Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Erdle, who shares the following:
Hi Thomas,
I thought that you SWLing visitors might enjoy this presentation from the Antique Wireless Association:
The US Navy’s On-The-Roof Gang – Pioneers of Radio Intelligence:
Video description: Author Matt Zullo is a retired U.S. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer who has more than 35 years’ experience in Radio Intelligence, now more commonly known as Communications Intelligence. He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University, where he researched and wrote his master’s thesis on the On-the-Roof Gang, which tells the story of story of the 176 Sailors and Marines who, starting in 1921, learned the Japanese katakana telegraphic code in order to intercept Imperial Japanese Navy communications, setting in motion events that would lead to the birth of the US Navy’s communications intelligence organization. Join Matt in this “AWA Shares” presentation as he discusses the importance of this pioneering effort in signals intelligence.
Click here to view on YouTube.
Click here for more information about the On-The-Roof Gang series.
Thanks for passing this along, Thomas. My dad was a Navy radio operator on the USS Bunker Hill in the Pacific in WWII. As far as I know, he was not involved in radio intercept work, but this story is still very fascinating for me!
73,
Randy, KS4L
I have read both volumes of the “On the roof Gang,” and can recommend them highly without reservation. It’s an interesting story, well-told.
Here’s what I said about the first volume: “Between WWI and WWII, the US Navy realized the need to intercept and decode Japanese military and diplomatic radio traffic.
Matt Zullo calls this book a novel because he had to fill in the blanks in some areas, but most of the book is based on official documentation and personal recollections.
It is a ripping good yarn, written in an engaging style, that spans the globe from Samoa to Greenland, and I found it fascinating and will soon be reading the second volume.”