Helen Andrews (cryptanalyst)
Helen Andrews (born 1927/28) is a former cryptanalyst and a Chelsea Pensioner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Andrews joined Bletchley Park as a cryptanalyst aged 17 in 1945 and served with the Auxiliary Territorial Services (Signals) from 1945 to 1948.[1]
Andrews came to the United Kingdom from South America aged 17 in an Atlantic convoy that took four weeks. The convoy was not permitted to stop, and three vessels in the convoy were sunk by German U-boats.[2] She is a gifted mathematician and had a place at Cambridge University. Andrews was driven straight to Bletchley Park from Tilbury Docks after being told by the captain of the ship that "A man is waiting for you. Get in his car and don't ask any questions".[2]
Andrews felt that her and her follow cryptanalysts were "cogs in a machine" and that the people of greater importance were the "people who received our messages, who did the work as a result of that intelligence".[1]
Andrews is bilingual in English and Spanish and can read French and German. Andrews recalled meeting Alan Turing who she described as "quite eccentric" feeling that "sometimes that is what it takes. To be a genius you other need that eccentricity". Andrews would translate then type out messages then encrypt the messages which were given to the Royal Air Force. The messages revealed the location of German submarines.[1] It took Andrews two weeks to learn the operation of the machines.[1]
Andrews hitch-hiked from Bletchley to Trafalgar Square to celebrate VE Day in 1945.[3] She only began sharing her war experiences 70 years after the war ended.[2]
References[]
- ^ a b c d "Profile: Helen Andrews". Royal Hospital Chelsea. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "I was a teenage code-breaker at Bletchley Park". BBC News. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "VE Day stories: Helen Andrews". Royal Hospital Chelsea. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- Auxiliary Territorial Service soldiers
- Bletchley Park women
- Living people
- Chelsea Pensioners
- 1920s births