Northland's wartime codecracker

Code cracker

POSSIBLY the most famous Northlander you have never heard of, Elizabeth Lady Reed was a World War 2 codecracker who held a senior role at the Bletchley Park military intelligence centre.

She died at her home in Paihia on August 30, aged 104, after an extraordinary life which included deciphering Nazi secret codes and living for decades in Nigeria.

Lady Reed was part of the famous Bletchley Park codecracking team which broke the German's Enigma code during WW2.

Their success, which built on the work of earlier Polish codecrackers, allowed Britain to eavesdrop on secret Nazi communications and helped swing the war in the Allies' favour.

Though her connection to Paihia spanned 45 years, Lady Reed kept a low profile in the town and usually declined interviews. She rarely spoke about her crucial wartime work, even to her own family.

She was, however, actively involved in many aspects of Paihia life, especially heritage, drama and the Anglican Church.

She helped maintain the grounds of St Paul's, better known as the Stone Church, for many years.

Lady Reed also attended Waitangi Day commemorations every year and in 2019 was a guest of honour when Prince Charles and Lady Camilla were formally welcomed to the Treaty Grounds. She was seated on the mahau (porch) of Te Whare Runanga (the carved meeting house) immediately behind the royal couple.

True to her adventurous spirit, she celebrated her 102nd birthday by parasailing over the Bay of Islands with her youngest daughter.

Lady Reed had hoped for a big celebration for her 104th birthday but that was thwarted by Covid19 restrictions.

Born Ellen Elizabeth Langstaff in Canada, she was raised in the UK where she gained a firstclass honours degree in French and German at Cambridge University.

In 1939, aged 23, she was hired to work at the top secret Bletchley Park facility in Milton Keynes, about 80km from London.

Initially she was tasked with typing messages into code but later she translated deciphered German communications, a role previously reserved for men.

She met her future husband, Nigel Reed, at Cambridge and married him 10 years later.

They later moved to Nigeria where Sir Nigel was a magistrate for 29 years before retiring to New Zealand. — Northern Advocate