"On This Date in Cryptologic History" Calendar
1919 Britain's Government Code & Cypher School Established
1 Nov 1919: The Government Code & Cypher School (GC&CS) was founded in 1919 as Britain's first integrated cryptographic agency. Alastair Denniston, who had been a member of NID25, was appointed as its operational head. Its public function was "to advise as to the security of codes and cyphers used by all Government departments and to assist in their provision," but also had a secret directive to "study the methods of cypher communications used by foreign powers." GC&CS was renamed Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in 1946.
