Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

World War 2, South West Pacific Theatre, Wabun Morse Code, 1942

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Subcollections

Communications Gallery - Centenary of Royal Australian Corps of Signals

Overview

Wabun code (wabun mōrusu fugō), is a form of Morse code used to send Japanese kana characters. Unlike International Morse Code, which represents letters of the Latin script, in Wabun each symbol represents a Japanese kana.

Historical information

During World War 2 the Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG) was formed to intercept enemy transmissions and to monitor Allied operators. The intelligence provided by the ASWG played an important role in the defeat of the Japanese Empire.

After messages were intercepted by the ASWG operator they went to the decoder/decryptor, then to the translator and then to Central Bureau where the messages were assessed and the information passed out to field commanders. Some operators were involved in what was known as high-speed work. Morse signals were transmitted at high speed and were recorded on Edison wax cylinders and replayed later at a slower speed. The operators were usually not aware of the contents of the messages they were receiving or sending.
From August 1942, members of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) were also recruited into ASWG. ASWG detachments were deployed in key locations around Australia. The Western Australian station was located at Queens Park (Crocker Park near the Carousel Shopping Centre). Operational sections were sent to Darwin and to Port Moresby.
ASWG scaled down its operations after World War 2 and changed its name to the 101 Wireless Regiment in 1947. In 1964 the unit changed its name to the 7th Signal Regiment. In 1989 the unit joined forces with the 72 Electronic Warfare Squadron to become the 7th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare).

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-54-584

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

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