The stories of the women of Bletchley Park—the secret British codebreaking facility during World War II—are only now becoming known, much like those of the “hidden figures” of NASA.
How women helped break the unbreakable
Thousands of women worked at Bletchley Park. They primarily held roles associated with operating the Bombe, a machine developed by Alan Turning to decipher daily German intelligence messages. However, the story of one woman, Joan Clarke, is particularly fascinating. Turing himself poached her from one team to work on his own small team in “Hut 8.”
Clarke studied mathematics at Cambridge in the late 1930s, even though the university did not award degrees to women until after World War II. During that time, she drew the notice of Gordon Welchman, who recruited her for secret work at Bletchley Park. Upon arrival, she expected to work with Welchman in Hut 6, but Turing—whom Clarke has met through her old brother—took her for Hut 8. There, as part of a very small team, Clarke and Turing worked to crack the reputedly unbreakable German Enigma code.
A quiet master of Banburismus
As one of the “Seniors” of Hut 8, Clarke became an expert at “Banburismus.” This was an application of Bayesian statistics that sped up the process of operating a Bombe. She often stayed past the end of her shift to keep searching for solutions. She was the sole female of nine “Banburists.”
Clarke and Turing became incredibly close and even were engaged, though they ultimately broke off their engagement because Turing was gay. They remained close friends until Turing’s death by suicide following his criminal conviction for homosexual activity and subsequent chemical castration.
Clarke is thought to have worked in British intelligence until 1982, but her work is covered by the Official Secrets Act. She married Lieutenant-Colonel John “Jock” Kenneth Ronald Murray, whom she met on assignment at Eastcote. Clarke, who passed away in 1996, was portrayed by actress Keira Knightley in the 2014 movie The Imitation Game. Her childhood home was marked with an English Heritage Blue Plaque in 2024.
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This post originally appeared on Smarter MSP.