Our book last night was Code Girls: the untold story of the American women code breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy. When the United States entered the second World War, in addition to soldiers and weaponry, the nation desperately needed intelligence and information about enemy plans and intentions. To further this end, 10,000 young and educated women were recruited as codebreakers. From the Pacific to the Atlantic theatres of war, their efforts helped to make victory possible. Most of these women were fresh from school or had never worked at anything other than teaching, secretaries or sales and now their efforts became essential to the war effort and ultimate victory. Some worked as civilian employees of the military while others were given commissions in the armed forces. We spoke about many topics within the book including the use of intelligence, the assassination of Admiral Yamamoto, the Enigma machine, sexual harassment, long distance romances, intelligence successes and failures, the role of Joe Rochefort and his cryptology department in the game-changing victory at the Battle of Midway and much more. In addition, many thanks to Shirley and Bernie Gershon for bringing in some cryptograms for the group to hone our skills in cryptology. Their contribution was much appreciated.
Our next meeting will be on June 28th at 7:00 pm. The book to be discussed, Indelible Ink: the trials of Peter Zenger and the birth of America’s free press by Richard Kluger, is available at the Circulation Desk. All are welcome
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