George P. McGinnis
When the documentary crew first approached the staff of the Wenger Command Display in Pensacola to arrange a shoot, we first learned of the high respect that George McGinnis had earned through the years. Bob Anderson and Bill Lockert felt we were indeed fortunate that Capt. McGinnis was willing to travel to the Display to be interviewed. What followed was a fascinating several hours as Capt. McGinnis recalled his early years in cryptology.
This month's issue of the Cryptolog has several tributes to Capt. McGinnis, who died in 2006. I'd like to include some of those, and seveeral clips from his interview.
From George P. McGinnis, A Tribute by Jay R. Browne
The NCVA (Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association) lost a valued life member and good friend on 11 October 2006 when retired Navy Captain George P)aul McGinnis passed away. He was born just after the end of the First World War, on 11 May 1919 in Iowa Park, TExas, and experienced first hand most of the great technolgoicla advances of the Twentieth Century: it has only been 16 years since the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk and years later a young George McGinnis invented an early model of a remote control for a motor boat that the U.S. Miliary adapted for drone aircraft -- the modified device is now in the collection of the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida.
He liked radio and early in his life obtained a HAM radio license. That early hobby led to further studies in the burgeoning electrical engineering industry; just hte thing the Navy was looking for at the beginning of the Second World War. He love of amateur radio developed into a life long passion; his callsign was W5ENR at the beginning and K4CRQ at the end.
He entred the Naval Reserve in early 1941 on advice of one of his college professors as the clouds of war gathered. The captain wrote about being a "fresh Caught Ensign" in the pages fot eh Crptolog in the fall of 1997 -- one of the many stories he wove in the pages of this publication. In his career he "went there," "did that," and he knew everyone. Many of the technologies that we, a younger generation, take for granted, were largely conceived and developed by him. The post-war Atlantic HFDF net developed from a hodge-podge lash-ups to a standardized set of sites based on a detailed site survey conducted by him at the end of the Second World War. The early hap-hazard antenna arrangements gave way to the uniform "27 Rhombic" system that he designed.
Delegation visits England 1942 -- 8 MB
This site uses Javascript and works best with an up-to-date web browser but all features should remain accessible.
Frequent additions and updates allow for human error -- please report any broken links or other problems to yours truly, site manager--your help is appreciated.
Last update
July 10, 2008.
Copyright D. Anderson. All Rights Reserved. Use of materials by permission. Materials other than those clearly marked as National Archives materials are not in the public domain.