the genuine heroes in this engaging and exciting book.
Michael McKernn, Author of The Strength of a Nation and When This Thing Happened
This is history and military strategy written at its most engaging.
Waikato Times
The author weaves a true tale of intrigue, remarkable perseverance, urgency and good luck.
Hawkes Bay Weekend
A delightfully and thoroughly engaging story of the emergence of the Australian contribution to the signals and radio interception intelligence … Dufty’s writing style is light and easy to read, reminiscent of other contemporary historical narratives that tell a series of stories, most notably the emphasis of the human story associated with these experiences.
Rhys Ball, NZ International Review
Michael McKernn, Author of The Strength of a Nation and When This Thing Happened
This is history and military strategy written at its most engaging.
Waikato Times
The author weaves a true tale of intrigue, remarkable perseverance, urgency and good luck.
Hawkes Bay Weekend
A delightfully and thoroughly engaging story of the emergence of the Australian contribution to the signals and radio interception intelligence … Dufty’s writing style is light and easy to read, reminiscent of other contemporary historical narratives that tell a series of stories, most notably the emphasis of the human story associated with these experiences.
Rhys Ball, NZ International Review
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews