The Codebreakers

Last month I read The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, a novel based on the secret life of women working to break enemy codes at Bletchley Park in England during the Second World War. In Australia the Central Bureau was created in Brisbane to perform a similar function. Between 1942 and 1945 codebreakers, including a group of women who used TypeX machines, deciphered Japanese coded messages. Staff working at these establishments all signed the Official Secrets Act and were sworn to secrecy about what they did. The period of this secrecy extended for many years after the end of the war.

Alli Sinclair has written The Codebreakers, a novel about women working in a section of the Central Bureau. 

Ellie O'Sullivan worked at Qantas Empire Airways when she was approached to attend an interview and be tested for a secret position. It was not until she had signed a copy of the Official Secrets Act that she learned that she was now in the Australian Women's Army Service and would be working with a group of women assisting in the decoding of military messages from Japan.

Ellie joined the Central Bureau in April 1943 when war was still raging in Europe as well as closer to home. Ellie's brother had been killed in battle - in fact most of her friends had loved ones who had lost at least one family member during the war. The girls that she worked with were pleased to be able to actively help the war effort however the stress of having to lie to family and friends about what they actually did often took its toll.

The twelve members in Ellie's group called themselves the Garage Girls as they worked in a garage at the back of a large house in Ascot. They lived together in army accommodation so consequently came to know each other well, often socialised together and shared experiences in good and bad times. This novel explores the lives of Ellie and her friends, their role in the war effort, how the war affected those who stayed at home, issues such as tensions between Australian servicemen and their US counterparts stationed in Brisbane as well as how Australians adapted to 'normal' life after the war. This novel covers another fascinating part of Australian history.

A number of books have been written about the work carried out at Bletchley Park.

Mention in the novel is made of Mrs Mac who set up a centre in Sydney to train women, and later men, to become morse code operators. The book, Radio Girl by David Dufty, provides an account of the work of Mrs Mac.

Khaki Town by Judy Nunn and Meet Me at Lennons by Melanie Myers are two other novels about life in Queensland during the Second World War.

Central Intelligence Bureau Headquarters - Queensland World War II History

Charleville Airfield - Queensland World War II History

Discovering Charleville's War Secrets - Queensland Times 21 April 2015