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Central Intelligence Bureau Headquarters
“Nyrambla”
A grand, hillside 1885 Ascot home, “Nyrambla” was requisitioned by the US Army circa July 1942 as the headquarters of Central Bureau in Australia. This was a joint US/Australian secret code-breaking organisation. It put the forerunners of IBM computers into the garage at “Nyrambla” to aid code breaking. In April 1943, it decoded an intercepted Japanese signal that lead to the ambush and death of
Admiral Yamamoto, who had planned the attack on Pearl Harbour. Central Bureau remained at “Nyrambla” until 1945.
Place information
Location
Place type
Radar/signal station
History
In late 1941, Detachment 6, 2nd Signal Service Company arrived in Manila as a reinforcement for General MacArthur’s Philippines Command. Major Joe Sherr and Operations Officer Lieutenant Howard W. Brown led 6 Sergeants, 3 Corporals and 6 Privates. On 17 March 1942, MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia. As he was a master of cryptanalysis and deemed important to the war effort, Sherr departed with MacArthur. Brown was evacuated on 14 April to Australia where he joined MacArthur’s Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) operation. Some other members of 2nd Signal Service Company were also evacuated but not all escaped. In Australia, Sherr...
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