CODE BREAKER HAS CRACKING WAR MEMORIES

The Second World War piled pressure on Britain’s manpower as the fight continued to turn the tide against the Nazis.

The circumstances meant women had to play an increasingly pivotal part in a variety of roles, including those who signed the Official Secrets Act and became involved in the vital codebreaking work carried out at Bletchley Park.

One Aberdeen University graduate, Helene Aldwinckle, nee Taylor, was among those who suddenly found themselves whisked into a different world, but she adapted to the challenge with an unstinting commitment to serve her country, even if it meant toiling behind closed doors for many years.

She said: “I was well known in Aberdeen, being on various committees and through acting.

“I think that is probably how I came to be one of a number of female graduates recommended by William Hamilton Fyfe, principal of the university, for an interview in London at the Foreign Office.

“It was quite a big thing – I had only ever been as far south as the north of England, but after leaving Aberdeen at quarter to four in the morning, I eventually arrived in London.

“I didn’t know that I was being interviewed for something specific. I thought it was for general civil service work.

“But I recall at least 20 male interviewers around a long table, asking various questions about mathematics, crosswords, interests, languages, and so on. Afterwards, exhausted, I walked back to King’s Cross for the long journey back home.

“It was some time afterwards before further interviews were arranged for selected candidates at the Caledonian Hotel in Aberdeen.

“It was obvious they had already selected who they wanted and that these interviewers were from Bletchley Park and making final checks that we were the right sort of people for the job.

“One gentleman spoke with me and commented he was pleased I had come along. As we were leaving, he took me to one side to confirm I would be offered government-related work.

“I remember wondering how he could be sure I would be any good at it, but he replied: ‘I can tell that you will be alright.’”

The then 21-year-old subsequently travelled to Bletchley Park in the summer of 1942 and was swiftly immersed in the arcane activities of the prosaic-sounding Hut 6.

But, remarkably, she soon saw a familiar face: “One of the other girls, a Wren called Agnes Smith, recognised me from Aberdeen University and said she had voted for me for the student council. It was a lovely way to start.”

In the months ahead, she was based in Registration Room 1, where she worked on encrypted signals, and rapidly made a positive impression on her colleagues.

Mrs Aldwinckle said: “I was invited to lead the training programme for American service personnel and, of course, I accepted.

“I remember being told by one of the senior people that it was a big job to take on these Americans, but they were keen to learn.

“We would instruct them on what was going on at Bletchley, and I was very much running the school rather than doing all the teaching.

“The exciting thing for us was that we had just got the Colossus machine and we used to round off the whole programme on the last day with one of our personnel showing off the machine – they had never seen anything like it before.

“I then went to work in the Quiet Room in Hut 6, where more difficult, non-routine work was done.

“We would often work on longer-term problems and look for unusual trends and I was quite suited to this.”

It has been estimated that the exertions of people like Mrs Aldwinckle shortened the Second World War by three to five years, and may even have changed the course of the conflict.

While at Bletchley Park, she had no opportunity to relax outwith the base, and even her letters to her fiance were sent via a PO Box. Yet, as she said: “While it was difficult to stay in touch, no one had a straightforward life in those days.”

However, she was married in February, 1945, and VE Day brought a surprise of its own when Mrs Aldwinckle found herself having to negotiate a complicated process to phone her husband, which involved crossing a dark field in a black-out en route to a pub.

She said: “Out of the blue, a chap who I knew at Bletchley Park got on my bus and we got chatting. I told him my story and he offered to walk me across the field.

“As we walked into the pub, everyone started clapping because it turned out he was a musician (he wrote the music for the poet Dylan Thomas’ funeral) and he was going to play the piano for them that night.”

The secrecy that surrounded Bletchley Park meant that little detailed information was released about the work being carried out there.

But in 2019, at the age of 98, Mrs Aldwinckle was awarded the Knight of the Legion d’honneur for her wartime activities.

Her children, Richard, Diana, Linda and Pam, and grandchildren, Jack and Elena, were at the ceremony and she received a tribute from former Prime Minister, Theresa May.

Mrs May said: “Can I thank Helene for her work at Bletchley Park and all those at Bletchley Park, unsung for some considerable time. They played an absolutely crucial role in our ability to defeat fascism in the Second World War.”

■ A comprehensive account of Helene Aldwinckle’s experiences can be found at https:// bletchleypark.org.uk/ roll-of-honour/8921