WOMEN WHO CRACKED NAZI CODES (fwd)

Saturday July 18,2009

WOMEN WHO CRACKED NAZI CODES
----------------------------

By Elizabeth Mistry

It was His Majesty's Most Secret Service. While millions of British 
troops risked their lives on the battlefields of the Second World War, 
there were others who spent those years hidden away deep in the English 
countryside, working around the clock to break the codes which Hitler's 
forces used to communicate with each other.

Because the project to identify the codes and understand the messages was 
so sensitive, all those involved had to sign the Official Secrets Act. 
They promised never to speak of what they did or saw at Bletchley Park, 
the mysterious "Station X" based at a country estate near Milton 
Keynes.

Established by Sir Hugh Sinclair, the wartime head of MI6, it served as 
the headquarters for the Government Code and Cipher School which was 
dedicated to intercepting and interpreting German messages.

Now, almost 64 years after the end of the war, the importance of those who 
worked at Bletchley Park, the secret staff whom Winston Churchill 
described as : "The geese that laid the golden egg but never cackled"
but which was never officially honoured by the British government, is to 
be recognised at last.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced this week that all those - 
both civilian and military - who worked at Bletchley and its satellite 
sites will be eligible to receive a commemorative badge as a mark of the 
British people's respect.

But a medal was the last thing on the mind of 19-year-old Jean 
Valentine when she joined the Wrens in Dundee in 1943. "I had 
to sit an intelligence test and I remember they also asked me 
about my hobbies and I must have mentioned that I was keen on 
crosswords. Afterwards I received a letter asking me to go to an 
interview."

"At the interview they asked me if I wanted the job. I said 
I'd be interested in knowing a bit more about it but they said 
they couldn't tell me. So of course I said yes." Jean was 
issued with a uniform.

"It was a smart navy blue skirt, jacket and hat. Then they 
sent us for training at Tulliechewan Castle near Loch Lomond and 
then to Eastcote, one of Bletchley's out-­stations inMiddlesex.
When we arrived the builders had just moved out and the place
was covered in dust."

"We didn't even have anywhere to sleep. They left us tools and 
we had to assemble our bunks ourselves."

"It was hard work and tremendous fun. We were young and 
enjoying ourselves. I even managed to get some silk stockings 
- we were not under naval discipline so we were allowed little 
luxuries like that. But they were hard to come by so I had to 
use a certain amount of charm !"...../snip/


...An energetic grandmother, Jean remains actively involved and still 
drives regularly to Bletchley where she works as a volunteer guide.

Sheila and Oliver moved to ­Sheffield where they have been ­welcoming 
foreign students to the university for more than 30 years.

They, too, are delighted to be ­recognised at long last. "To be 
­honest, a medal is neither here nor there," says Oliver. "Our 
greatest reward was to serve."


- "Boffoonery !" a comedy benefit to raise money for Bletchley Park
  starring Robert Llewellyn and Robin Ince will take place at the
  Bloomsbury Theatre in London on November 3, 2009.


http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/114607/Women-who-cracked-Nazi-codes-

http://images.dailyexpress.co.uk/img/dynamic/10/285x214/114607_1.jpg