Cheltenham GCHQ codebreaker who helped crack secret German messages in WW2 honoured
Summary
A GCHQ codebreaker who helped crack secret German messages during World War Two has been honoured with a blue plaque at her former home in Cheltenham. Mary Margery Body’s contributions to British intelligence during and after the war remained unrecognised during her lifetime. But her story has since emerged as a testament to her service and commitment to national security.
Details
She was recruited to Bletchley Park for cipher work by Dilwyn Knox and worked in The Cottage there from 1940, contributing to breaking the German Enigma codes – a critical intelligence effort that helped shorten the war by at least two years.
Her work involved long, repetitive tasks that played a key role in intercepting enemy communications – including those related to German submarine movements during the Battle of the Atlantic. Being competent in Italian, she probably worked on Italian traffic too. After the war, Mary continued her intelligence work with GCHQ, including a posting to Australia and two detachments to Washington DC.
She settled in Cheltenham in 1957 and bought Homestead in Church Road, Swindon Village where she developed a garden that became her passion. Mary was also the first contributor to the Swindon Village History Project, and actively supported local heritage and community engagement. She died in 2001 and was buried in St Lawrence Churchyard, close to her home.
Cheltenham Mayor Martin Horwood, who unveiled the plaque at her former home on June 29, said: “Mary’s story is typical of so many that bind Cheltenham to the history of both Bletchley Park and its successor GCHQ, so important both to our town and our country.
“It’s wonderful that the Civic Society blue plaque now recognises her contribution, which she herself kept dutifully secret for so long.” Cheltenham Civic Society Chairman Andrew Booton said the blue plaque is the first one in the town to mark the contributions made by those who worked at Bletchley Park and GCHQ.
“Mary Body was one of our town’s many unsung heroes who worked in complete secrecy, and we are honoured to commemorate her life’s work,” he said. Speaking at GCHQ’s first annual lecture at Bletchley Park in May, director Anne Keast-Butler said she was struck by the “individual tales of dedication and quiet service”.
She said three quarters of the team were women at the organisation’s wartime home where “a determined team turned codebooks into catalysts, changed the arc of technological history, and altered the course of history”. Cheltenham Civic Society has created two Google maps that anyone can use to explore the town to find all of their plaques and learn about the people and events that helped to shape the spa town.
Original source: Cheltenham Civic Society
Report source: Gloucestershire Live