Electra House

Electra House was the name of two distinct and individual buildings in London, England, both of which were built for and occupied by the same telegraphy company, and both of which were used by the British government during World War II, and only one of which still stands to this day. The original Electra House, called the Electra House Moorgate, or Electra House Senior, was a building at 84 Moorgate, in London, England. This building, constructed in 1902, originally served as the headquarters of the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies (later known as Cable & Wireless Limited). Electra House Moorgate is notable as the wartime London base of Eastern Telegraph, and as the headquarters of the eponymous Electra House (Department EH) — one of the three British organisations that merged in World War II to form the Special Operations Executive. This Foreign Office organization spied on foreign embassies, produced propaganda, and connected with resistance movements across the continent of Europe. The second Electra House was named the Electra House Victoria, Electra House Embankment, or Electra House Junior. It was located at 4 Temple Place, on the Victoria Embankment and completed in 1929, functioned as the firm’s administrative centre. In 1935, the Eastern Telegraph company was reorganized under the name Cable and Wireless Limited. Also headquartered here was the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company. This building during the war served as a secondary location for Department EH, connected by telegraphy, and could serve as a redundancy in case of damage by bombing. Electra House Victoria was torn down in 1999 and completely replaced by a new office building which stands in the same spot today, called the Globe House. Both Electra House buildings were bombed during the war, but the original Electra House Moorgate is the only one that still survives with the name, and from September 2024, it is the campus for the Fashion Retail Academy, a further education and higher…