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Civilian
Jean Watters (nee Briggs), Women's Royal Naval Service, and wife of John Watters
Jean Watters receiving the 'Government Code and Cypher School' Certificate of gratitude, July 2009.
The 'Government Code and Cypher School' Certificate of gratitude awarded to Jean Watters for her service as a code-breaker during the Second World War by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009.
John F. Watters and Jean Briggs on the night they met.
John Watters and Jean Watters family group.
John Watters and Jean Watters 62nd Wedding Anniversary notice.
'Bury Free Press' cutting of the last B-17 leaving Honington, and the marriage announcement of John Watters and Jean Briggs.
Jean was born in Bury St Edmunds and joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) as soon as she turned 18. She worked at Eastcote, a satellite of Bletchley Park, operating the machines which helped the Allies crack encrypted German messages. Her work was so secret that she did not tell her family about it for 30 years. Her husband remembered, ‘I turned to Jeanie and I said “you mean to tell me after six children, dragging you all over the world, you couldn’t tell me?” and she says “No, I signed the Official Secrets Act and I couldn’t.”’
Military | Colonel | Assistant Operations Officer | 94th Bomb Group
John’s military career took him from horse-drawn field artillery to command of a missile squadron. During his service of 30 years, he commanded seven units. After transferring to the Army Air Corps during the Second World War, he flew as a bombardier...
Military site : non-airfield
During the war the area between Eastcote Road and Lime Grove was known as HMS Pembroke and supported operations at Bletchley Park (encryption and code-breaking). After the war Pembroke's role was as GCHQ until the move to Cheltenham.
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Other location
| Event | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Bury St Edmunds, Bury Saint Edmunds, UK | |
| Died | Omaha, Nebraska | 15 September 2018 |
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 17 August 2018 09:56:46 | general ira snapsorter | Created entry with surname, firstname, nationality, biography, events, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
American Air Museum text from displays. |
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