'Unsung' female Bletchley codebreaker honoured by blue plaque for part in breaking enigma

An "unsung" female Bletchley codebreaker has been honoured by a blue plaque for her part in breaking the German enigma code during World War Two.

Mary Margery Body was a wartime codebreaker whose contributions remained unacknowledged throughout her life.

But that all changed yesterday when the plaque was unveiled yesterday at her former Cheltenham residence.

Ms Body joined the team at Bletchley Park in 1940, where she played a crucial role in deciphering German Enigma communications.

The commemorative marker now adorns the Homestead in Swindon Village, where she made her home from 1957.

Cheltenham Civic Society organised the installation, with chairman Andrew Booton describing the organisation as "honoured to play its part in remembering an unsung hero".

The renowned codebreaker Dilwyn Knox personally recruited Ms Body for cypher work at the wartime intelligence centre.

Her wartime duties centred on lengthy, repetitive tasks essential for intercepting enemy communications, particularly intelligence regarding German submarine movements.

But, despite the repetitive nature of the task at hand, the hard work proved vital to Allied success in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Ms Body's fluency in Italian likely meant she also contributed to intercepting communications from Italy during the conflict.

Following the war, she maintained her intelligence career with GCHQ, undertaking assignments in both Australia and Washington DC.

Throughout her life, Ms Body maintained absolute discretion regarding her professional activities, keeping her work life private, even from her closest friends and family members.

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She passed away in 2001 and was laid to rest at St Lawrence Churchyard in Swindon Village.

Ms Booton said: "Mary Body was one of our town's many unsung heroes who worked in complete secrecy and we are honoured to commemorate her life's work."

Cheltenham Mayor Martin Horwood performed the unveiling ceremony, calling it "wonderful" that Ms Body's contribution had been recognised despite her keeping it "dutifully secret for so long".

He added: "Mary's story is typical of so many that bind Cheltenham to the history of both Bletchley Park and its successor GCHQ, so important both to our town and our country."

A number of similarly "unsung" heroines have been comemmorated in recent years, including MI5's unsuspecting Hester Leggatt during World War Two.

During the British deception mission, Operation Mincemeat, the administrative assistant penned fake love letters to fool the Nazis.

The documents, partnered with false intelligence documents, were placed onto a dead body dressed as a Royal Marine major in a bid to trick Berlin to move troops out of Sicily.

The extra details about the soldier's personal life helped to sell the ruse to the Germans.

Ms Leggatt's contribution to the war effort remained vastly unrecognised until, back in 2023, a plaque was installed at the Fortune Theatre in the West End, where the musical Operation Mincemeat is playing.

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