Codebreaking sisters helped end conflict two years early

Codebreaker Jane Ewart-Evans partied on The Mall on VE Day.

It was 75 years ago today, with sister Diana by her side, that she joined the jubilant throng at the Buckingham Palace gates as the royal family gathered on the balcony to celebrate the end of hostilities in Europe.

None of the countless thousands spilling on to the streets of London knew it, but the sisters had more reason than most to let their hair down.

They were part of the hush-hush Bletchley Park team which has since been credited with carving two years off the duration of the war.

Now 99, with her 100th birthday celebrations looming in November, Jane will join staff and fellow residents of Balhousie Dalnaglar care home in Crieff reflecting on the historic events of May 8 1945.

“It was an amazing occasion, certainly the biggest party of my life,” recalled Jane.

Born in Calgary, Jane – whose maiden name was Meade-Miller – crossed the Atlantic in 1932.

She went on to teach English to a family in Berlin, returning to Britain shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939.

Within 12 months, the sisters found themselves working side by side with the codebreakers at Bletchley Park. Their names now feature on the Roll of Honour.

With her command of German, Jane found herself assigned to “Hut 6”, working with the Government Code and Cypher School, tasked with decoding the Enigma machine cyphers.

In the post-war years, Jane and her husband, who extended his military service, travelled extensively before settling in Kent.

But for the last nine years Perthshire has been home, with Dalnaglar care home within easy striking distance of the family’s Carroglen estate near Comrie.

Jane Ewart-Evans, aged 99.