That was interesting!

           "That was interesting"  is a comment often heard among my people when they're everything from appalled to fascinated and don't want to be negative. In this case it's a reference to the latest book I've finished.  Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of  World War Two, Liza Mundy, is indeed interesting.

         Searching for a history book immediately available, electronically, from the Hennepin County Library I found it. Shortly before World War II, the United States had almost no code breaking capability. As young men were drafted for military service, just before America entered the war, young women were recruited from colleges and universities for code breaking. The project was so secret they didn't know for what they'd signed up until the arrived at their destination, often Washington, D.C.  The code of secrecy was so imprinted in them that many never revealed what they had done and a few only after it became public 75 years later.

         Recruiters went to the universities seeking the top female students and many of those they found were extremely brilliant.  Ten thousand women joined this effort often working 24 hours a day in three shifts. Wildly successful they cracked both the codes used by the Germans and the Japanese, both of which used many different ciphers. 

       Results of these code breaking efforts allowed the U.S. Navy to successfully defeat the Japanese Navy. The German submarine dominance of the Atlantic was defeated when the code breakers were able to intercept and translate coded German messages to and from those submarines. Similar success was achieved when the code breakers abilities were used to deceive the Germans about the site of the D Day Attack on Europe. The effectiveness of these efforts had a major impact on the war.

      A significant theme of the book is the capabilities of these women while still having to negotiate the sexism of the time.  One incident found one of the most effective code breakers, a Navy WAVE, having to wash windows at the behest of a ranking officer who had no idea of her job nor her status. Woven into the story of their work are biographical details about their former lives, their relationships and the men whom they knew were fighting in the war. An epilogue follows many of the key players with details about their lives after the war. One of the most touching parts recounts the code breakers, family members and friends, who come to Mundy's book tours, with more personal stories.

       In all it's good read though sometimes a bit confusing because of its organization. Not having to pass a test on the details I just kept reading without trying to keep everything straight. Perhaps an editor could have been more helpful.

Takk for alt,

Al

A fall rain has brought .5" with the possibility of more. 😊