Betty Webb (code breaker)

Betty Webb

MBE
Birth nameCharlotte Elizabeth Vine-Stevens
Born (1923-05-13) 13 May 1923 (age 101)
AllegianceGreat Britain
Service / branchAuxiliary Territorial Service
Years of service1941–1945
Awards

Charlotte Elizabeth Webb MBE (née Vine-Stevens; born 13 May 1923)[1] is an English code breaker[2] who worked at Bletchley Park during World War II at the age of 18.[3][4][5] Starting in 1941 she joined the British Auxiliary Territorial Service.[6] She said, of joining the top-secret mission at Bletchley, "I wanted to do something more for the war effort than bake sausage rolls."[5]

Webb grew up with a German au pair before becoming an exchange student in Germany.

Early Life

Charlotte Elizabeth Webb was named after her mother, Charlotte, yet was commonly referred to by her shortened middle name, 'Betty'[7] Betty describes her childhood as 'idyllic' as she grew up on the Herefordshire side of Richard's Castle in Ryeford, England[7] She was home schooled for a significant portion of her youth. Her mother, Charlotte gave her and her brother home school lessons.[7] She was studying domestic science at Radbrook College in Shrewsbury at the start of World War II.[8] She signed up to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service as soon as soon as she turned 18 in May 1941.[8][5]

WWII and Bletchley Park

Upon arrival at Bletchley she was tasked with cataloguing encrypted German radio messages intercepted by the British, contributing to the breaking of the German cipher Enigma.[2][5] While a bulk of Bletchley Park workers were assigned to one of the huts, such as Hut 3, Hut 11, Webb was mainly situated in the Mansion belonging to Major Tester's department and Block F, the Japanese section.[9] Under Major Tester's department, some tasks performed include registering messages on little cards, which Webb believes totaled 10,000 a day in the whole park, and organizing the cards into shoeboxes according to a strict order so they could be retrieved efficiently when called for.[9] In Block F, she worked on intercepted Japanese messages, something she excelled at so much that she was later sent to Washington to support the American war effort.[5]

The Official Secrets Act

Every person recruited to Bletchley Park was taken into a room and given the Official Secrets Act to read and then sign before they could begin their work at Bletchley Park.[9] The intense secrecy meant workers could not share what they did with their families, friends, or even talk among their fellow Bletchley workers.[9] Only after the veil of secrecy was lifted was Betty Webb, and others who had worked at Bletchley, finally able to connect the dots, see the larger picture and understand what was really going on at the site.[9]

Honours

Webb was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours "for services to remembering and promoting the work of Bletchley Park."[10][11] In 2021, Webb's work at Bletchley Park was recognized by the government of France, with her appointment as Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour).[12]

As of February 2021, Webb lived in Worcestershire, England.[13] She turned 100 in May 2023.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Keogh, Kat (5 September 2012). "Wythall woman's role as a WWII Enigma codebreaker at Bletchley Park". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Women in IT Awards winners revealed at glitzy ceremony". Information Age. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Roll of Honour". Bletchley Park.
  4. ^ "Michael Portillo hails Bletchley Park's secret heroes". Bletchley Park. 14 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e "'I wanted to do something more for the war effort than bake sausage rolls.'". Magazine. 6 May 2020. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Portrait painting: Betty Webb MBE | National Army Museum". www.nam.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Webb, Betty (8 August 2023). No More Secrets: My part in codebreaking at Bletchley Park and the Pentagon. United Kingdom: Mardle Books. pp. 1–256. ISBN 978-1837700219.
  8. ^ a b Webb, Betty (18 November 2024). "Being a Bletchley Park codebreaker was the best time of my life". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e Webb, Betty (February 2012). "Charlotte Elizabeth "Betty" Webb, née Vine-Stevens" (PDF). Bletchley Park.
  10. ^ United Kingdom: "No. 61256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2015. p. B27.
  11. ^ Lusher, Adam (1 January 2018). "94-year-old Bletchley Park veteran: I helped defeat the Nazis in 1941 and I'm ready to fight fascism again now". The Independent. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  12. ^ Harris, Tristan (3 July 2021). "Wythall's Bletchley Park veteran Betty Webb MBE is officially presented with the Légion d'Honneur by the French government". Bromsgrove Standard. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  13. ^ Wright, John (28 February 2021). "WW2 codebreaker Betty Webb: 'It horrifies me when people talk about money'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Betty Webb: Thousands wish codebreaker, 100, happy birthday". BBC News. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.