"Sigtot" - A secure Teletype System used in Australia during WW2

"SIGTOT"
A SECURE TELETYPE SYSTEM
USED IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2

visits since 13 August 2002

"Sigtot" was a secure teletype conferencing system which was used by General Douglas MacArthur in his General Headquarters, South West Pacific Area in the AMP building in Queens Street in Brisbane. It also used one time encryption and was unbreakable. Sigtot used paper teletype tape in its operation.

Ken Osterberg also remembers using the Sigtot machine, a secure teletype conferencing system, which was used in the Code Room on the 7th Floor of the AMP building by Detachment 3 of the 832nd Signal Service Company. He used Sigtot to decode incoming messages. There was a code group (which changed frequently) that denoted that the message was for McArthur's eyes only. When that happened, there was a Lieutenant on McArthur's staff who was summoned. He had the necessary scrambled teletype tape to decode these messages.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I'd like to thank Don Mehl for his assistance with this home page.

I'd also like to thank Ken Osterberg of Detachment 3 of the 832nd Signal Service Company.

BOOK REFERENCES

"Top Secret Communications of World War II"
by Donald Mehl