101-year-old code-breaker shares untold stories from secret WW2 facility

Betty Webb started her secret journey as a code-breaker when she was just 18; its been over eight decades since those remarkable days at Bletchley Park. After finishing half of her cooking course she decided to join the war effort in may-1941 (her mother was worried about luftwaffe bombers when she left for London)

Thanks to her german language skills – which she learned from her linguist mother and even practiced during a three-month stay in pre-war Saxony – she got picked for the top-secret facility. Upon arrival at the mansion-like building she had to sign the Official Secrets Act: a strict document that made her keep quiet about her work for 30 years

In her first role she worked with three men in a cold office above the ballroom decoding German police messages. Later she moved to Block F (nicknamed the Burma Road) where she handled japanese military communications. The social life at Bletchley was quite active – there were many interesting people around including some eccentric-but-brilliant minds

I did watch the film The Imitation Game but thought it was quite exaggerated and not very well cast

Her skills got her selected as the only ATS member to work at the Pentagon in Virginia where she continued working on japanese messages. The social scene there included:

• Cocktail parties
• Concert visits
• Ballet performances
• Learning about jukeboxes

After the war Betty Webb returned home but couldnt tell anyone about her work until 1975. Today at 101 she holds both an MBE and Frances Légion dhonneur for her service. She supports Operation Bletchley which has helped thousands of veterans in past year