WWII codebreaking hero Wren dies aged 98 after ‘actually historic’ contribution of smashing the Enigma code

Codebreaker Ruth Bourne, who worked alongside Alan Turing to crack the German’s Enigma code, has died aged 98.

After joining the Wrens (Women’s Royal Naval Service), Ms Bourne, from High Barnet in north London, worked at sites around Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire as a Bombe machine operator and checker.

She was chosen to work at the secret site to decode intercepted Nazi messages.

In 2018 she was awarded the Legion d’honneur – France‘s highest military honour – in recognition of her service.

The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans wrote on Facebook: ‘Ruth’s contribution to the monumental task of breaking the Enigma cypher was truly historic.

‘Ruth was a remarkable woman with immense charm and charisma, and she will be dearly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.’

Codebreaker Ruth Bourne, who worked alongside Alan Turing to crack the German’s Enigma code at Bletchley Park, has died aged 98

After joining the Wrens (Women’s Royal Naval Service), Ms Bourne, from High Barnet in north London, worked as a Bombe machine operator and checker

Ruth pictured with fellow veteran Dorothea Barron, who also worked on the Enigma machine at Bletchley Park, earlier this year

Wartime codebreakers used the Bombe machine to break the Enigma code used by the Nazis to encrypt messages, changing the course of the war and saving millions of lives.

Their work enabled British intelligence to move more quickly and act upon the information the Bletchley team gave them, contributing to a number of key military victories during the war.

It also sparked the industrialisation of codebreaking and helped pave the way for the first forms of the computers used today.

Having signed the Official Secrets Act, Ms Bourne, who was raised in a Jewish family from Birmingham, kept silent about her work for more than 35 years.