Operation Hurricane and MI5

On the 11th June 1952, C.H Hutchinson of the U.K.S.L.S was concerned about signals received from the Ministry of Defence and that vital information was being given to people who did not need to know.

In response, the Admiralty responded that the memo had been discussed fully with MI5 and they agreed that it would be best if it could be arranged for the telegram to go through MI5 channels to Melbourne. This was unable to be completed because Brigadier Chilton had arranged for all communications with Colonel Spry to go through a specifically nominated person dealing with all deception matters.

The signal was sent with a special CTP cypher with a pilot instruction about decyphering. The memo then asks how it reached Captain Hutchinson unless he was acting for Harcourt Smith.

The actual telegram which details the deception makes incredible reading.

The cover story was that the test would be in late November and that in addition to the ground burst, there will be an air burst as well, with this bomb being flown from Woomera.

The intention is to (a) catch the enemy by surprise with incomplete plans for espionage or sabotage. (b) to confuse him as long as possible about real nature of the test.

Campania had the bomb in her with Penney flying out an essential piece to complete the bomb to make it operational. Penney also has phony packages pretending there was a second bomb.

Manipulation of movements of personnel by booking passages of travel on commercial airlines and then cancelling them. With a campaign of rumours, press leakages and if possible covert channels.

In his memo of June 1952, E.M. Evans-Lombe states

"One of the great dangers of this deception business seems to me to lie in not telling those who are in the know the whole plan, so that they are liable to do or say something which will pull down the whole house of cards"

Conclusion

Elaborate plans were being drawn up to deceive the press and any other interested parties in the tests, deception techniques including rumours, press releases containing incorrect information, fake personnel movements and a fake second bomb.

MI5 was heavily involved in the deception and the cover story for Operation Hurricane. Just how much deeper does the deception go? How much information relating to the tests is still being hidden from public view?