William Francis "Nobby" Clarke (1883–1961) was a British intelligence officer and cryptographer of naval codes in both World Wars.

Background and early life

Clarke was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, and trained as a lawyer, being admitted to the bar in 1906 by his father, Sir Edward Clarke, a prominent lawyer and later Solicitor-General.

Naval career

In 1915, he was commissioned as an assistant paymaster, having failed the eye examination for executive officer. He knew German, and in March 1916 joined

Room 40 Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building; officially part of NID25), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War. The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the ...

. His talent was for information analysis rather than code-breaking. He was on duty during the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

, and was unimpressed by the inefficient handling and distribution of intelligence. When Clarke and Francis Birch were chosen in 1919 to write the history of Room 40, their outspoken criticism of the Navy’s mishandling of intelligence led to the history being “suppressed”.

Later career

In 1919, Clarke joined the

Government Code and Cipher School Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

, working for four years on American diplomatic traffic. In 1924 he was promoted to head of the new naval section in GC&CS, holding the position to 1941. He was succeeded as head by his colleague Francis Birch, and then concentrated on Italian naval codes, retiring in October 1945.

Death and burial

Clarke died in 1961, and he was buried at

Church of All Saints, Selworthy The Church of All Saints which sits on a hillside above Selworthy, Somerset, England is a whitewashed 15th-century Church, with a 14th-century tower. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. The pulpit includes a ...

.Joseph A. Maiolo, ‘Clarke, William Francis (1883–1961)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, William British cryptographers Bletchley Park people 1883 births 1961 deaths British people of World War I British people of World War II People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 20th-century English lawyers