Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An interesting Second World War campaign group of five awarded to Sergeant H. W. Humphreys, Royal Signals, who was employed as a wireless operator in the Special Communications Unit (S.C.U.) at Whaddon Hall, a component of ‘Section VIII’ of the Secret Intelligence Service (S.I.S.) and the Bletchley Park establishment: as a member of S.C.U. 8, he embarked for Normandy in June 1944, where he processed ULTRA traffic to forward military commands

1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Efficiency Medal, E.II.R., Territorial, with Bar (22242603 Sgt. H. W. Humphreys, R. Sigs.), the last lacquered, otherwise very fine and better (5) £300-350

Hugh Walter Humphreys was born in Greenwich, London in September 1917 and enlisted in the Royal Signals in January 1940.
Having qualified as a wireless operator, he was posted to Special Signals Unit 1 at Whaddon Hall in Buckinghamshire in July 1940. An out station of Section VIII of the Secret Intelligence Service (S.I.S.), under Brigadier Richard Gambier-Parry, Whaddon had taken charge of ‘Station X’s’ wireless interception from Bletchley Park earlier in the same year.

In May 1944, Humphreys was posted to No. 8 Special Communications Unit (S.C.U.), which unit was created to channel ULTRA material to the forward military commands in Europe after D-Day. Duly embarked for Normandy, he was advanced to Lance-Corporal and apart from a spell in 1st U.S. General Hospital in July 1944, remained similarly employed until being embarked for the U.K. ‘from Special Duties overseas’ in November 1945.

Humphreys was released from service in February 1946 but re-enlisted in the Royal Signals (Territorials) in November 1948, once again being posted to No. 1 S.C.U., afterwards re-designated No. 1 Special Communications Regiment, Royal Signals (T.A.). He remained similarly employed until October 1959, when he transferred to 65th (City of London) Signals Regiment (T.A.). Advanced to Staff Sergeant in September 1961, in which year he was awarded the Efficiency Medal, Humphreys was finally discharged in November 1967. He was awarded a Bar to his Efficiency Medal in the following month; sold with extensive copied service record and a copy of The Secret Wireless War: The Story of MI6 Communications 1939-1945, by Geoffrey Pidgeon.