Newly released GCHQ
files: UKUSA AgreementFiles released in June 2010
The files contain details of the recently avowed UKUSA Agreement - the top secret, post-war arrangement for sharing intelligence between the United States and the UK. Signed by representatives of the London Signals Intelligence Board and its American counterpart in March 1946, the UKUSA Agreement is without parallel in the Western intelligence world and formed the basis for co-operation between the two countries throughout the Cold War.
Start by reading our highlights guide (PDF, 165kb) to help you navigate your way through the files.
Due to the large size of some of these files, we recommend you save them to your computer before opening them. Please right click on the links and select the ‘save’ option.
- HW80/1 (PDF, 2.5mb)
- HW80/2 (PDF, 976kb)
- HW80/3 (PDF, 6.3mb)
- HW80/4 (PDF, 1.3mb)
- HW80/5 (PDF, 5.1mb)
- HW80/6 (PDF, 4.4mb)
- HW80/7 (PDF, 11.3mb)
- HW80/8 (PDF, 16.7mb)
- HW80/9 (PDF, 45.7mb)
- HW80/10 (PDF, 33.9mb)
- HW80/11 (PDF, 10.5mb)
The fruits of the agreement are illustrated by end-product reports below from the early years of the Cold War. They show the type of material which was shared by the signatories to the agreement and include military intelligence as well as fascinating details of daily life inside the Soviet Union.
- HW75/167 (PDF, 10.4mb)
- HW75/178 (PDF, 12.7mb)
- HW75/182 (PDF, 11.6mb)
- HW75/184 (PDF, 10.4mb)
- HW75/185 (PDF, 9.7mb)
- HW75/188 (PDF, 8.6mb)
- HW75/192 (PDF, 13.7mb)
- HW75/195 (PDF, 16.1mb)
- HW75/205 (PDF, 11.1mb)
- HW75/208 (PDF, 10.1mb)
Related items
View National Security Agency (NSA) - the US intelligence agency - files covering the agreement: www.nsa.gov (files will be released 14.00 hrs Friday 25 June GMT)
Further related items
Podcast: The war in the Atlantic – including role of codebreakers and enigma machine
Education resource: the Cold War
Research guide: Finding Intelligence Records in The National Archives
Some of those involved
Harry Hinsley, Sir Edward Travis and Brig Tiltman in Washington, November 1945
“I am afraid of leaving the kids here. What about a war, all of a sudden?”
Evidence of the state of mind of a private citizen in USSR - HW75/192