On the roof gang prelude to war is a fascinating read.
On the roof gang instructors.
Four of these men became instructors in the art of reading kana transmissions when the navy began conducting classes in the subject in 1928.
Prelude to war concludes with the date which will live in infamy december 7 1941.
Prelude to war focuses on the development of the us navy s radio intelligence operation led by well known characters such as harry kidder laurance safford and joseph rochefort.
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To train them in kata kana and the japanese telegraphic code a school was set up in a specially constructed blockhouse on the roof of the old navy department building in washington d c.
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Army october 25 1910 as a private.
The instructor for the first three was chief radioman harry kidder.
Graduates of this school were eventually venerated as the on the roof gang the search for a qualified instructor turned up chief kidder who happened to be serving in the navy department communications center.
First on the roof gang instructor september 27 1889 november 21 1963 harry kidder first enlisted in the u s.
The last two were taught by chief radioman dorman chauncey.
The attention to detail and historical research that went into this was amazing.
As a former crypto linguist cryptologic analyst and instructor this book often made me feel i was back in the saddle again.
Navy on 28 october 1921 at boston massachusetts.
Rosters of all the on the roof gang classes.
Initial graduates were sent to ground stations in the pacific to monitor the japanese.
Prelude to war begins with the program s infancy in the early 1920s and concludes with the date which will live in infamy december 7 1941.
Was honorably discharged from the army october 24 1913 and subsequently enlisted in the navy on january 26 1914 as a landsman radio electrician.
The first class would begin on october 1 1928 and instructors were to be two of the self taught radiomen from the asiatic fleet.
There existed a small cadre of self taught operators in the pacific theater and two of them were selected to become instructors in the on the roof gang chief radioman harry kidder and chief radioman dorman chauncey instructed the early classes.
The classes were conducted by the room 2426 crew and the radiotelegraph operators became known as the on the roof gang.
