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Remembered Today:

Gabriel Stanley Woods, Admiralty room 40


Sgt Stripes

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Hello. I am researching Gabriel Stanley Woods who served WW2 at Bletchley Park 1939-1942. There is a little bit of information stating that he was a veteran of Admiralty Room 40 WW1 signals intelligence section. Could anyone confirm this or if he was in the Royal Navy. There is no mention of his Rank. Many Thanks

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This Royal Naval Reserve entry is on Findmypast

1247367808_GWFWoodsGSRNR.JPG.ab95129d1b6fa032125a25cf93063db2.JPG

 

And his Army officer's service file is at National Archives under the following reference:

WO 339/117344

 

Charlie

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Exeter College Roll for WW1 notes this:

1903 Woods, G. S., M.A. (1917). Lieutenant Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, attached Admiralty (Intelligence Branch).

 

 

Edited by charlie962
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Thank you for both replies. Looks like the start of a very good research project. .  

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Just to be clear, he was commissioned into the RNVR as a Lieutenant, not RNR, and was appointed to the Naval Intelligence Division (NID) of the Admiralty. Curiously, despite eighteen months of mobilised RNVR service, his name does not appear on the Admiralty Medal Rolls. He would have qualified for the British War Medal and Victory Medal but these may have been issued by the WO for his earlier Army service. 

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4 minutes ago, horatio2 said:

Just to be clear, he was commissioned into the RNVR as a Lieutenant, not RNR

aghh- I keep getting this wrong. Thanks for the correction.

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  • 3 months later...
On 17/07/2019 at 14:56, Sgt Stripes said:

Hello. I am researching Gabriel Stanley Woods who served WW2 at Bletchley Park 1939-1942. There is a little bit of information stating that he was a veteran of Admiralty Room 40 WW1 signals intelligence section. Could anyone confirm this or if he was in the Royal Navy. There is no mention of his Rank. Many Thanks

G S Woods is listed in HW 3/6 in TNA Kew with what looks like Lt behind his name but nothing else. HW 3/6 is entitled Room 40 pen portraits.

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  • 3 weeks later...

If it helps, he went from Room 40 to the newly formed GC&CS - 

 

Born Oxford 1884. Son of president of Trinity Coll, Oxford.  MA Oxon.  Room 40 from 1917.     Lt  RNVR 22 Dec  17.  Worked on Spanish, German, Chilean and Austrian ciphers; also on Bolshevist cipher between Budapest and Moscow.  Among 'first substitutes' for GCCS.  Demobilised Jun 19. On Jul 19 salary list for ID25 (HW3/5)  -­‐  ¬£350, Lt RNVR.   11 Feb 20, Mr G S Woods replaces Miss Hayllar in GCCS as Junior Assistant. Senior Asst 1930. Appears on Jul 39 mobilisation list (HW3/42).   To BP on mobilization (HW64/45).   School House on Dec 40 list (HW14/9)   In McCormacks report of May 1943 described as 'Bulgarian Section Woods elderly permanent and one secretary.  .. .. Woods also handles Yugoslav traffic'.   Died 1961. 

 

[McCormack was a US Army officer who visited GC&CS in '43]

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His mother, Margaret Louisa Woods, is in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (access possible from home with your library card or at your local library) click. His father has a small Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George_Woods.

 

sJ

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