Audrey Ruth Briggs

Audrey Ruth Briggs (1920–2005) was a cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.[1]

Audrey Ruth Briggs
Born
Audrey Ruth Briggs

1920 (1920)
DiedJune 2005(2005-06-00) (aged 84–85)
Alma materNewnham College, Cambridge
OccupationCryptanalyst
SpouseOliver Churchill
ChildrenToby, Simon, Flora
Parents
RelativesDavid Briggs (brother)

Background

Ruth Briggs was the youngest daughter of Rev. Canon George Wallace Briggs and Constance (née Barrow). She had two sisters and two brothers, one of whom, David, became Headmaster of King's College School, Cambridge.

She graduated in Modern Languages from Newnham College, Cambridge and from 1942-1945, as an expert in German, worked at Bletchley Park as a member of the Z Watch, which translated the decrypted messages.[2][3][4][5][6] She worked variously in Huts 4 and 5, Block A(N), and Naval Section NS I - German Cryptography.[2][4]

Briggs's work has been recognised in breaking codes used by the Axis powers during the war.[7] About 75% of the Bletchley Park staff were women but few female codebreakers were recognised for their work.[4][8]

In 1946 she married former SOE Officer Major Oliver Churchill DSO MC in Worcester Cathedral where her father was a Canon, and she had three children, Toby, Simon, and Flora.

References
  1. Codebreakers – The inside story of Bletchley Park, edited by F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Oxford University Press
  2. "Record Detail - Bletchley Park - Roll of Honour". rollofhonour.bletchleypark.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  3. Roland Oliver (2013), In the Realms of Gold, Routledge, pp. 35–38, ISBN 9781134571710
  4. "Women Codebreakers - Bletchley Park Research". www.bletchleyparkresearch.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  5. Fessenden, Marissa (27 January 2015). "Women Were Key to WWII Code-Breaking at Bletchley Park". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  6. Wagner, Erica (4 May 2015). "From Bletchley girls to Russian aces: the forgotten women at war". www.newstatesman.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  7. Lusted, Marcia Amidon (2017). Innovators: The Stories Behind the People Who Shaped the World With 25 Projects. White River Junction, VT: Nomad Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781619305182.
  8. "Women Codebreakers". Bletchley Park Research. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2019.


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