JUMBO

Sir Edward Travis, known affectionately by his staff as ‘Jumbo,’ was one of the legendary leadership figures of the Government Code & Cypher School (GC&CS) during the Second World War. JUMBO is his biography to be published in 2025.

Travis joined the Royal Navy in 1906 and during the First World War he was appointed to the staff of Admiral Lord Jellicoe, as a signals officer. Lt Cdr Travis would go on to become the Deputy to the Head of GC&CS (Cdr Alastair Denniston) when it was formed in 1919. By October 1938 Denniston gave him responsibility for the three Service sections of GC&CS. In November 1939 he was given responsibility for the Enigma decryption teams, taking a room in Hut 8 with Gordon Welchman and Alan Turing. It was Travis that obtained the funding from Whitehall for the production huts and for the construction of the very first Bombe machine.

Under the instruction of British PM Winston Churchill he replaced Denniston as its operational Head in February 1942, reporting to Sir Stewart Menzies, the Chief of SIS. Later in the war, Travis strengthened the leadership and management at Bletchley Park, and was knighted in June 1944.

His most important legacy was in developing the foundations for the signing of UKUSA with the Americans on 5 March 1946 in Washington DC, which was the basis of the most significant intelligence partnership in the world, that endures to this day.

After the war Travis continued as Director of GCHQ, retiring in April 1952.