t;." : i::.. ... • 

Colonel C.V.L. L7cett 

The War. Office 

'Whitehall, s.w.1 

Dear Colonel L7cett: 

~· I• o • 

. . ~ ·, 

SPSIS-3 

'. 

9 October 1943 

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~&Dk 7ou Terf •ueh tor Tot11': ietter ot the ·1ith ot September~ which I'read with.a great ~eal ot pleasure and some nostalgia tor the excellent tille I bad as a· guest ot the British •. . . . Thia will be just a short note to tell 7ou that I did 

succeed in getting the Vheela started once more after a ver7 

heavy stop tb&t seemed to have trozen them. .Major -Yorke was 

good·enough to come to 1llJ' ott1ce last week and ve had a ver7 

pleasant conter.ence on the subject or Link-Sign Procedure. 

I b&ve gotten some V•rJ' good support .lined up amo.ng JllJ' own· 

people here and when the •tter comes up, aa it will within a 

·short time, !'hope, ve expect·to be re&d.J' with some prett7 · 

good arguments. · 

. ·.1 liked Major Yor~e ver7 much and am anticipating some 

pleasant soc~al.relationa. He ~a asked me_to·d1ne "1th him 

and I hope to.be able to acc~pt ver1 soon. 

Did 7ou get to meet Colonel Corderman? ·r bope-7ou did · 

because we· all are ver7 much _devoted to hi• and-he kn.ova what 

it ia all abo~t •. Aleo, have 7ou met 0&.pta1n Seaman and Jilt. 

Ferner' captain Seaman I think 7ou would.like ~er-r much aa 

an all-round echol&r. Fel'D•r is veri qU1et but extreael7 able. 

Pleaee give Jil1' very beat regards ·to everrbod7. With 

cordial gre~t!ngs, I aa, 

Bincerel7 J'Olll'a, 

.. 

William F. Friedman 

Director ot Communications 

Research 

· . .Peclassifi ed and approved for release by NSA on 07-15-2014 pursuant to E .0. 1352a . 
"' ·• a_ REF ID :A70004 

Mea'f' prmT The War 

Whitehall, 

Office, • s. W. l 

11th September, 1943• 

Dear: ~ ~Q.;>\.· 

Thank you very much tor your le tt'er. I am very 

pleased indeed to hear that you e~joyed your stay with us 

so much and have taken away with you memories which appear 

to have been so happy. For my par~ I can only say "that 

I was very pleased indeed to have had the opportunity of 

meeting you and· of taking you round and showing you what 

little we had to show -"Mifot excepting ~he bowli.t1g green 

at Woburn Sands\ 

I sincerely hope that I shall be able to take 

advantage.of your kind ofter' and visit you in the states, 

but so far I have not been able to thin'k up a·sufficiently 

cast-iron excuse to persuade my lords and masters that such 

a visit would be necessary in the interests 'of the war 

effort. 

I was very gratified to hear that you had already 

taken up the question of the code sign procedure. I 

WJderstand that this is still under discussion be~ween the 

Viar Department and the British Army Staff' in Washi.tJgtcm.-

Our procedure expert on that Staff, Major Yorke, is back 

hCJlle on a flYill8 visit and tells me: that he is having · 

considerable difficulty in persuading the powel\8-that-be 

in the War Department~ the-necessity- for· using linksign procedure. As an officer who has had battle experience 

with the 8th Army in North Africa, both before and after 

the introduction of the link-sign procedure there, he.will 

,be able to give you any amnunition you require to shoot down 

objectors to the system who cavil at any imaginary difficulties 

1~ training or operation. He badly needs help in his battle 

with the War Department on this subject, and feels that you 

/could ••••••• 
• REF ID:A70~4 

· ....... cou~d give.him support, as he thinks that the best method 

of attack now left open ia throush the Security and 

Int~lligence side. · 

I should be very grat~ful indeed if you would get 

in touch with him to see if indeed it is possible 'to 

bring concerted action to bear on the diehards. His 

address is Major P.L. Yorke, ~. Sigs., Graf'.ton"ii'i~e.l, . 

1139 Connecticut Avenue, and his phone number is Executive 

4500, Extension 210. 

Yorke will be leavlng f.or the States in about a wee'k 's 

----nme-.-1nc111enta"ify.--he-""'V1Ers-cap-tu:red-by-the· -GeftBaBs...-------'------ - -

evacuated 'to Crete ·wnere he escaped,· and after· many_ · 

wanderings in the island got back to Egypt, so he should 

have many' interestinB; reminisaenC'es if' y·ou can get him to 

talk-. -· -· · · -· - · -· - :~ · . 

Please'give my kind regards to Colonel :McCormack 

if and when you see him. I have passed ?D your .messages 

to thos.e concerned~ · · ,. "': • • 'loJi • • I V' .. ,.. 1• 

-Yours -·~··'A''--~ · · ·. · ·: - ~ 

~f:'~r_,~r . .... . ~ • • • ~ • I ' • ' 

.L 

W .F. · Fr'iedlllaii ,· ·Esq ... , _ . . 

_: ________ D..irj:!.~tor_, o~_Cs>.m!"l:JA:l.p~~ i9P.iLF~-~~.a_:i;-~jl.._._ ·-· , ____ __ _ . __ ·_ ---· _ ·--------. 

Arling:ton Hal_l Statipn, . .. 

Washl,,l:igton._ 

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Arlingt9n __ Hall Station 

18 August 1943 . 

Dear Colonel L7cett: 

I bave been aeaning to vrite to 'JOU tor a long time. 

.. _I 1-_d a verr quick and uneventtul jovne7 back to the 

United States. The change trom the comparative cold ot Scotland 

to the extl'eme heat ot Washington was su44en and somewhat devastating~ Fl'o• June l,, until 7esterda7 it has been one 

long and unbl'oken siege ot extremel7 hot weather and I believe 

that some records were bl'oken. Nevertheless ve have all continued to work hal'd despite this ba1141cap. 

First ot all I must hasten to thank 7ou tor the mn7 

courtesies 7ou shoved me while I was 1n England. You were so 

kind and helptul, eapeciall7 vben I disrupted vhat might have 

been a ve17 pleasant and quiet journe7 f'1'om London to Beaum.nol' 

b7 pl71ng 7ou with man.7 questions, the answers to which I cal'etull7 put down in JQ" little notebook. However, so tar as concel'ned 

me, not onl7 did I gather a considerable amount ot into:rmation 

trom 7ou but in doing so I•a having a good time. 

Ot course I must not tail to mention the protitable visit 

which I_had under 7our sponsorship at Beauma.nol'. I have not 7et 

gotten down to vriting that section ot 11r1 l'eport but expect to 

do so in a da7 or two. A couple ot da7s ago I handed 1n m,. tirat l'epol't, which came to about 120 pages ot single-spaced tJ"PeYl'itten matel'ial and all ot this ea.me trom a J1elativel7 

small nUJDber ot pages ot notes. When the Beaumanor report comes 

out 7ou will be able to see it, tor a cop7 will be sent. I got a 

great deal out ot 11.7 visit to that a~tion. , · - . '!'hen again one ot -.y most pleasant and ple&aUl'&ble recollections is the luncheon at the United Services Club to which 

7ou took me aa 7our gueat. It 7ou Buttered the slightest bit 

ot embarrassment on account ot what ld.gb.t have appeared to have 

been dilatoriness on the part ot th~ waitress 7ou need not have, beoause I vaa absorbing t)le atmoa:phere to the tul.lest extent 

ot !~cl;l _I am capabl.• even though this absorption might not i.,,.e_ been o~vious. It vail ~ grand experience and I espec1&ll7 van~· 

to thank -7ou tor the --opporttm1t7 'to v1a1r-tli!L~-geat1iititutlon. . ... . ~. 

· '-~i~1n, I recail ·with pleaave our bowling on -the ·pi~en •t Wobur~.;.~da. I round that game rather delight.tul. an4 the.apeed with ~ich 7ou •de up the tem.porar,. lead I pined a~·;~ realil:~ ~-. __ . -

-. - . . •: .... .. ~~;: .... ~ ·. . ... .... .. . ..~ .... 

__ :~~:'.:·d~--~~1.-~·~;;._-:- ~ . ·- ':.~ : .... -~. \~~- :_ ;;t:J,~~ ·- .:~.:::: .. ' 
•• . .. . . r ',."',.I 

ot "beginner's luck" a•zed me. Somehow I am remiaded, 1n this 

connection, of the present situat.ion ot the British vis-a-vis 

the Nazis and also et. that very famous expression to the ettect 

that .''England.loses ·ever7 battle except the lastn. Incidenj;e.117 I m&J' add that we have all been vel'J' much heartened b7 the recent 

successes of the United Nations Forces on various sides and are 

beginning to hope that the end of the struggle is not too tar Qff. . . . . . You are probabl7. ~mcioua to .know what l have been able to 

do about the Link-Sign business. Soon·at~er I returned I began 

to f'eel DlJ' vay a· bit cautiousl7 because I am not a member ot 

the Procedures Committee of' the- Joint or Combined Oommuriications . Board and I realized that the •tter might be in a·somevhat 

delicate status. However, I have now gotten into the business 

and talks are proceeding which I hope.will culminate 1n a •nner ~ 

. ·s.atistactorr ~o all concerned. It seems 'tb&t our Signal Sec1ll'it7 ~~ ·. peopla were n~t vel'J' intima tel7 concerned ,in ·~is ~ tter until I 

.'came into the· picture (or.shall I aa7, barged into it?) However • . Colonel McCra!-7 se,ms to be tairl7 well disposed toward listening 

·to our point ot viev_&nd although I have not 7et dealt with him 

'directl7 but onlJ" through his immediate •asistant, I expect to do 

so within & very tev·da7s. I realize the time is pressing and 

· that ve ought to get this matter straightened out ver7 promptl.7. 

Can't 7ou poss1blJ t1gur.e out some good reason whJ' otf'icial 

business requires 70\Jr presence in Washington? It would give me 

a great deal of' pleasure to have 7ou here tor several weeks. . Maybe 7ou can think up something; but it seems to me that the · · Link-Sign business might be sufficient. exeept that I know &· certain •jor· on 7our staff' who would be greatl7 .. disappointe·d it 

7ou had the opportunitt 1nstea~ ~t· ~im. · 

Once more. permit me to thank 7ou.tor 7our kindnesses to 

me. At BeaUE.nor I want rou please to convey 1D.J' .thanks to . OODlll&nder Ellingworth in particular for his m&DJ' courtesies, &l•o his daput7. Mr. Wi~t, and.his many very able assistants • . such as Messr~.-· Robeiats, Siddall,- Bartield, ·and others whose 

names I did not record and do not now recall. I should like to 

Wl'ite and thank each of' ·them 1ndiv1dual1J' tor their coUl'teaies 

but time will not permit so I must ask:that 7ou be so good as to 

conve7 to them all ""7 thanks·, and apologies for not writing them 

individuall7. · 

With. cordial greetings~ I am 

Colonel O. V. L. · Lycett .: . : ·. 

·c/o Colonel J. B. Tiltman· · 

GO & CS · · 

' --.. 

Sincerely: yours • 

. ·William F. Friedman 

Directoza of Communications , Research · 
/ 

·-· ,-

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0 

• REF ID:A70004 

The War Office, • -

Whitehall, s. w.1 

12th June 1943· 

Dear Mr. Friedman, 

Herewith is a copy of the literature on 

" 

code-sign systems, \'ihich I promised you. 

Would you please sign the receipt form and 

return it in due course? 

I hope you have had a good trip and enjoyed\'· . .:; . 

your crossing. 

W. Friedman, Esq., 

c/o Colonel Tiltman, 

G.C. & C.S. 

"Yours sincerely, 

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