She started to work at Bletchley Park in June 1940 after she completed Part III of the Mathematical Tripos. Due to her code-breaking expertise and contributions during the war, Joan Clarke was appointed a Member of the British Empire or MBE, in 1947. Joan Clarke died in 1996 at her home in Oxford. [7.] 3 October 2013. This film, and Joan's story have some connections for me. The need for breaking the Naval Enigma code was growing greater by the day. She was the youngest child and was educated at Dulwich High School and in 1936 matriculated at Newnham College, Cambridge, to study Mathematics. One who did was Bletchley Park’s Joan Clarke, played by Keira Knightley in the Oscar-buzzed The Imitation Game. “I followed the story from the design of the receiver and its use in Bletchley Park, and it turns out there are a lot of interesting things that are pretty stunning,” he said. Nov 14, 2016 - Joan Clarke Murray codebreaker at Bletchley Park during World War II, became deputy head of Hut 8 in 1944. The ratio of women to men at Bletchley Park was 8:1. https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/joan-clarke-one-of-the-forgotten-women-of-bletchley [1.] William F Friedman, the founder of modern US cryptology wrote that a code breaker required unusual powers of inductive and deductive reasoning, much concentration, perseverance and a vivid imagination.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Colossus.jpg I had vague memories about her from reading Turing's biography when I was in middle school, but the significance of what she did sticks with me much more now that I'm older. During her stay in Hut 8, Joan Clarke developed a close friendship with her colleague Alan Turing. Commander Edward Travis later told her that she might have to enrol in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, in order to earn significantly more money, but Clarke did not want to pursue this route. But her work was to remain confidential due to the restraints of the Official Secrets Act. British Numismatic Society. Retrieved 3 November 2013. Bletchley Park June 1940 - 1945. There were eight male Banburists and Joan Clarke was the only female Banburist. Born: 1917 in London (England)
For over 30 years, the activities in this decryption hub stayed hidden; only these recent years has the veil of secrecy been lifted. Her husband Murray, who had published works on the Scottish coinage of the 16th and 17th century, raised Clarke’s interest in numismatic history. The method exploited the German cryptographic mistake and wheels VI, VII, and VIII all had different positions of turnover for each wheel. When the war ended in 1945, all the workers had vacated Bletchley Park and every scrap of evidence of their secret code-breaking exploits was disposed of. The math wizard’s sister was the late London artist Silvia Clarke. The Unsung heroine of Bletchley Park -Joan Clarke Joan Clarke was instrumental in decoding the German Enigma code. Bletchley Park is temporarily closed due to national lockdown restrictions in England Winter opening hours (1 Nov 2020 – 28 Feb 2021) From 09.30 to 16.00 (last admission 14.00) Summer opening hours (from 1 March 2021) From 09.30 to 17.00 (last admission 15.00) Nonetheless, it is clear that Joan Clarke played a notable role in Britain’s crucial achievements during World War II. [7.] Although she did not personally seek the spotlight, her role in the Enigma project that decrypted Nazi Germany's secret communications earned her awards and citations, such as appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), in 1946. British Numismatic Society. This introduction into history from her husband also pushed Clarke’s interest to study numismatic history. Joan Clarke was born to William Kemp Lowther Clarke, a Clergyman and Dorothy Elisabeth Clarke in 1917. Britain had become extremely dependent on imports and was importing half of its food and all of its oil. One hundred years ago, in June 1917, Joan Clarke was borninLondon.Heroutstandingmathematicaltalentled hertobecomeoneoftheveryfewwomencryptanalysts workingatBletchleyParkduringWorldWarII.Bletchley wasthenervecenterofamammothoperation,carriedout in utmost secrecy, to decode German and other enemy military communications. Although Turing expected this affair to end, Clarke was undeterred by his decision and the engagement continued. By the end of 1940 rotors VI, VII and VIII had been recovered and a library of cribs built up – the cribs were assembled by using anticipated text from German weather ships that were relaying messages in the German Meteorological cypher. Arriving at her destination, she was placed in Hut 8, which only women stayed in and were mostly engaged in clerical work. Main achievements: Codebreaking at Bletchley Park in World War II. In this period in history marriage for women was considered a social duty, and it was not necessary that marriage should correspond with sexual desires. She and her team continued to break the Naval Enigma until the end of the war. Gendering Decryption—Decrypting Gender: The Gender Discourse of Labour at Bletchley Park, 1939–1945 [65 pp.] Clarke initially didn’t even know what the job would entail, but she nonetheless accepted the job and thus the challenge. During the war, Bletchley depended on the heft of a predominantly female workforce yet Joan Clarke, the codebreaking fiancée of Alan Turing (immortalised by Keira Knightley in the 2014 film The Imitation Game) is one of Bletchley’s very few famous woman. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/Joan_Clarke_%28cryptanalyst%29.jpg. She worked at Bletchley Park in the section known as Hut 8 and quickly became the only female practitioner of Banburismus, a cryptanalytic process developed by Alan Turing which reduced the need for bombes —electromechanical devices as used by British cryptologists Welchman and Turing to decipher German encrypted messages during World War II. This was a very difficult task, Alastair Denniston, who was to become the first Head of Bletchley Park, thought it would be impossible. They remained close friends but soon after Turin’s sexual preferences were discovered, he was imprisoned and was given estrogen injections for a year. And it is clear that her mathematical expertise on the Naval Enigma helped shorten the war and thus saved thousands of lives. A method known as Yoxallismus was devised to speed up this work and was named after its inventor Leslie Yoxall. It involved the use of long sheets of paper printed in Banbury and thus the name of the technique. This provided Clarke and the team, with the knowledge of what information to expect in a message and how the naval indicator system worked. [6.] Secret 1941 diary of pioneering Bletchley spy chief tells of moment the special relationship was born as US stepped in to help British codebreakers during WWII Hut 8 and Block D(8). Joan Clarke was born to William Kemp Lowther Clarke, a Clergyman and Dorothy Elisabeth Clarke in 1917. However, she was one of the best Banburists and was enthusiastic and fascinated with the technique. F H Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Codebreakers: The inside story of Bletchley Park (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993). The 'Ys' are coming!