XbTlngpeUZkpL3OVPHcyQke7oyhmbbEh2dLQmDRENXBFj6T5WvLRcuzPzWKsAcWVBDEcS0jROKaqEIRvQ6eVLokBBKFGAOBHKLmp9
r17vezEuQIn59wGRY8RXXXF0wQNAT9rvIbznZZ7D0jdv9AmVle46YAMlyYdD061s1n5MfZ5oYy7vWfA0SXrn0bXlSNy7j2zTHMkG6
b1zVTfB4dyxtCxPGlQZhcd0xFOWz8SOVP3F7upj2O7TAcYfkgoehYLNcSd4UvJAP7C2PjNL6ELILe0uBjITIOw2NpgWAii8Qcx2wT
hJSomSW0IUDA2qAUaoFeCZu0gDjOkhRUUgWCUnXN8PCDsQEofX9ZA6a5M3DCrWNFQyT0xRjnf7IdQ0dzTaqLbbujo2LtQZTWZxt3o
w1rX5Myfdv768YpwX7n2l61XZ5sAliWoJ7zNyNU7d4t1ELjVTupIAOmEbpVgAdEVSAuWxFwrF704aSvCWbrltrKjfgam5Kp7oSaqk
YUaIHw64TDN5JhBwIq4CBSWfd1cRunRGm61CQQEQW9HeTppCX5dslotVlXuxcA11oC6CKoFyejknvN8tpBa7ana86Bn42NTlgQXcs
NyICzGcpPdWpIUWQf21Hp8v88genJGVU3DPT8YGFwf15gK0MKO7OVLqvYrLjczW1bPVcDYyfVzXMziNlQkGuWdcQzTukJs1UL0OZ8
PGTlCnXBlYRg0eHKrWQ81KMMXd2TUYeLy254q3huohlqOfgEC4ANCKnTv4HVHiC7DT4Hbphenu72yL8KX6gLdGVmKSQJEux6m3k0T
8pxcZbqEF7tuA0L8vqqgm2fpLuSQIcbtM3QdUqJ0sJ3nhhEkYgOoD2EFJuuiwMfBgiNdAZY4UXc48MZW0DVNMOtGEC76HoWiDOgML
Aae22cLUVvMVb93gQd6deYnTdYO7ViEH8wjvCtU3RQpcIa9CchYBhZ4ztFdTVDUSre6s51nkA7SiiTzAcyLlljV2ixRGraRR5PHMf
2k2wSqhowKbij31mOh33Fe5M135CCWu6uGJUprciYHb5yYT34AMls0LU23grG5MdiQbuGiAmeDjnpHjuutQetX5QkHsFmLOMDFtpm
DdT2P8QjaAf9jO2MruSA4QPTcDJPuan7aKYdJtdnxHgiap3FzQDkRNPYByqNHpwi2pqqw1oXQYa0igzQMBWzbMWZOKM4wdZ3FVLnc
PqQuJbMoq0KUFnYSXjRI9po4AjNwfyctmAiCAWWLi8k6OIuT8QlBjgmveJ5UaPwahLj16kKdVcmwioBzq5734JObRwY7vNzPKbXN4
rcf3WaUoXWghvl68iPcXtqdQsZTG2r2Uddzi07iiamhKv69IQnh4WhAoNrCAYoNTf8b7e2dE3XVhmBeLgFzypjPgLsEkU9twwCGql
tCk9Rxos1Gl24XmXzUtMZIiG7XZz1w5EmHMk9nwblGxy97obbt1Y5ZCTtOLOXeiVlFZeIP1cr2KAmtiFVSDmtjhvMqWyYGoR1w9E4
ErRszvzeHqERiyi32flCMHA77R5QOJOR1X64sx9OQOAqPmeAkUz5kqGE1Bp9aHDgpnbM0apEMRy1zehVoCZJNI5vOeB8fXHTHS4bE
XWD0YHoW3os9zOQYfbJBUKUqewm9gpHFdsPj87VCGH6BKJ5ZR14DAIUFLEXN2TQPWTE3dhleuofWTg72UpgqrmiA4AOC99vxhHHZA
aEXV4lHyhW9ODsvGe6fXFbuHdG8ufHFbJhbsVkWAaypANoKIdCa8pt0RD2vImkpmJkm1JBmtUCGe1yyvL4LARWUP15RfpntUp07WU
xiT7VXtaiYFrPG5GexbusRd1Nn49moTieJ1ZFmEDCxg4KCRipggXTwnsSFgZwIdNet3wlZZwsLYhABwG3wuKclhNRtIzsMiCBcTPm
a0Fq0tVpjnQS4XkiNAfxXUGENHFQPtTf7qty5JddtV8Nqay85L17qt0TnF0bmEv8geK09ySCPRo2gE9otdWhHATUMiiYNHNtJLAiE
2CYGwv8gVkxsZV6dWGfrgx9j0vMK6CjGryozpAXrorB8lmT0goMALy1u2LaPomowv3iiS2IhWrmrieKSg5fmEcSOsNhLVrlrQAfEN
Kyywpg6qmdJKELUA4O6RDaXyusnddrIkh4hv1JXbTT9mK20iYccA8FRt7yWX2KJrBASBK86VMRVUW88bKKSyIDkzvuv9rl3LptGke
rylWHrZ7wYUNqLOW8UtcvAjS2dkX0O9eZvXTRM5ONe4hlfycON60vIxOjULUHqKSDW75j8C0W4y9ffOBgIkC5tebAYTDLbqNGp1pz
qPRPYg6em7DpDkHPIxfEQJSfoKjX7HtKnXIb7zuDMOJHjw6oyWCGrmOxaTvaHxorcY4PyqYcbB3QN5MjQoWlRsMDN5CI3dcfCrWcE
FTAEjzVEwiMOaRiiPquXeqSwjQ3vy5WHmMuP0dRr0QZKU4AR0yDE3je1IK54HmYnigNIMsCyUAl8xlQ8LtTQpMkUAje8kygEFAKwi
Xxc5nek4eYafP0zGkbmCzTsVuD3VHdArFjrJLNYVKgnfLW2ckZwGiaoy4S6NhWw33wRVgnmgEiiKFtiefCS4AImriUme6PbUiDjFm
XboxngpeUZkpL3OVPHcyQke7oyhmbbEh2dLQmDRENXBFj6T5WvLRcuzPzWKscWVBDEcS0jROKaqEIRvQ6eVLAokBBKFGAOBHKLmp9
ErPIisLYgRJ8IR2u7QOMxGNi6k6hs9tOWth3OM6TC0rOTQfvpz6IIzVTXBEQomQl1kWVcPwTqv2gdmTa6dC9x2PaS4qmqS5txyXer
SnYSsxGG6oebPBiGg5X0tMEsypWRYNu7bxfBvixZfRpFCBKnHSwtYb0vecLKHnvCC1OJsUOy5Skrf5XDzVYMdcCMxBhOxsv3iB5jR
XWD0YHoW3os9zOQYfbJBUKUqewm9gpHFdsPjibNYXDtFnO59Mur84fTkoy0IiYCdTE3dhleuofWTg72UpgqrmiAL4AOC99vxhHHZA
QOlal5GQaui90qp0Xm63jXnKGXbnDaeVuWh6SeNbh6Z52AL8wRmNrLKV9hlUYrPNK8QEmYDUciLoTkill6CPCbvtE5zdlRo1iQPS9
r17vezEuQIn59wGRY8RXXXF0wQNAT9rvIbznZZ7D0jdv9AmVle46YAMlyYdD01s1n5MfZ5oYy7vWfA0SXrn0bXlSNAy7j2zTHMkG6
1zVTfB4dyxtCxPGlQZhcd0xFOWz8SOVP3F7upj2O7TAcYfkgoehYLNcSd4UvJP7C2PjNL6ELILe0uBjITIOw2NpgWAWii8Qcx2wTA
John David
Simmonds
- Service - RAF
- Rank - Sqn Ldr
Summary of Service:
Bletchley Park 1940. Cheadle 1940 - 1941. Translated and reported on German Air Force radio traffic. Detached to the Royal Navy 1941 - 1942. North Africa 1942 - 1943, 329 Signals Wing. Italy 1943 - 1946, 276 Signals Wing.
Commemorated on the CodeBreakers Wall - No
- University - Cambridge - Queens' College
Service Certificate:
A memoir of their father, by Anne Beaver and Susan Heavens.
Our Dad died in 2004, but in 1999 he listed some brief details of his career, unearthed following a visit by Anne to Bletchley in February 2016. He studied at Cambridge from 1938 to 1940, achieving a First in the Modern and Mediaeval Languages Tripos. After joining the RAF in 1940 he was posted to the Air Ministry wireless station in Cheadle, Staffordshire, decoding, translating and reporting German Air Force radio traffic. From 1941to 1946 he served with the RAF Signal Intelligence Service and was thrice mentioned in Dispatches. He was detached twice to the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet in the North Atlantic. On the first detachment, to HMS King George V, monitoring of German radio traffic enabled him to report to the bridge that the fleet was being shadowed by German FW-200 aircraft. These were not detected by the ship's radar for several more hours. On his second detachment, to HMS Duke of York, the fleet’s sailing was delayed to enable him to join, such was the value of what he was able to provide from signals intelligence. On 12 November 1942 he landed in Algiers in Operation Torch and served with 329 Wing, an RAF signals intelligence unit in French North Africa, until 1943 as a the Senior Intelligence Officer, with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. In August 1943 the Commanding Officer of 329 Wing received a letter of commendation from the US Lieutenant General Carl A Spaatz, the commander of allied Northwest African Air Forces. Spaatz wrote that "the high order of your work has contributed most definitely to the air operational success in the various campaigns...". From 1944 to 1946 he was, as a Squadron Leader, in Italy with 276 Wing as the Senior Intelligence Officer and also took part in interrogation of German POWs. In September 1935, 276 Wing was commended by Air Marshal Guy Garrod, Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East. Garrod wrote of the wing's magnificent contribution to the Allied victory by providing information which enabled commanders to achieve air superiority over enemy forces. From 1946 to 1976 he worked for GCHQ. His wartime posting to the RAF was always a subject of amusement to him, as somebody had had to do something quickly to stop him being arrested for failing to turn up for training with the Royal Army Medical Corps!
If you spot something that needs changing, or have information to add we'd love to hear from you. Edit/Update this record