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
Died2005
Alma materNewnham College, Cambridge
OccupationCryptanalyst
Spouse(s)Oliver Churchill
ChildrenToby Churchill
Parent(s)
RelativesDavid Briggs (brother)

Background

Ruth Briggs was the youngest daughter of Rev. Canon George Wallace Briggs.[2] She had two sisters and two brothers, one of whom, David, became Headmaster of King's College School, Cambridge.[2]

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.[3][4][5][6][7] She worked variously in Huts 4 and 5, Block A(N), and Naval Section NS I - German Cryptography.[3][5]

Briggs's work has been recognised in breaking codes used by the Axis powers during the war.[8] About 75% of the Bletchley Park staff were women but few female codebreakers were recognised for their work.[5][9]

In 1946 she married former SOE Officer Major Oliver Churchill DSO MC in Worcester Cathedral where her father was a Canon, and her oldest son is Toby Churchill.

References
  1. Codebreakers – The inside story of Bletchley Park, edited by F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Oxford University Press
  2. "British Army Officers 1939-1945". World War II Unit Histories & Officers. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  3. Bletchley Park Roll of Honour
  4. Roland Oliver (2013), In the Realms of Gold, Routledge, pp. 35–38, ISBN 9781134571710
  5. Bletchley Park Research : Women Codebreakers
  6. Women Were Key to WWII Code-Breaking at Bletchley Park
  7. The Bletchley Girls Tessa Dunlop, Hodder & Stoughton,
  8. 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.
  9. "Women Codebreakers". Bletchley Park Research. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2019-07-25.


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