Electra House is a building at 84 Moorgate, London, England. It is notable as the wartime London base of Cable & Wireless Limited, and office of Department EH — one of the three British organisations that merged in World War II to form the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its ...

. Not to be confused with Electra House in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...

, the depot for

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

Train Operators based at Brixton on the

Victoria Line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in south London and in the north-east, via the West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run completely underg ...

History

Architect John Belcher designed the building, which opened in 1902 as accommodation for the

Eastern Telegraph Company Cable & Wireless plc was a British telecommunications company. In the mid-1980s, it became the first company in the UK to offer an alternative telephone service to British Telecom (via subsidiary Mercury Communications). The company later offer ...

. On 11 May 1933, the company transferred administrative functions to a new Electra House building on Victoria Embankment. This became the administrative headquarters for the renamed Imperial and International Communications, which became Cable & Wireless Limited in 1934. The

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unite ...

created a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

organisation known as Department EH, after its headquarters Electra House. Department EH was involved in the monitoring of foreign embassy communications, and cabling run between both buildings ensured continuance of this service even following direct bomb damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The remaining Cable & Wireless operations were finally moved from the Moorgate building to Victoria Embankment when the original building suffered severe bomb damage during the

. Electra House (Victoria Embankment) was itself subsequently hit by a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany ...

in July 1944, but this resulted in only threeWestminster Archives fatalities among the 400 attending staff and did not stop daily operations. Electra House continued to be a hub for telecommunications activities by its eventual owners,

BT Group BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, br ...

, until its final demolition and replacement by a new building, now occupied by

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the larg ...

. The Electra House Retired Colleagues Association, formed from staff of Electra House (Victoria Embankment) and other

offices, continue to stay in contact and meet. Following its repair from bomb damage, City of London College moved into Electra House in 1944 and still occupies the building, although it is now known as

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...

References

External links

The Political Intelligence Department and Department Electra House
{{coord, 51.5177, -0.0882, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II listed buildings in the City of London British Telecom buildings and structures London Metropolitan University Special Operations Executive