INTERNATIONAL TELEGRAPHS This web site is to remember Post Office and BT services and people who provided these services from the 1950's to the 1980's

Welcome to the International Telegraphs web site!

This site was last updated on 25th March 2025.

Post Office Overseas Telegraphs or POOTS for short was the busiest and largest communications centre in the world.

Back in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s you couldn’t just pick up your phone and speak to a family member or work colleague on the other side of the world.
There were no satellites or mobile phones, so if you needed to communicate with someone urgently, you sent a telegram and if you were in India and wanted to send a telegram to someone in Australia, you probably sent it via Electra House in London. Because the whole world wide communciations network was centred on that one building on the banks of the Thames at Temple Bar. One terrorist bomb could have crippled the communications world but back then we lived in safer times and the idea never occurred to anyone, today such a centre would be unthinkable.

The staff employed at Electra house and later Cardinal House both operational and technical were some of the most competent in the world and as well as handling telegrams were also ‘Loaned’ out to other organisations such as NASA and the COI where their competence was highly appreciated.

*** A REQUEST ***

We are trying to trace a Jim McNally who worked as an OTO1 at Electra House in the 70’s if you can help please send an E-Mail to inf1@spencerweb.net and I will pass on the information.

 *** A REQUEST ***
We are trying to trace Peter John Williams who worked at Electra house in the 70’s and 80’s for his daughter Lyanne. He used to live in New Cross and later Battersea. If you can help please send a short E-Mail to our contact address inf1@spencerweb.net and I will pass on the information to Lyanne.

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*** Thanks to John Walton for the photographs on the new Manchester Office page

*** Thanks to Mike Parks for providing the pictures shown on the new TRC Engineer 3 web-page
                           and to John Percival, Pete Wright, Rod Crittenden for supply some missing names ***

Thank you to Rodger Bean who has allowed us to include his addition to Memory Lane

Thanks to Brian Peacock I have been able to include a new section ‘Fleet Building’ which will be expanded in the near future. I hope you enjoy this additional trip into the past.

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*** News Flash ***
A great new book available this year ‘ The World at their Fingertips’ by Geoff Boudreau
The story of Electra House and its Overseas Telegraph Operators  ISBN 968-0-9957144-0-3

I’d love to add more pages and if you have anything I could add then please send me an E-Mail.

I’d especially love to expand ‘Memory lane’, so send me those memories, it’s doesn’t matter whether they are historic moments like the first Telemessage or simply personal memories of your time working in International Telegraphs. You never know someone you used to know may see them and want to get in touch with you or at least enjoy reading about the great times we all had doing a very important job.

There is a new site dedicated to International Telegraphs in France you can find the link on the Links and Contacts page. There are lots of photo’s even if you don’t speak French.

Did you work in Electra house and go on an engineering training course during the 1960’s then you might have received one of these. If you were a YIT or TTA then A.L. Taverner the responsible Senior Executive Engineer was viewed with god like reverence. He lived on the top floor where young trainees never dared to venture. If you got a ‘Credit assessment’ he always wrote ‘A commendable achievement’ on your A2049 pass slip..

Do you remember using one of these cards? or did you know the code anyway?.

Remember "News and View" - click here for some memories

Webmaster To comment on this web site and/or provide additional material please use this E-Mail address:: webmaster at spencerweb.net   (Replace ‘ at ‘ with ‘@’)

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