What is known about Kamer 14 (Room 14) at Bandung, Java? It was intercepting and probably decrypting Japanese coded messages - Diplomatic (?) Naval (?) and Army (?).

When Batavia fell, Lieutenant-Commander Leo Brouwer RNN, a Japanese linguist was evacuated to Colombo, and joined the JN25 team at the Far Eastern Combined Bureau (FECB) there. He may have moved to Bletchley Park, where Hut 7 worked on Japanese codes. Prewar, John Tiltman at Bletchley Park had made a break into an earlier version of JN25 the IJN code in 1939.

The whole story about the Dutch codebreaking is related in the book;
nishi no kaze, hare by robert Haslach isbn 90-6091-233-0
As Brouwer and Nuboer and several other participents helped in making this book, reading it would answer your questions

One source to also keep in mind is:

*Nuboer, J.F.W. 1981. A History of Afdeling I (Intelligence) Naval Staff, Batavia, Netherlands East Indies from August 1934 to January 1938. The Cryptogram, the Official Journal of the American Cryptogram Association volume 47, issue 2, pages 1-8.

I have not read the book you mention, so I do not know if there is an overlap between the two sources. This article was written by a Dutch naval officer who was stationed in the NEI before the war and assigned to the codebreaking operation. Hope this source helps.

Mark C. Jones

One source to also keep in mind is:

*Nuboer, J.F.W. 1981. A History of Afdeling I (Intelligence) Naval Staff, Batavia, Netherlands East Indies from August 1934 to January 1938. The Cryptogram, the Official Journal of the American Cryptogram Association volume 47, issue 2, pages 1-8.

I have not read the book you mention, so I do not know if there is an overlap between the two sources. This article was written by a Dutch naval officer who was stationed in the NEI before the war and assigned to the codebreaking operation.
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this 1981 article only covers the period 34-38, Nishi no kaze, hara is from 1985 and covers the period 1914-1942. Nuboer's 1981 article is listed in the sources and as already mentioned before Nuboer assisted with this book.

Nuboer also wrote an article in Marineblad 1981 titled ""De eerste jaren van de marine-inlichtingendienst bij de Staf Zeemacht te Batavia, 1934-1938" (June 1981 issue). Since this article was published in the same year as the Cryptogram article, it is possible that this is the Dutch version.

For more about Nuboer, also see my site:

http://www.netherlandsnavy.nl/Men_nuboer.htm

Regards,
Jan

Nuboer also wrote an article in Marineblad 1981 titled ""De eerste jaren van de marine-inlichtingendienst bij de Staf Zeemacht te Batavia, 1934-1938" (June 1981 issue). Since this article was published in the same year as the Cryptogram article, it is possible that this is the Dutch version.
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The marineblad article is the original, the cryptogram article is an english translation of that article. The translation of the article into english was done by R. Haslach who is nobody else but.. surprise.. surprise; the author of Nishi no kaze,hara

As the nearest public library copy of “Nishi no kaze hare” is in Australia, and as it is in Dutch, I will pass on that book, but will look for the other references. The title “Nishi no kaze hare” or “West wind clear” refers to the Japanese “Winds” message that would refer to hostilities with Britain (including the invasion of Thailand).

NB: "East wind rain" (Higashi no kaze ame) referred to America.

As the nearest public library copy of “Nishi no kaze hare” is in Australia,

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if that is the problem, then I have a used one lying around. You can have that one if you pay for the postage.

Very generous of you Henry, but I think the book is in Dutch (?), and in that case I would not be able to read it!

another book, in english is the Van Mook book, ten years of burrowing .... the Haslach book is referncing this one continously, and relays the Japanese espionage before the war. it is dated and was published during the war, bu a good background on the intel back then

Was there not another Dutch officer Wim Henning engaged in decoding activities in Kamer 14? It happens that he was my uncle and I am looking for infrmation.

Hi Hans,

I checked the book "Nishi No Kaze, Hare" by Robert D. Haslach, published in 1985. Unfortunately, the book does not have an index of persons, but there is an interesting biline in the credits:

"Mevrouw Henning-Versnel, weduwe van wijlen majoor J.W. Henning, KNIL".

I flipped through the book and found:

on page 89:
"In 1935, the navy put lieutenant Schalkwijk at the disposal of Room 14, wheras the KNIL followed suit shortly after by detaching lieutenant J.W. Henning. The thirty-one year old Henning had previosly followed the special course in cryptography in The Hague together with Schalkwijk. And when Henning arrived in the Indies in June 1935, he was immediately placed in Section VIIA of the General Staff. Henning and his wife, both born in the East Indies, soon felt at home in Bandoeng".

on page 132:
"Captain J.W. Henning of Room 14" was transferred back to the troops in june 1938

I might have missed passages along the way. If you don't have the book by Haslach already, and ifyou can read Dutch, you can often find this book cheap online.

Another interesting book is "Leven en werken van Henri Koot (1883-1959)" by G.J. van Ojen jr. Published by Sectie Krijgsgeschiedenis Koninklijke Landmacht in The Hague in 1978. It describes the life of Henri Koot, the founder of cryptoanalysis in the Netherlands armed forces.

Regards,
Jan