Arthur Bonsall
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Sir Arthur Wilfred (Bill) Bonsall, KCMG (1917 - ?) was a British intelligence officer.
Bonsall studied modern languages at Cambridge University, before joining the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park[1]. From 1940 Bonsall served under Eric Jones in Hut 3 (Jones was to become Director of GCHQ in 1952), studying the Luftwaffe. In 1942 he pioneered a daily newsletter, later to become known as the BMP (from the initials of its three co-creators, Bonsall, Moyes and Prior) which combined photo-reconnaissance and intelligence derived from Luftwaffe Enigma traffic and which served to help the US Air Force in the selection of targets and in target recognition[2]. Bonsall stayed on with the organisation, which became GCHQ after the war, and served as its director from December 1973 to 1978. He was knighted in 1977.
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| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Leonard Hooper |
Director of GCHQ December 1973 - November 1978 |
Succeeded by Sir Brian Tovey |
