Code Girls

Code Girls

Dissolved	Yes
Type	Governmental
Purpose	Code breaking
Formerly called	World War II Code Girls

The Code Girls or World War II Code Girls were a group of more than 10,000 women who served as cryptographers (code makers) and cryptanalysts (code breakers) for the United States Military during World War II.^[1]

Recruitment[]

In the months prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy began to recruit women college students to work as cryptographers and cryptanalysts.^[2] After the attack, recruitment activities increased as the United States' joined Allied Forces to fight Axis powers during World War II.^[3]

During the recruitment process, the women were asked if they liked crossword puzzles and if they were engaged to be married. Those who answered 'yes' and 'no', respectively, were moved forward in the hiring process.^[4] Candidates were invited to secret meetings where they were offered the opportunity to take a code-breaking training course and sworn to secrecy. Those who passed the course were invited to Washington, D.C. after college graduation to join the Navy as civilian employees.^[3]

The Army also began recruiting women code breakers around this time. Army officials met with representatives from women's colleges at the Mayflower Hotel in hopes of recruiting their top students before the Navy was able to do so.^[5]

Code-breaking[]

Women at Arlington Hall operate a machine, right, that unscrambles messages in the Japanese ""Purple" cipher. The machine's existence was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the war.

The first recruits reported to Navy headquarters in Washington, D.C. which quickly became crowded. By 1943, the Navy expanded its operations by commandeering the original location of Mount Vernon College for Women for use as the Naval Communications Annex.^[6]

The Army also quickly outgrew it's Washington, D.C. office and added a second location at Arlington Hall Junior College for Women.^[4] By 1945, 70 percent of the Army's code-breaking team was female.^[3]

Among their duties, the women operated code-breaking machines, analyzed and broke enemy codes, built libraries of resources on enemy operations, intercepted radio signals, and tested the security of American codes.^[3]

During each month of 1944, code breakers intercepted about 30,000 Japanese Navy water-transport messages which led to the sinking of nearly all Japanese supply ships heading to the Philippines or South Pacific. Prior to D-Day, they shared false information and radio messages to intentionally mislead the Germans about the Allied Forces' landing location.^[2]

When asked publicly about their highly sensitive work, the women were told to reply that they 'sharpened pencils and emptied wastebaskets'. Reportedly, their cover story was never challenged.^[3][4]

Notable WW II era women cryptologists[]

Notable women who contributed to the U.S. cryptologic effort during the World War II era include:

• Virginia Dare Aderholdt – decrypted the Japanese surrender message
• Ann Z. Caracristi – later became deputy director of the National Security Agency, its highest civilian leadership position
• Margaret Crosby – worked as a cryptographer for the OSS' Greek Desk
• Agnes Meyer Driscoll – broke the Japanese M-1 cipher machine
• Genevieve Grotjan Feinstein – found the crucial break in the Japanese Purple cipher
• Elizebeth Smith Friedman – helped convict rum runners during Prohibition and thwarted Nazi agents in South America in WW II
• Helen Nibouar – helped develop the SIGABA cipher machine

References[]

Further reading[]

• Mundy, Liza (2017). Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II. New York. ISBN 978-0-316-35253-6
• World War II Code Girls: What’s in a Name? - National Archives

External links[]

• Interview, Navy cryptographer - Frances Lynd Scott Collection, (AFC/2001/001/48208), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
• Interview, Army cryptographer - E. Jean P. Perdue Brownlee Collection, (AFC/2001/001/09220), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
• "Code Girls" Reunion, Library of Congress