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Edmonton woman reflects on her secret life as a Second World War Enigma code cracking ‘Wren’
National Post ^ | November 11, 2014 | Dan Barnes

Posted on 11/11/2014 2:14:44 PM PST by Squawk 8888

The bright teenager from Beckingham, Kent — known then as Dorothy Winifred Shiers — had studied accounting in high school and turned her proficiency with numbers into a job with a London company.

But with her nation at war, she heeded the call and joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service, or Wrens as they were known. At the end of her basic training, she was required to sign the Official Secrets Act, its inherent solemnity backed by the promise of a £2,000 fine and two years in prison for contravention at any time prior to 1975.

Lincoln was an Enigma codebreaker, one of hundreds of young women stationed at the Government Code and Cipher School in Bletchley Park. They worked around the clock in four watches, feeding information into Colossus, the world’s first programmable super computer, which was cracking thousands of encrypted messages sent by German forces using the so-called Enigma machines.

Dressed in identical black skirts, white shirts, navy blazers and ribboned tams, the Wrens were forced to tell skeptical friends and relatives that they were doing clerical work at all hours.

“I couldn’t tell anybody [the truth],” said Lincoln, who was part of D watch. “My dad, he wondered about it. But he never found out. They said, ‘For goodness sake don’t tell fathers who were serving, or boyfriends, because if they were shot down and tortured it would be very hard not to give information.’

“My dad died before I could tell him,” said the 89-year-old Lincoln, who has lived in Edmonton for several decades now.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: alanturing; bletchleypark; enigma; enigmacode; hutsix
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1 posted on 11/11/2014 2:14:44 PM PST by Squawk 8888
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To: Clive; exg; Alberta's Child; albertabound; AntiKev; backhoe; Byron_the_Aussie; Cannoneer No. 4; ...
To all- please ping me to Canadian topics.

Canada Ping!

2 posted on 11/11/2014 2:17:02 PM PST by Squawk 8888 (Will steal your comments & post them on Twitter)
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To: Squawk 8888

bookmark


3 posted on 11/11/2014 2:23:50 PM PST by Pajamajan ( Pray for our nation. Thank the Lord for everything you have. Don't wait. Do it today.)
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To: Squawk 8888

In the US, PBS is currently running a series in our market called The Bletchley Circle.

The fictional story is based on the lives of 4 women code breakers and is set in the ‘50s, long after the war is over but restrictions are still in place. The women use their skills to solve crimes for Scotland Yard, but they cannot tell the men they are working for where they get their “hunches”. It’s very well done, and I watch it every week.


4 posted on 11/11/2014 2:25:17 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: Squawk 8888

Many {{HUGS}} Wren!!!


5 posted on 11/11/2014 2:25:44 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Squawk 8888

The only Edmonton I ever heard of is in Alberta, Canada, but I see this one is in the London area. I learn something new every day.


6 posted on 11/11/2014 2:28:15 PM PST by Mark17 (I remember the year Clayton Delaney died. They said for the last two weeks he suffered and cried.)
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Crossing over ... Destiny is the Rising Sun ... We see ‘em.


7 posted on 11/11/2014 2:31:41 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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They call US Rebel Souls ... No Claim to Fame!!! Get your Bad Company On!!!


8 posted on 11/11/2014 2:33:28 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Squawk 8888

I wonder if she is a Wayne Gretzky/Oilers fan too?


9 posted on 11/11/2014 2:34:58 PM PST by Mark17 (I remember the year Clayton Delaney died. They said for the last two weeks he suffered and cried.)
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To: Mark17

Mom did always say ... Listen closely and take your time.


10 posted on 11/11/2014 2:36:12 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Mark17

yea, I know you can!


11 posted on 11/11/2014 2:37:19 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Squawk 8888

there is a movie coming out (or is here?) about the man and woman who first broke the enigma code. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly.


12 posted on 11/11/2014 2:40:20 PM PST by bunster
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To: bunster
there is a movie coming out (or is here?) about the man and woman who first broke the enigma code. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly.

So will they speak Polish or will they speak with a Polish accent?

13 posted on 11/11/2014 2:41:03 PM PST by dfwgator (The "Fire Muschamp" tagline is back!)
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To: dfwgator

Dunno. But I just went to look up title and it is called “The Imitation Game”


14 posted on 11/11/2014 2:46:37 PM PST by bunster
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To: Mark17

She’s living in Edmonton, Alberta. She moved to Canada with her RCAF husband after the war.


15 posted on 11/11/2014 2:59:37 PM PST by Squawk 8888 (Will steal your comments & post them on Twitter)
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To: Squawk 8888

She’s there and still walking the talk ... Sunshine ... bring the Moonlight.


16 posted on 11/11/2014 3:14:04 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Squawk 8888

Eleven Days out and that was the last one .... May God hold the next eleven days out.


17 posted on 11/11/2014 3:15:14 PM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Squawk 8888

I had a chance to buy an Enigma machine a few decades back but passed it up as too esoteric. Price was several hundred dollars if I recall correctly. Would have made a cool bookshelf knick-knack.


18 posted on 11/11/2014 3:16:05 PM PST by WorkingClassFilth
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To: afraidfortherepublic

It’s an interesting show, but extremely anti-male. Every male in the series is a SOB, every woman a saint. That proved very irritating after a few episodes.


19 posted on 11/11/2014 3:21:03 PM PST by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: Mark17
The only Edmonton I ever heard of is in Alberta, Canada, but I see this one is in the London area. I learn something new every day.

---------------------------

It's a little older than Canada...:^) Most of the earlier settlers just copied names from back home and even now, I bet a lot of the UK doesn't know there is a Boston in Lincolnshire.

From wiki -

Edmonton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is recorded as Adelmetone- 'a farmstead or estate of a man called Ēadhelm' from an Old English personal name and tūn.

20 posted on 11/11/2014 3:34:39 PM PST by az_gila
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