Code Breaker Girls

JAN SLIMMING

One of the great disappointments from the end of WWII is that so many people’s stories never got to be told because the Government slapped a secrecy order on them that lasted for decades in some cases. That was the situation with the code-breakers at Bletchley Park, now famous of course, but most of the voices who were there have long since gone. Here we have Jan Slimming’s story of her mother’s (Daisy Lawrence) experience at Bletchley, from code-breaking work to social life. It’s not just her though, there are interwoven stories from the people than Daisy worked with and it starts with her upbringing in London. There are interesting scraps of photos and letters, but the paper is bog standard so these don’t reproduce well and the writing isn’t particularly good either. Still, it is an interesting look behind the curtain of secrecy that was drawn over Bletchley Park and those who worked there.

• Pen and Sword

• ISBN 978-1-5267-8411-7 • 342 pages • Hardback • £25