</s>APPROVED FOR RELEASE 2025 UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 141476 STANDARD NO. 04 Office Memorandum . UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT UNITIDENTIAL TO Chief, Operations Group, BBCs DATE: 6 May 1968 FROM : Chief, London Bureau SURJECT: Monthly Progress Report - April 1968 I. GENERAL A. The bureau's previous all-time record for worage on a particu- lar day, established on 9 December 1961, with a total of 12,000 words was exceeded twice in April - April 1,500 on the 11th and 136,100 on the 22nd, of these amounts RMU produced 36,500 and was that the bureau's average file file increased from 52,000 1,500,000 on the average daily file increased $2,000 words in 1963 to 6,600 words in 1967. The Bureau's daily awarded for the first four months of 1968, including hull wireless production, was 80,200, (See it for April) Hull wirelessproduction, was 60,200. (See It for April B. Follow-up serial of BBC, bureau officers involving poor handling of material by BBC, Bureau officers with BBC personnel on April 1 to discuss ways to speed delivery of flashes and follow-up textual material from the BBC Listening Room to follow-ups to discuss topics related to the BBC listening room and buying editors. Proposals agreed upon speed delivery revision BBC definition of BIS flash requirements, BBS requirements and ad- definition of BS flash requirements. BBS requires installation and hereby to distribution procedures, and possible installation of an intercom system for orally alerting London Bureau editors to obtain urgent developments. As an outgrowth of the meeting to obtain current developments, As a outgrowth of the meetings meeting. Details of the discussions each day's day's operation in a letter to leadquarters. C. IHW added three newspapers to its coverage during April and is now exploding all so Soviet papers designated by headquarters as having first priority. Two more Russian linguists became operational during the month. After headquarters advised that Operational during this month, after headquarters advised the East European newspapers, one Polish translator was reassigned to Russian. Plans for further adjustments are being reported in a letter to headquarters. The duplex circuit between Caversham and MIU was upgraded to 100 wpm on 2 April. CONFIDENTIAL GROUP 1 Excluded from automatic downgrading and declarificing and declarification.

Summary:  
The document is a monthly progress report from the London Bureau, dated 6 May 1968, detailing operational activities and administrative updates for April 1968. It includes statistics on word production, equipment upgrades, press monitoring, and personnel changes. Mentions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. appear in the context of noncommunist reactions to President Johnson's speech but do not reference his assassination or related investigations. The report also covers coverage of Soviet and East European newspapers, technical improvements to communication circuits, and logistical adjustments for operations.  

Key People:  
- Editor Phillip Schneider (arrived at Caversham on 2 April)  
- Editor John Ransom Clark (departed Caversham on 25 April)  
- Helen Williams (FMU linguist married to Anatoly Kurdynovsky on 29 March)  
- Robert Swanson (noted in attachments)  

Key Locations:  
- Caversham (London Bureau headquarters)  
- Wembley Park (FMIU location)  
- High Wycombe ABB (communications region)  
- South Ruislip ABF (UK Communications Region)  

Key Events:  
- Upgrade of duplex circuits between Caversham and FMIU to 100 wpm on 2 April  
- Emergency generator repair at BBC monitoring service following a breakdown on 23 April  
- Adjustments to communication protocols, including changes in reporting faults to High Wycombe ABB  
- Coverage expansion to include all 10 Soviet newspapers on the first-priority list  

Key Organizations:  
- London Bureau (BBC)  
- Mediterranean Bureau  
- Australian Bureau  
- American Embassy, London  
- UK Communications Region  
- FBIIS (Federal Bureau of Investigation Intelligence Service)  
- EMU (Emergency Monitoring Unit)  
- FMU (Foreign Monitoring Unit)

MLK Declassified Files

02964065_monthly_progress_report.pdf

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