Code Girls - The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II

Liza Mundy's remarkable new book finally tells the long hidden story of the pivotal role an unsung group of American women played in helping America win World War II.  Code Girls - The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II (#699) tells the story of their contributions to the war effort that most of them were never able to reveal during their own lifetimes under penalty of death according to the oaths they swore.


Ms. Mundy relates how the initial women were recruited by secret invitation to participate in vital war work.  Most signed on without knowing exactly what they were in for, but they proved up to the challenge to break the codes the Nazis and Japanese were using prior to US involvement in the war.  Their job took a mixture of talent, tenacity and toleration for the often tedious tasks.  Yet at the same time, there was the excitement of traveling far from home and working closely with a cadre of other women and male officers in their code breaking work.  Although most started as civilians, the Navy soon was recruiting female officers (although at lower pay grades, benefits and status than their male counterparts) using the lure of a couture uniform to encourage the ladies to enlist.  Those working for the Army remained largely a civilian corps throughout the war.


While Alan Turing justly receives credit for helping to break the Nazi's Enigma Coding machines, America's women worked not only on getting the intercepted information into the right hands as soon as possible, they were also the ones who broke the complicated Japanese codes as well, a daunting task.


Once the war was over, in large part due to these women's efforts, however, most of them were "reminded" by the government that it was their "patriotic" duty to return to their places as wives and mothers, and leave the workplace for the returning GIs.  My own mother lost her teaching job to a returning vet herself.  Most, like her, did not look back and chose to move on with their lives; the difference was that most of their families and friends thought that these women had spent the war years as run of the mill secretaries and clerks, not warriors on the coding front.  As they proved here, winning the war took brains as well as bravery.  Now their story has finally been told, and their roles acknowledged.  Thank you, Ms. Mundy.