Description
Object description
British civilian in Stockport and Cambridge, GB, 1939-1944; worked for Government Code and Cypher School, Bletchley Park, GB, 1944-1945; linguist during International Military Tribunal at Nüremberg, Germany, 1947-1948; lecturer with British Council in Prague, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 1949-1950
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of background in Stockport, GB, 1923-1942 family circumstances; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; living conditions; effects of rationing system; story of British Broadcasting Corporation radio appeal for banana for sick person; adherence to blackout regulations; reaction to Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940-6/1940; story of sister's escape from Iran; role of mother with Postal and Telegraph Censorship Department, Ministry of Information in Manchester; story of how mother recognised British prisoner of war codes based on George Bernard Shaw's play 'St Joan'.
REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as student at Bedford College, University of London, GB, 1942-1944: character of language course; gaining language experience in French nun's convent in Shropshire; accommodation in London; direction into war work, 1944. Recollections of period with Government Code and Cypher School, Bletchley Park, GB, 1944-1945: initial accommodation in The Swan Hotel, Newport Pagnell; problems of sleeping in dormitory with shift system; security measures; billeting with family; use of fleets of buses to transport personnel; character of personnel; question of how security remained intact; description of Enigma machine; character of routine work; role with Section 8 in Naval Hut 7 under Geoffrey Tandy; increase in captured documents and translation of technical terminology; problems of terminology and invention of 'equivalents'; memories of Professor Leonard Forster and United States Navy Lieutenant Hubert Potter Earle; memories of Carmen Blacker in Japanese Unit.
REEL 3 Continues: daily routine, late 1944; description of Bletchley Park; composition of Naval Section; Scottish country dancing; shift system; kindness of local family; question of her attitude towards war and war work; description of 'Henno' non-Enigma hand codes; importance of repetition and mistakes by German signallers; capture of German code books during Allied advance through North West Europe; attitude towards work; importance of Index; conditions in long huts; character of the 'Colossus' computer and Bombes; question of destruction of all equipment at end of the Second World War.
REEL 4 Continues: character of leading characters; American involvement at Government Code and Cypher School; question of security and use of civilian families to accommodate Government Code and Cypher School personnel; question of German confidence in Enigma; high proportion of female personnel; nature of Enigma material; attitude to working at Government Code and Cypher School; question of taking an anti-war stance; return to Bedford College, University of London, 1945-1946. Recollections of period as linguist International Military Tribunal at Nüremberg, Germany, 1947-1948: reasons for recruitment of British women by American forces; composition of group of interpreters; sight of destruction in Cologne; arrival in Nüremberg.
REEL 5 Continues: accommodation in suburb of Hubertstrasse; reaction to contrast in living standards between Allies and German civilians; unit set up to identify German signatures under Dorothea Galewski; nature of trial of German justices; description of Doctors' Trial; character of documents translated; meeting with small branded Gypsy girl in Nüremberg; lack of repentance of doctor defendants; role translating documents regarding IG Farbenindustrie AG and Krupp AG industrial concerns involvement in Holocaust; story of how Dorothea Galewski informed German youth group about experiences in Dachau Concentration Camp.
REEL 6 Continues: character of documents examined during Industrial Trials; evidence of Nazis links with Latin America; nature of trial of Alfried Krupp; question of degree of involvement of German industrialists in Holocaust; description of court; personnel and atmosphere; instance when validity of trials was questioned; importance of documentary evidence; witnesses; question of how only a small proportion of defendants received death sentences; problems of interpreting; effects of German currency reform, 1948; change from military to civilian administration; developing tensions between Soviets and Allies.
REEL 7 Continues: social activities. Aspects of period as linguist with British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Section at Caversham, GB, 1949: work with section; voice monitoring of German language speaking Europe; question of promotion prospects. Recollections of period as lecturer with British Council in Prague, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 1949-1950: role of British Council; political situation prior to Communist takeover, 1948; role of Leonard Tibbett; reaction to visiting lecturers; memories of Reg Close; loyalty of Czech staff; problems of accommodation; attentions of secret police; attack on British Council female employee; story of catching secret policeman in hotel room; finding accommodation with Czech family; withdrawal of visas to visiting lecturers by Communists; Communist authorities reluctance to remove British Council and use of pressure on Czech staff; story of effects of Arna Rides betrayal on British Council.
REEL 8 Continues: Communist propaganda against British Council; problems leaving Prague and behaviour of Czech authorities; nature of send off by Czech civilians; social activities. Aspects of relationship with future husband, Reginald 'Tod' Lawry, 1950: story of meeting, 1950; initial differences in anti-war stance; meeting with Reginald 'Tod' Lawry's Friends' Ambulance Unit colleagues; religious beliefs.
