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GCHQ
F.J. Bentley OBE, GCHQ (1951-1968)
This red booklet is a so-called farewell book presented to
F.J. Bentley OBE in 1968 on his retirement from the
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in
Cheltenham (UK).
He received the farewell book together with a clock made by Elliott in
London (UK).
The book is unique in that it contains signatures of GCHQ personnel,
including several well-known WWII codebreakers.
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At present, we have no idea who F.J. Bentley was, but he or she entered
service with GCHQ in 1951 — six years after the end of World War II (WWII).
Although at some point Bentley was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE),
his/her name cannot be found in the OBE database of the London Gazette.
This is not unusual for intelligence service personnel however.
The clock was a regular gift to a retirement candidate. It has
serial number 5458 EK
and was manufactured in June 1966, roughly two years before it was
presented as a gift to Bentley. 1
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The farewell book is really something special, as it is highly unusual
(and probably unwanted) that names and signatures of intelligence service
personnel end up in the hands of the public.
We will therefore not disclose all the names and signatures in the book,
but only the names of people that are already publicly
known and that have long since left GCHQ.
It should be noted that the book is not signed by
all GCHQ personnel, but rather by a subset from several departments.
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The book consists of 22 pages that are sewed together.
It is likely that the individual pages were each sent to one of the
departments at GCHQ, where they were signed by the people
that knew or had worked with F.J. Bentley.
Upon return of the signed pages, they were sewed together and bound in a
carton cover with bright red lining,
imprinted in gold with the text:
F.J. Bentley O.B.E.
G.C.H.Q.
1951-1968
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Among the signatures, some of which are visible in the image above,
are several famous names, such as Hugh Alexander,
Shaun Wylie, Leslie Yoxall, Alan Rogers and H.C. Ricketts,
all of which had worked at Bletchley Park during WWII.
Due to their shared background, this suggests that they worked for a
department within GCHQ that formed a bridge between
WWII and Cold War cryptanalysis.
Also on this page is Denis V. Mardle, who was a key mathematician at
GCHQ.
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The authenticity of the signatures in the book has been confirmed by
a former GCHQ employee [2].
A similar farwell book is on public display in the GCHQ corner at
Bletchley Park [3].
The overall condition of the book is very good, especially considering
its age. There are various stains on the front
and rear cover, resulting
from spilled liquid, e.g. by putting a wet glass on top of it.
The liquid has caused the otherwise bright red die, to appear washed
out in some areas.
The quality of the individual pages is excellent and no fading of the
signatures is visible.
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Number of signatures per page
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Below is an overview of the number of signatures on each of the 22 pages.
Note that the names of many signatures are unreadable. Furthermore, we have
chosen not to disclose the names of people that are not publicly known.
The names of Hugh Alexander and Shaun Wylie appear on page 5 of the book,
together with other people with a Bletchley Park background.
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| Page | # | Remark |
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| 1 | 8 | |
| 2 | 30 | |
| 3 | 3 | |
| 4 | 51 | |
| 5 | 10 | Hugh Alexander, Leslie Yoxall, Shaun Wylie, H.C. Ricketts, Denis V. Mardle, Alan Rogers, ... |
| 6 | 6 | |
| 7 | 14 | |
| 8 | 8 | |
| 9 | 4 | |
| 10 | 1 | |
| 11 | 5 | |
| 12 | 3 | |
| 13 | 3 | |
| 14 | 18 | |
| 15 | 4 | |
| 16 | 7 | |
| 17 | 1 | |
| 18 | 10 | |
| 19 | 1 | |
| 20 | 2 | |
| 21 | 7 | |
| 22 | 1 | |
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| Total | 197 | signatures |
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- Patrick Hayes, brokerage services
August 2019.
- Anonymous former GCHQ employee, Confirmation of authenticity of the signatures
Via Patrick Hayes [1], August 2019.
- Crypto Museum visit to Bletchley Park
Bletchley, Milton Keynes (UK), 28 February 2026.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 12 April 2026. Last changed: Tuesday, 14 April 2026 - 18:51 CET.
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