Secret agents

The clever young women cracking the Nazis' codes

- by LUCY THORNTON

CLEVER Ruth Bourne’s work was so secret her mum never knew what she did in the Second World War.

Ruth was in her teens when she worked at Bletchley Park, decoding Nazi messages. When her mum asked about it, Ruth, who grew up in the Midlands, decided against it:

“I thought, ‘If I tell my mother, it will be all over Birmingham in 20 minutes!’”

Ruth, now 98 and living in north London, kept silent about her important work for decades afterwards. “My parents died and never knew what I did. We did what we were told, you know!” she said. “I told them it was confidential secretarial work.