Monica Zambra

Many academics and researchers who have explored our WWII files at the National Archives (TNA) will be unaware that the filing system that is in place for the HW series were developed as a result of the efforts of one former member of Bletchley Park staff, Monica Zambra.

She is one of the least known figures at Bletchley Park, but she gathered together the GC&CS paperwork and constructed a filing system for it in a Q-xxxx series to support Nigel de Grey's writing of the history of GC&CS at Bletchley.

In turn Monica's filing system was used by Frank Birch, who became head of the historical section after the war. But when GCHQ started to assemble documents for declassification and release to the National Archives, the only person left who knew this filing system was Lou Maddison who couldn’t influence the team that were working on the file release programme and built their own filing structure. So the HW series at Kew is two steps away from the filing system used in GC&CS/BP (some of the HW documents aren't records at all, but rather research notes by Monica Zambra for de Grey).

Monica was the young widow of an RAF pilot who died during the Battle of Britain in 1940. Monica’s husband was RAF Flt Lt Roger Murray George Zambra who died on the 2nd October 1940, aged just 26. He was the son of Sqn Ldr Nelson Zambra and Mary Olive Zambra of Privett, Alton. At the time she was a volunteer ambulance driver during the Blitz going to London from BP on her days off.

A number of notable files at TNA are all the work of Monica Zambra: HW43/3 - The History of British SIGINT 1914-1945. Vol III: 'Appendices', containing diagrams and terms of reference for SIGINT organisations. Chapter II, 'The Ministries' and Chapter III, 'GC&CS' are of particular interest. Frank Birch, who compiled Volumes I and II, died before completing Volume II, leaving Monica Zambra to compile Volume III.

Monica stayed with GCHQ until 31 March 1957, just over a year after Frank Birch died.