Secret Duties of a Signals Interceptor: Working with Bletchley Park, the SDS and the OSS

By: Jenny Nater

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Synopsis: This WWII memoir recounts a woman’s experience translating top-secret German communications for British intelligence.Like many British women on the homefront of World War II, Jenny Nater discovered an unexpected way to put her talents to use. She served as a bilingual wireless operator in the top-secret Special Duties service at Dover, intercepting traffic from German surface craft in the English Channel and reporting it back to Bletchley Park. In this memoir, Nater discusses this important work, as well as the life-changing relationships she made in that time—most notably with a Coastal Force Command Lieutenant who would be tragically lost. She also describes working in Germany for America’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS). It was during this time that she met her husband, a Mosquito pilot and member of the Caterpillar Club whose spy missions over occupied Europe are also described here in full.This memoir add an important layer to our understanding of allied intelligence practices during this conflict. They also tell the story of one woman’s very private war, and the opportunities, sacrifices, and victories it encompassed.