Workers in Bletchley Park.

Workers in Bletchley Park.Getty images

The Queen sent this WW2 hero a letter this week

A codebreaker from Bletchley Park was recently honored by Queen Elizabeth for reaching the grand old age of 100!

 Jane Ewart-Evans played a crucial role in the team that was credited with helping to end the Second World War celebrated her 100th birthday this week. The war hero from Perthshire was in fine spirits as she celebrated at Balhousie Dalnaglar care home in Crieff, where she is a resident.

Along with cards and flowers from everyone in the care home as well as family and friends, Ewart-Evans received a special card from Queen Elizabeth herself, as is tradition when someone turns 100 years old in the UK.

Daughter Jenny Robb, who is located in Carroglen, had this today about the day 'We had a lovely day and the family would like to say a big thank you to the team at Dalnaglar for everything they did to make it so special. They put up banners and a huge ‘100’ helium balloon outside for us and made a cake for the rest of the residents inside as well, which they showed us through the window. I hope they were all hungry because it looked massive.'

At the age of 25, Jane and her sister Diana were part of a team of codebreakers who are often said to have shortened World War II by two years. Jane was originally born in Calgary, Canada, and travelled to England shortly before WW2.

In 1940 she went to work at Bletchley Park, which would prove to be a crucial job in relation to WW2. Working in ‘Hut 6’, Jane was in the wartime section of the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, the secret base near Milton Keynes, tasked with the solution of German Army and Air Force Enigma machine cyphers. 

Jane married in 1943 and would go on to live a quiet life.

Happy birthday!

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