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World War Two codebreaker dies aged 99

News imagePA An elderly woman and a man hold hands smiling as they sit at a table with crockery and British table décor. The man is in uniform and both have a number of medals.PA
Ruth Bourne, 98 and Bernard Morgan, 100, hold hands as they join World War Two veterans at a tea party organized by the Royal British Legion at The Ritz, London

A World War Two codebreaker who worked as a Bombe machine operator and checker has died at the age of 99.

Ruth Bourne, a Jewish veteran, was born in Manchester and raised in Birmingham. During the war, she was evacuated to Caernarfon, Wales before enlisting in the Women's Royal Naval Service at the age of 18.

She was chosen to work at decoding intercepted messages and was based at two outstations of Bletchley Park - Eastcote and Stanmore in north London.

The Bombe machine was an electromechanical device built by Alan Turing to crack Germany's Enigma code, quickly finding daily settings to decode enemy messages - a breakthrough that changed the course of the war and saved millions of lives.

News imagePA Black and white image of a young woman in uniform. She smiles and looks away from the camera.PA
Ruth Bourne, during her military days

In 2018, she was awarded the Légion d'honneur – France's highest military honour – in recognition of her service.

Ms Bourne said she gained "a little bit of personal satisfaction" from her role in anti-Nazi operations.

She remained unaware of Bletchley Park's wider mission: "I only knew my bit," she recalled, having been sworn to secrecy.

Ms Bourne's grandchild Bee said: "It was our family's privilege to share Ruth with the world.

"My grandmother was such a bright spark: intelligent, creative, and witty.

"She was always delighted to give her time to educating others about her codebreaking contributions at RAF Eastcote, and she volunteered for decades at Bletchley Park giving tours.

"She lives on in books, in her pottery and art, and in our memories. She will be dearly missed by all."

She spent her latter years living in High Barnet, north London.

The work of Bletchley Park codebreakers allowed British intelligence to act quickly on decrypted information, contributing to key military victories.

Their efforts also paved the way for the industrialisation of codebreaking and the development of early computers.

The Taxi Charity for Military Veterans wrote on Facebook: "Ruth's contribution to the monumental task of breaking the Enigma cypher was truly historic.

"Ruth was a remarkable woman with immense charm and charisma, and she will be dearly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her."

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